KIMBERLY, Wis. (NBC 26) -- Becky Mellette and her son used to visit the Kimberly library every week.
But for the past year, they had to give it up… until now.
"It smells good," Mellette said about her first time back inside a library since last March. "I definitely missed it. I was telling everybody when I saw the sign that they were open. I was like 'the library's open!'"
Throughout February, several Fox Valley area libraries -- Kaukauna, Appleton, Neenah, Clintonville, Oshkosh -- are opening their doors to the public, so people like Mellette can check out books in person.
"We want to open in ways that are safe for people," Kimberly Village Public Library director Holly Selwitschka said. "But we also need to provide the services that people need in their lives."
Each location has developed its own set of rules. At the Kimberly library, which opened last week, Mellette was limited to 20 minutes of browsing.
"When you come in here, you can -- not to judge a book by its cover -- but you can actually look and touch and feel and see if it's something you might like to read," Mellette said.
While many libraries offer curbside pickup, for some patrons, checking out a book in person makes all the difference.
"We've been doing curbside pickup, but it's just not the same as coming inside and touching the books and seeing what's new and finding new authors," Mellette said.
When the doors were closed, librarians say they weren't doing the job they signed up for.
"It's really hard to get to know the community when you can't interact with them," Selwitschka said.
With a handful of libraries set to bring people back in person, Mellette and her son are getting back to their roots.
"I'm just instilling the love of learning and reading on him," she said.
