The COVID-19 public health crisis is unlike anything our nation has experienced in our lifetimes. Much of what we take for granted was suddenly and largely turned on its head last month in March. This certainly is true for PCCLD. We are pleased overall with how we have responded, so far.
PCCLD was among the first institutions locally to close its buildings to the public on March 14 and we have done good work since, especially in ramping up virtual and online services during the “stay in place” order. With this announcement today, please know PCCLD is extending library building closures to the public through May 3. We remain committed as an institution to the greater good, which means carrying on with maximum social distancing for a while longer.
With the extended closure of libraries to the public, PCCLD will continue in the near term to serve the greater Pueblo area mostly with virtual and online programs and services, including eLibrary Cards, online research databases, eBooks, eAudiobooks, streaming movies and music, email reference service, library parking lot WiFi, and more. A team of library staff is doing outstanding work with PCCLD’s website, social media, and ramping up streaming library programs. A convenient web link called “The Library @ Home” encapsulates many of these at https://www.pueblolibrary.org/thelibraryathome. This week we started “Talk to a Librarian” telephone reference service, and we are making special efforts to support local families transitioning to online school by making available WiFi hotspots and tablets for checkout.
Importantly, we are beginning to see some positive signs with regard to the evolving nationwide COVID-19 crisis. Public health authorities are reporting reduced or plateauing infection spread in portions of the United States such as Colorado. So, while PCCLD library buildings remain closed to the public for now, we are seeing possibilities to contemplate reopening facilties to the public. All staff should plan to report to their respective locations on April 27 to assist with this process. Your supervisor will be contacting you directly soon with additional information.
It is our desire to plan well for reopening library buildings. Our actions will be based upon sound, authoritative guidance from experts, most notably local, state, and national public health authorities. Our reopening protocols will incorporate current scientific-based instruction as well as practical, conservative efforts to minimize risk to staff and patrons. We will simultaneously continue providing quality virtual and online library services while we reinstitute activities at our library locations as we are able. The reopening plan will evolve and be informed also by best practices gleaned from our professional Colorado and national library peers and by all relevant local, state, and federal laws and regulations.
We will reopen our buildings in phases. The detailed timeline for this is forthcoming along with additional details, but it is important to know phase one of the process is the preopening period. A team of staff currently is tasked with coordinating this and has has started already with deep cleaning the buildings, procuring and distributing appropriate protective equipment, making changes to furnishings and layout in support of social distancing, and other activities. Beginning on April 27 as part of the preopening phase, although buildings will remain closed to the public, all staff will return to the buildings to help complete facilities preparations and training for the second phase.
In phase two, we will begin to again accept books and other library materials returned by the public back into library collections. This stage, which we hope to commence on May 4, will include use of meeting rooms as locations to quarantine returned materials before being reshelved. Phase two likely will see other services for the public such as “contactless” curbside materials pick-up.
Phase three envisions readmitting the public into the buildings. There is no date for this to announce at this time. This phase will include personal protective equipment requirements for staff based upon public health authority standards, such as face shields, face masks, and plexiglass barriers at service desks. It will involve ensuring the general public in the buildings abide by public health guidance, and the staff’s ongoing cleaning and disinfection of high-touch surfaces. PCCLD will supply self-service cleaning supplies for patrons such as sanitizing wipes and hand sanitizer. We foresee limiting the number of patrons in our buildings at any given time, reducing library capacity. We will have staff monitoring this and ask for the public to help by adhering to this change. As such, we will encourage patrons to visit with as few family members as possible. We are examining traffic flow, too, such as one-way aisles and entrance/exit in order to promote social distancing. Other modifications could include restricting access into restrooms, building-use time limits, customer queuing rules, grab-and-go library resources, take-and-make activities, book delivery, strict computer-use time limits, and social distancing signs throughout the buildings to encourage individuals to stay six feet apart. During this phase, meeting rooms will still be closed to the public and materials quarantined before returning to the collection. Building hours may be reduced to allow for additional cleaning by staff and possible special hours for senior citizens and customers with compromised immune systems. Ongoing staff telework options will be considered on a case-by-case basis during this period, and we will encourage continued use of tools like virtual conferencing for meetings, when appropriate.
Finally, when the time is right, we will move to phase four when PCCLD returns to full services. This stage may require ongoing protective equipment for staff and social distancing techniques.
PCCLD has been far from idle during the COVID-19 public health crisis. In addition to what has been cited above, staff are working on essential functions from home and traveling periodically to library buildings with a travel letter signed by the Executive Director to carryout activities like security, human resources and payroll, facilities maintenance and custodial, finance and accounts payable, technical services and IT, and community relations and marketing. In total, upward of one-third of employees have been active this past month. We are pleased to continue to pay all regular full-time and part-time employees and we foresee deploying all staff as we ramp up the reopening process.
We have made, and will continue to make, countless difficult decisions to adjust our operations and make the library the best it can be in this unprecedented time. From our perspective, our decisions may not be perfect, but at the heart of every decision is our desire to do our best for our staff, our patrons, and the community we serve.
If you have questions or comments, you are encouraged to reach out to your supervisor, Terri Daly in Human Resources, or either of us.
Jon Walker
Executive Director
Sherri Baca
Associate Executive Director
