All staff are expected to report to their respective regular work locations at 9 a.m. on Monday, April 27, as PCCLD takes an important step in our plans for reopening library buildings to the public. There will be a mandatory training session for all staff on Monday morning, although library buildings will remain closed to the public for a while longer. Your supervisor will be in contact with you with additional information about Monday’s work expectations but you should plan to maintain social distancing with your colleagues while at work including the directive for all staff to wear face masks.
Public health authorities are reporting Covid-19 infection spread is slowing, but social distancing protocols remain important. You may bring your own personal face mask to wear at work although PCCLD also is providing face masks at all work locations for staff to wear. In addition to wearing a face mask, social distancing directives include staff maintaining at least a six-foot distance from other individuals, washing hands with soap and water for at least twenty seconds as frequently as possible or using hand sanitizer, covering coughs or sneezes (into the sleeve or elbow, not hands), regularly cleaning high-touch surfaces, and no shaking hands or other touching.
As we plan for reopening library buildings, our actions are being guided by local, state, and national public health authorities as well as our professional Colorado and national library peers and all relevant local, state, and federal laws and regulations. The week of April 27 will be focused on getting staff back to work and, later, on or about May 4, although the public will still not be allowed into library buildings, we will again accept books and other library materials returned by the public via external bookdrops. This later stage will include the use of meeting rooms as locations to quarantine returned materials before being reshelved. This phase will see “contactless” curbside materials pick-up, too, along with libraries returning to regular hours of service. You will receive additional information about this on April 27.
Afterward at a later phase of reopening, we will readmit the public into library buildings. There is no date for this to announce at this time. This stage will include personal protective equipment requirements based upon public health authority guidance, such as face masks, plexiglass barriers at service desks, rearranging building furnishings to promote social distancing, and limiting the number of people in the building at any given time. It will involve ensuring patrons in the buildings abide by public health guidance, and ongoing cleaning and disinfection of high-touch surfaces. PCCLD will supply self-service cleaning supplies for patrons such as sanitizing wipes and hand sanitizer. Staff will be tasked with monitoring this and asking the public to help by adhering to this change. 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 remain closed to the public and materials quarantined before returning to the collection. Finally, at a still later date when the time is right, we envision PCCLD returning to full services.
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
