Dear All,
I am pleased to share with you that Pueblo County has received the “green light” from the Governor’s Office and the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment for additional activities to commence in Pueblo County. This includes the Library District. This approval has been anticipated, so we have been preparing for a while to ramp-up additional PCCLD services.
Beginning Friday, June 19 (one week from today), local library buildings will reopen doors for computer-by-appointment service. A limited number of individuals will be admitted into libraries to access designated public computers. These will include a subset of the public computers normally available in order to accommodate ongoing social distancing requirements. Furniture and equipment adjustments have been made in the libraries and signs put in place to encourage appropriate distancing and sanitizing can be maintained. Use of computers will occur by reservation in 45-minute sessions. Security guards will screen members of the public at the front door of each library to ensure a reservation is in place, conduct health screening for individuals entering the building, and ensure each person is wearing the required face covering. Each cohort of computer users will be cleared from the building on the hour and the area sanitized prior to the next reservation group entering for the next 45-minute session. Staff procedures for distancing and use of personal protective equipment will remain in place. Both library curbside and virtual services that have proven to be popular will continue.
Library staff training on this will be available as a webinar via PCCLD University beginning Monday, June 15, and all staff should complete the one-hour training program before libraries reopen next Friday. Kayci Barnett (Giodone Library Manager) will email you a link soon to this recorded program so you can view the webinar at a time that works best for you.
These are the changes for now. An additional PCCLD service will begin a week or two after the computer-by-appointment program launches next Friday. This subsequent service will provide access to libraries for a limited number of people for collection browsing. Cohorts of patrons will be welcomed into each library by appointment to browse collections in 45-minute sessions. Security guards will screen these individuals before allowing entry to the library in the same manner as described above for computer-by-appointment and social distancing rules will remain in effect. Most public seating will remain unavailable because “hanging out” for extended periods to read, study, or similar activities will not be allowed. The browsing-by-appointment service should commence about one-to-two weeks after the kick-off of the computer-by-appointment service.
Both the computer-by-appointment and browsing-by-appointment services are carefully aligned with the new public health order for Pueblo County. Your supervisor is apprised of this plan along with additional details. Please do not hesitate to reach out to your supervisor or me with questions.
COVID-19 remains a challenge although public health authorities report that spread of the virus is well managed at this time in our community. If this trend continues, public health orders will become even less restrictive down the road. There is not a date for this, yet, but when the time is right, limited programming onsite in libraries will restart and, still later, full services will spin up including reopening library meeting rooms and study areas. Throughout all of this, we will adhere to directions from public health authorities and our actions will continue to line up with guidance from the State of Colorado, the Pueblo Department of Public Health and Environment, and federal agencies such as the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Libraries provide for essential needs in our community, and I thank you for doing your part to ensure these are met in a safe and responsible manner.
Thank you for your service,
Jon
