Delaware County libraries to require masks
Unlike most everywhere else in the county, anyone entering Delaware County District libraries must have a face covering to help prevent COVID-19 spread beginning Wednesday.
The 3-2 board vote Monday approving the requirement came following spirited debate about social responsibility, potential lawsuits and necessity to require something the county health department hasn’t.
“I don’t believe the health district would leave us open to health issues and leave it to us to decide,” said board member Holly Quaine, who voted with Scott Tiede against requiring face coverings.
“We just don’t have the legal authority,” she argued.
Board President Michael Butler, who voted for the requirement along with board members Brenda Eldridge and Ceena Dinovo Baker, said the library’s ultimate responsibility is one of caring for each other and the community.
“I don’t understand why there’s so much pushback on being respectful of others,” Butler said. “I don’t see how the mask gets in the way of doing the right thing for our fellow man.”
Delaware County, which has about 210,000 residents, has had 763 cases of COVID-19 with 15 deaths as of Monday, according to Ohio Department of Health statistics. Franklin County, with 1.3 million residents, has had 12,301 cases and 449 deaths. Ohio has had 66,853 cases and 3,064 deaths.
The Delaware County prosecutor’s office advised the library board against imposing a face-covering requirement, stating that it has no statutory basis to do so, even if libraries can impose other rules and regulations on its patrons.
“This takes it beyond the ’no-shirt, no-shoes, no-service’ type policy,” said Eric C. Penkal, an assistant Delaware County prosecutor.
Penkal said that the requirement could provoke lawsuits based on equal protection and First Amendment rights. He advised the library to follow guidelines being set by state and local health departments.
Asked if closing a library for health reasons wouldn’t also prompt legal challenges, Penkal replied: “I actually think that you would be under stronger footing ... to close your buildings, because that’s across the board. There’s no equal protection concern when everyone is being kept out of a specific location for public health concerns.”
When Quaine challenged the board to be responsible by preventing litigation, library system Director George
Needham spoke up, passionately defending his responsibility to protect his staff of about 100 employees at the main library in the city of Delaware and branches in Orange Township, Powell and Ostrander.
“They spend a hell of a lot more time in the library than any one user who wants to come in and get their materials.”
The decision by a majority of the Delaware District library board follows the lead of larger libraries that have supported mask requirements.
Columbus Metropolitan Library last month enacted a mask requirement inside its libraries but recently halted its plan for a limited opening and closed its branches amid rising cases of coronavirus. The library system is still offering curbside pickup. dnarciso@dispatch.com @Deannarciso