VOA常速英语2020--纽约公共图书馆的石狮子戴上口罩（在线收听）

The distance between the two large stone lions that have been guarding the entrance to New York City's Public Library for over a century is way over two meters. The iconic felines traditionally wear wreaths at Christmas time. But this year their accessories: face masks, arrived early and won't change depending on the season. But we New Yorkers care for everybody. That's the map. So and a symbol of helping each other. You know this is careful the symbol of uh we are caring for other people. Twin lions' patience and fortitude have calmly watched the city live through a month of protests in June without budging. Their job is to protect the building of New York City Public Library on 5th Avenue. And they have done it well despite the pandemic. Have you been in the library? I mean to go to this library is like a temple. You know there's all the artifacts of great works from the past, the rooms themselves are physically beautiful, the ceiling in the rose room is um, it reminds me of uh the Sistine Chapel. Historian Ken Brown is one of over three and a half million readers who come to New York City's Public Library. He used to come here every weekend to work until the coronavirus forced it to close. But now that the library reopened its doors on July 13th, Brown is back.

一个多世纪以来，一直有两只相距超过两米的巨大石狮子守护在纽约市公共图书馆的入口处。传统意义上，这种具有标志性的猫科动物要在圣诞节时戴上花环。但是今年它们早早带上了配饰——口罩，而且不会因季节改变就换下配饰。我们这些纽约市民关心所有人。这是地图。所以是互相帮助的象征。你知道这是细心的象征，我们在关心他人。双子狮耐心而坚毅，它们冷静地看着这座城市，看着六月份爆发的为期一个月的抗议活动，丝毫没有退缩。它们的工作就是保护这座位于第五大道的纽约市公共图书馆大楼。尽管疫情来势汹汹，它们还是尽职尽责。你去过图书馆吗？我的意思是去过这座仿若圣殿的图书馆。这座图书馆收藏着过去所有的伟大作品文物，房间本身就很漂亮，玫瑰阅览室的天花板会让我想起西斯廷教堂。曾经有350多万读者来过纽约市公共图书馆，史学家肯·布朗是其中之一。他以前每周末都会来到图书馆工作，直到新冠疫情迫使这里关闭。但是现在图书馆在7月13日重新开门了，布朗也回来了。

To look at um uh the handling of library materials specifically and the recommendation is a 72-hour quarantine, once those materials are returned, And so you know currently, we have about 250,000 items that are sitting in the homes of New Yorkers that will begin returning. People begin returning those materials and so we'll um uh welcome those materials back. But we'll be quarantining all returned materials for 72 hours. The library managers have already returned to their workplace. But for readers the process is much slower and much more gradual. At first, readers will only be able to pre-order the desired items and pick them up in the library branches. So we've seen a dramatic increase of signups for library cards, about 50,000 signups during the period that we've been closed which is a significant number for us. And a huge increase in the downloading of materials. So ebooks, audiobooks, library resources and not just on the simply e APP, but the use of our our research services online. The library invited young actors and actresses that read a whole array of books for kids. Professional teachers who could help children with homework. And just famous New Yorkers who left their advice of what to read during the lockdown. Jill Lapore's Magisterial History of America. When I was a teenager to reading Charlotte's web to my grandchildren. My favorite book is Beloved by Tony Morrison. Shay Youngblood Black Girl in Paris. Despite the slow return to the new normal, the New York Public Library excitedly entered the summer of 2020. This year, it celebrates its 125th anniversary. And though there will be no large-scale festivities, there is little doubt this time will never be forgotten. Elena Wolfe in New York Anna Rice VOA News

具体来看一下图书馆资料的处理方式，一旦人们归还这些资料，建议对其进行72小时的检疫隔离。目前，我们有大约25万件馆藏材料放在纽约人的家中，这些资料将开始归还。人们开始归还这些资料，所以我们很欢迎这些资料回到图书馆。但是我们要对所有归还资料进行72小时的隔离检疫。图书馆管理员们已经复工。但对于读者来说，这个过程要慢得多，而且要循序渐进得多。首先，读者们只能提前预定想要的资料，然后到图书馆分馆领取。因此，我们发现图书卡注册量急剧增长，在我们闭馆期间，大约注册了5万张图书卡，这对我们来说是一个相当大的数字。材料的下载量也大幅增加。人们会下载电子书、有声读物、图书馆资源，不仅仅是在简单的电子应用上，还会使用我们的在线研究服务。图书馆邀请年轻的演员们为孩子们阅读一大堆书。专业教师帮助孩子们完成家庭作业。还有一些纽约名人在封锁期间发布了阅读建议。吉尔·拉波尔的《美国权威史》。向我的孙辈推荐我在十几岁时阅读的《夏洛的网》。我最喜欢的书是托尼·莫里森的《宠儿》。夏伊·扬布拉德的《巴黎的黑人女孩》尽管回归新常态的步伐缓慢，纽约公共图书馆还是兴奋地进入了2020年的夏天。今年，它将迎来125周年纪念日。虽然它不会举办大规模的庆祝活动，但毫无疑问，这一次将永远不被遗忘。美国之音新闻安娜·赖斯，纽约报道