Dear Pueblo City-County Library District employee,
We hope you are well. Our activities have shifted dramatically since the onset of the public health crisis in March and the consequent closure of library buildings to the public with little warning beginning on March 14.
Since then employees have stayed busy supporting library operations. A special shout out to those who are working behind the scenes supporting critical library activities and, also, those who are assisting with our virtual branch library with focus on eBooks and eAudiobooks, streaming movies and music, online homework help and research databases, telephone reference, and learning programs for all ages presented via social media.
Starting May 4 we upped our game further with curbside service at our libraries as well as library home delivery services. This marked the beginning of Phase 2 of our reopening plans. It is now easy for patrons to return materials to their favorite neighborhood library and safely pick up new items without having direct contact with library staff or other patrons. Consistent with the current safer-at-home order, library team members are working inside our facilities wearing face coverings, washing hands thoroughly and frequently, and maintaining proper distance during any in-person interactions. Library staff are sanitizing shared work spaces, shelving books, pulling holds, quarantining returned materials, and helping circulate thousands of books and other items from the Library District’s large collection of materials.
We are grateful to each of you who is stepping up to serve in these ways for now, while we also look forward to the day down the road when our doors reopen and we welcome patrons back into libraries. We know it is critical for us to abide by public health mandates and guidelines as we strive to provide the best possible library service.
We have received some recent encouraging news. Governor Polis and the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment are signaling libraries may be able to offer limited in-person service beginning sometime in June if spread of the virus continues to subside. Whenever the time is right, we will set in motion additional library activities in a safe and responsible manner. We hope to announce more about this in the not too distant future, which will mark Phase 3 of PCCLD's multi-stage reopening plan. Later Phases will introduce limited onsite programming and, even later, full services and use of the library meeting rooms again.
An important note with today’s announcement is paid employee administrative leave ends on May 22. PCCLD has granted special paid administrative time off since March 14 for all regular part time and full time employees as a result of the public health emergency. This has continued since then so whenever an employee cannot work, s/he continues to be paid according to her/his regularly scheduled hours without using other leave time, such as sick leave, vacation leave, etc. Paid employee administrative leave ends on May 22, and any employee requiring leave after this date must collaborate with her/his supervisor and/or Human Resources to arrange for appropriate leave time from work.
We are pleased the Library District is able to remain viable and engaged during the current public health emergency. We acknowledge the COVID-19 virus remains a problem and challenge for everyone, and the situation continues to evolve. All of our actions will continue to carefully align with guidance from Governor Polis and the State of Colorado, as well as appropriate local and federal officials.
Sincerely,
Jon Walker
Executive Director
Sherri Baca
Associate Executive Director
