Curbside Pickup

SERVICES

PLEASE NOTE: Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the Maine State Library and Maine InfoNet have temporarily suspended the Maine Reciprocal Borrowing Program across the state.

Curbside pickup service is available!

Curbside pickup is available during the library’s open hours:

Monday – Thursday, 11 AM – 5 PM
Friday, 11 AM – 6 PM
Saturday, 10 AM – 1 PM

And also from 9 AM – 11 AM, Monday – Friday, by appointment. Request an early pickup appointment by calling us at (207) 354-2453 or emailing us at library@thomastonmaine.gov. Please allow at least 24 hours notice for a pickup appointment.

Holds can be placed via our online card catalog, MILS, and from other Maine libraries on mainecat.maine.edu for up to 5 items. You can also call us at (207) 354-2453 or email us at library@thomastonmaine.gov, though we encourage everyone to use the online catalog to get the most up-to-date information about which items are available to borrow. If you haven’t used the MILS catalog to request items before, click here or scroll down for instructions. You can also find instructions for interlibrary loan requests here.

Once you have placed your hold request, please allow at least 24 hours (for items owned by Thomaston Public Library) for our staff to receive the request and gather your items, which we will do with freshly sanitized hands and while wearing masks. If you have placed your hold request through the catalog, you’ll receive an email when your items are ready (add mils.noreply@maineinfonet.org to your address book to help avoid your pickup notice going to your junk mail folder). Otherwise, we will call you.

When you arrive at the library, call us from the parking lot (if you don’t have a cell phone, make sure to call us before you leave home for further instructions). Our staff will check your items out and bring them out to you. Please make sure to help us practice physical distancing and maintain a 6-foot minimum distance from both other library patrons who might be waiting for their own items and our staff members.

If you are returning items, please place them in the book drop. This will allow us to safely quarantine the items for the recommended time before we make them available to the next patron.

Requesting Materials Through the MILS Catalog

Please note that you must have a new library card number (14 digits instead of a 5 digit card number) and your library account must be in good standing to request items through the online catalog. If you haven’t gotten a new number, email us at library@thomastonmaine.gov or call us at (207) 354-2453 to get it updated.

Start with our online card catalog (which may look slightly different than the images below if you are using a tablet or mobile device), and start with the search drop down box saying “Thomaston Public Library.” This will make sure you are searching through Thomaston’s catalog first for items that will be most readily available. If you can’t find what you’re looking for, you can expand your search to other libraries for interlibrary loan.

The search will default to a keyword search, though you can also switch to title or author (last name, first name). We generally recommend a keyword search for best results, and if possible, using the title and author’s last name. This will usually bring up a list of search results that are at least close matches or perhaps related to the item you are searching for (e.g., if there are other books by the same author in the system, it will likely show those as well).

Click on the title of the item that seems like the closest match to what you are searching for to check the details:

If that is the item you’re looking for, awesome! Click the “Request” button in the upper left, just above the search bar.

If your request was successful, you’ll get the following message and you will be emailed (or, if we don’t have an email address on file for you, called) when your item is ready for pickup. Please allow 24 hours for the library staff to receive the request and gather your items.