After closing its doors to the public nearly a year ago due to Covid, Dartmouth’s public library may reopen both branches by the end of the month, according to Director of Libraries Lynne Antunes.

Although a date has yet to be set, Antunes announced plans to reopen at a Feb. 9 Board of Library Trustees meeting.

The library will likely let in small groups of people — around 25 or so — for half an hour at a time to browse the collection or use the computers, Antunes told board members.

Names, addresses and phone numbers of all those who enter will be taken for contact tracing purposes, she noted, and curbside pickup will likely still be provided for people who aren’t comfortable coming inside.

“I do want to start letting the public in. It looks like we’re getting closer to that being a safe thing to do,” she said, adding that she’d like to see it reopen by March. “Maybe this month. We’ll see.”

Late last month the library shut down its Saturday curbside pickup hours due to staffing issues caused by the holiday coronavirus surge, according to Antunes.

Members of the town’s Finance Committee expressed concerns with the reduction in hours at a Feb. 4 meeting.

“I [have a] concern about the library not opening on the weekend, because this is a public service,” noted Finance Committee Chair Teresa Hamm. “This is paid for by the taxpayers. All the other town services are being provided.”

“I don’t get how the library can determine that they’re not going to open or provide a service,” she added.

Committee Vice Chair Gloria Bancroft agreed. “Saturday is when people are not working and want to use the library,” she noted.

Antunes stated before the Feb. 9 meeting that the library had planned to open in December — “and then we had the holiday surge,” she said.

As for last month, Antunes said, “January was probably one of the worst months ever for rate of virus, so it was not the time to open.”

For now, she said, the library will continue to offer curbside pickup at reduced hours, and the Council on Aging is helping them to offer a new home delivery service for Dartmouth seniors.

“People can call the library and sign up,” Antunes said.