In the first week the library was closed due to COVID-19, circulation of all Durham County Library OverDrive collections rose 32% over the prior week. In the month after the library closed on March 15, over 9,000 Durham County Library patrons checked out 43,000 ebook and e-audio titles and placed almost 25,000 holds. In the months that followed, Durham County Library card holders continued to take advantage of the library’s digital resources — everything from ebooks to free online classes, tutoring services, and homework help.

Library staff worked quickly after the library buildings closed in March to increase access to library cards, implementing a program so that Durham County residents without a library card could sign up for a temporary card online using their mobile phone number. Durham Public School students continued to have access to the library’s online resources using their SLAM (Schools and Libraries Achieving More) ID, which is their DPS-issued student ID number.