We used the closure challenges from the COVID-19 pandemic as an opportunity to streamline our efforts and reduce access barriers for our francophones, Francophiles and French-learning customers. We had to decide which programs and services were better suited to return to in-person and which should remain virtual to best meet the diverse needs of our time crunched customers. Finding the right balance was crucial for the future success of our French programs.

Once our libraries reopened, we quickly began evaluating our French programs to determine what should continue virtually and what should return to in person. Our research, data, observations and the feedback we gathered highlighted that we could reach more teen and adult customers by offering their French programs virtually. As such, our Teen Café and French Meetup remained virtual. Alternatively, our children’s programs such as French reading help, bilingual puppet shows and kitchen activities returned to in-person.

The last comparable year, 2019, we held 198 French programs for children with a total of 1909 participants. For teens and adults, we had 25 programs for 161 participants. We gathered respectively 9.64 and 6.44 participants per program. In 2022, we offered 62 hybrid children's programs for 981 participants. Our 24 teen and adult programs for 202 participants were virtual. Our ratio increased to 15.82 and 8.42. In both cases, we increased the impact of French services while decreasing access barriers for a minority group.