By DAVID DUPONT
BG Independent News
The Wood County District Public Library is poised to welcome patrons back inside on Tuesday, July 7.
Library Director Michael Penrod reported Thursday that if all goes well – including the delivery and installation of a few more sneeze guards– the library will open.
“We’re excited and a little apprehensive,” Penrod said.
In this first step, the library will be open limited hours – Tuesday, 11 a.m. to 3 p.m., Wednesday, 3-7 p.m., Friday, 1-5 p.m., and Saturday 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. Those hours, he said, were determined by looking at patterns of usage. Tuesday, he said, is the highest day for circulation. The Saturday was added for those who work out of town, and may not be able to come during the week.
Patrons will have to abide by a temporary code of conduct that the trustees approved on May 28. (See below.)
That includes requiring everyone, over the age of 3, in the building to wear masks.
Those who cannot or will not wear a mask will receive core library services, checkout of materials and reference, through “reasonable accommodation.”
Most of those accommodations – curbside pickup and delivery for circulation or answering reference queries by phone, fax, or computer – are already in place.
The mask rule is to protect staff as well as patrons. Patrons who refuse “a reasonable instruction” to don a mask will be asked to leave. If they don’t leave, Penrod said, the police will be called.
Before entering patrons will be asked to wash their hands at a portable hand washing machine outside the door. They will also be encouraged to clean their hands while in the building.
The library is contracting with a cleaning service to augment the deep cleaning done by staff.
“There’s so much to do,” Penrod said. “I just need this place to sparkle.”
All minors, 14 and under, must be under the direct supervision of an adult, 18 or older, at all times.
The Children’s Place will be open but there will be no children’s programing. Penrod said the summer reading program, “Imagine Your Story,” is going well, thanks to the many Facebook and YouTube videos the Children’s Place staff is producing.
“There’s some magic there,” he said.
Patrons will be allowed to be in the building for 30 minutes, once a day. Occupancy will be limited to 25 percent of fire code capacity – 63 people, including staff, in Bowling Green and 19 in Walbridge.
Much of the furniture will be removed, though some chairs will stay. The Children’s Place will resemble a library of 50 years ago, Penrod said.
The library community received good news when a study found that the coronavirus disappeared from library materials within three days – the Wood County library has been quarantining returned materials for four days, and will continue to do so.
So far patrons have been limited to the books within the library’s collection because the service that delivers interlibrary loan materials is not operating, and will not begin deliveries until 85 percent of the state’s libraries, including college libraries, are operating. That’s not expected to be until mid-August.
However, Penrod said, because the public libraries within Wood County work well together, they will be able to start the courier service in mid-July to share materials among themselves.
Also, at the meeting Penrod shared with the board the spending plan he and fiscal officer Linda Joseph developed to deal with reductions in state funding.
They reduced the budget by more than $330,000, bringing it to just shy of $2.8 million, a 10.7 percent decrease.
Some line items, however, saw increases, including the cost of janitorial services and professional fees, to cover the cleaning service, and purchase of e-books and digital content. That increase was balanced out by a decrease in spending on print materials.
Penrod said he expects funding from the state to be unstable for a year and a half. State funding for libraries is based on a percentage of state revenues.
He reported that while patrons appreciate the delivery service the library started earlier this month, demand has been tepid. He said he expects it “to fold into an expanded homebound service.”
Even as the library opens, the delivery service will continue weekdays 1-4 p.m. Curbside pickup will continue weekdays 9 a.m. to 6 p.m.
Penrod said that they will take several weeks to see how the opening will go before considering expansion of hours.
It was announced that Trustee Chet Marcin will leave the board at the end of his term. He’s served as a trustee for two seven-year terms. Marcin, an attorney, said that when he was first approached to join the board and was told the term was seven years, he replied: “That’s not a term, that’s a sentence.”
Marcin said he’d learned much from his service on the board and planned to stay active, including working for the passage of the levy that will be on the November ballot.
However, at 76, he didn’t want to commit to another seven years.
There’s some confusion as to whether his term ends in July or at the end of the year, so he may still be a trustee through December.
But board president Brian Paskvan read a proclamation, celebrating his years of service, on Thursday in case this was in fact his final meeting.
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TEMPORARY CODE OF CONDUCT POLICY ADDENDUM DUE TO THE COVID-19 PANDEMIC
Adopted on May 28, 2020 by the WCDPL Board of Trustees
The following items are added to the Library Code to Conduct as an addendum and shall sunset on December 31, 2020, unless otherwise extended or suspended by the Board of Trustees.
- Library patrons, age three and older, must wear a face covering at all times while in the buildings.
- For those unable or unwilling to wear a face covering, reasonable accommodations will include delivery of CORE library services (checkout of materials and reference service) via telephone, fax, digital services, curbside pickup, and no-contact delivery within defined service areas.
- Patrons that are sick, have a fever or new onset cough (non-allergy), or have had symptoms of respiratory infection in the past 7 days should not enter the buildings, even if wearing a face covering.
- All visitors will practice social distancing at all times, ensuring a minimum of six feet distance to all others.
- While in library buildings, patrons shall practice good hand hygiene by properly washing hands or using hand sanitizer.
- Facilities will observe occupancy limits of no more than 25% of the Fire Code Capacity for each building: Bowling Green – 63 people (including staff) Walbridge – 19 people (including staff)
- Minors (those under age 14) must be accompanied by, and under the direct supervision of, an adult (18 years of age or older) at all times.
- There will be no loitering on any library property at any time.
- Patrons visiting the buildings may do so for no longer than one 30-minute visit per day.
- Patron use of library computers shall be:
- Limited to 30-minutes per day.
- Limited to essential business/research use. No games, social media, etc. permitted.
- Managed by prior scheduled reservations, with enough time for cleaning and disinfection between each patron.
- Patrons shall return all borrowed materials via the external book returns.
- No groups/family units in excess of four people or class visits shall be permitted.
For questions or concerns as to the Temporary Code of Conduct, please contact the Library Director at 419-352-5104.
