Libraries cautiously begin to reopen amid COVID
Plan is to proceed slowly, phasing in each process
Jazmine Adams-McNeal tried time and time again to explain to her young daughter why their weekly trips to the library stopped suddenly in March. It didn’t go over well.
“It was a lot of meltdowns,” said Adams-McNeal, 31, of Ferguson, Missouri. She, her wife and their children – a 4year-old girl and twin 2-year-old boys – are staples at their local library. “My daughter grew up at the library. We stay going to all the programs. Definitely the lap-times on Fridays.”
Amid all the talk of the country reopening, libraries across the nation are struggling to reopen the doors to communities that have come to rely on them not just for books, videos and reading hours, but also for an array of social services, from literary programs, U.S. citizenship classes, housing and tax assistance, and public bathrooms for the homeless.
Just 37% of libraries plan to reopen this month and in July, according to a recently released survey from the American Library Association. Nearly half of the nation’s libraries – 47% – do not have plans to reopen their doors to the public anytime soon, according to the association, which surveyed 3,800 libraries from all 50 states in May.
“We all think of nurses and doctors as the first responders during the pandemic. And I would say that that’s absolutely true. They are the first responders – on health,” said Susan Benton, head of the research-focused Urban Library Council. “Public libraries are the first responders on the recovery.”
More than just lending books, libraries have historically filled in the cracks of society, Benton said.
Library usage surged a decade ago during the Great Recession, according
to the American Library Association, because of free public access to the Internet, computers, workforce training, education classes and social services.
But the coronavirus pandemic has cut off that resource for vulnerable populations who may once again need those resources at a time when the U.S. is now officially in a recession.
“Libraries are the most visited civic institution in the country,” said Tony Marx, president of New York City’s library. “And that’s because everyone uses the library. You know, whether you’re black or white, whether you’re red or blue, whether you’re rich or poor.”
Using a phased approach
The Urban Library Council, which serves as a think-tank for hundreds of libraries in metro areas, has been convening leaders since quarantines began months ago to come up with a game plan for this moment.
“You know what it’s appropriate for San Francisco may not at all be appropriate for Tucson, Arizona, or for Miami,
Florida,” Benton said. “It really varies from locality to locality.”
Still, some best practices have emerged. Many libraries, like businesses and local and state governments, are following a phased approach.
The first phase is likely to be a restart of book lending, that’s curbside or contactless. Next, there could be limited inperson browsing and building visits. Third, there will likely be more open access to visit, meet and congregate within buildings.
Most libraries say they’re planning to step up cleaning and require masks by staff and the public.
“I won’t pretend that we aren’t apprehensive about aspects of this. We are. But we have to bear in mind how much the library means to a number of people,” said Waller McGuire, CEO of St. Louis City Public Library. “I know that we’re not a hospital and we’re not a grocery, but we’re a vital service.”
St. Louis last week began allowing people to drop off library books they’ve had to hold onto for months because of stay-at-home orders.
Returned materials will be quarantined for 72 hours before being eligible to be re-lent, another practice many libraries said they’d adhere to.
By the middle of June, five of the St. Louis’ libraries will open portions of their buildings for limited browsing. Less than 20 people will be allowed inside at one time, and there will be a 15minute limit.
“I know that everyone is anxious to return to a familiar, comfortable world, but we’re just not there yet,” McGuire said.
McGuire and others say they’re following the lead of their local governments. And they’re aware that this is an experiment.
Larger libraries will wait to reopen
Chicago also opened some of its libraries this week, requiring social distancing, masks and giving people time limits for computer use.
But many large library systems said they are still grappling with how to reopen safely, especially in communities that have seen high rates of coronavirus.
That’s true especially in New York City, home to the nation’s largest library system and the epicenter of the pandemic thus far. As of Thursday, New York City had seen more than 205,000 cases and 17, 255 confirmed deaths. More than 2 million people in the U.S. have contracted the COVID and 113,168 have died from it, according to Johns Hopkins University.
“We know that the reopening of this city is going to be way messier than closing. Lots of hard decisions, lots of risk assessment,” Marx said. “We have to go carefully with reopening to ensure the safety of our staff and of the public.”
New York, too, is likely to stick to a phased approach, Marx said, beginning with minimal-to-no-contact book pickups, possibly in July.
There is no timeline or date to allow wider public access to buildings yet, Marx said.