Staff Q and A, June 9

There were a lot of good questions asked at this morning’s Q and A session.

Q:        Now that there are more staff working in the buildings, and with patrons coming on June 15^th, are we going to keep the same protocols regarding social distancing or will it be the Wild, Wild West?

A:        We will try to maintain the 6 foot rule and encourage patrons to do the same.  We’ll also be limiting the number of patrons in the building at any one time.  Masks are worn by staff and encouraged to be worn by patrons because a distance of 6 feet is not always possible.  We have to remember that patrons will have different expectations from staff and that’s it’s OK to keep a wide berth—we don’t have to stand close to them, and we can tell them we’re being cautious.  The number of people allowed in the building will depend on how they spread out.

There was further discussion about the difficulty of maintaining social distancing in some areas, such as among the holds shelves.  There have been patrons who don’t seem to understand social distancing, and have come right up to staff, giving them papers or library cards.

Q:        How long will staff have access to email from home?

A:        As long as there are staff continuing to work regularly from home, there are no plans to change at this time.  We do need to continue to ensure that non-exempt staff are paid for all time that they work.  This will be an IT/HR discussion.

Q:        Patrons often hand us their cell phones to get ebooks for them.  Can we discourage this? 

A:        Yes, we should look for ways to not handle devices, cards, or other belongings of patrons.

Steve let attendees know that VolunTeens would be coming back soon to help.

Q:        What will the VolunTeens be doing?  Can they direct traffic on curbside days?

A:        There won’t be any in-person programs, but they’ll help with preparing to-go crafts and lots of circulation help, including shelving, sorting, and doing pull lists.  Directing traffic may be a good use of their time as well.

Q:        Are we just using VolunTeens, or will all volunteers be coming back?

A:        All volunteers are welcome back, as long as they are not currently under the shelter in place order for higher-risk individuals.

Q:        When will we be receiving scripts to help us handle situations likely to come up at the branch?

A:        A draft has been given to Public Services Supervisors for their comments and additions, and the scripts will be sent to all Information staff by the end of the week.  This will be a work in progress.

Q:        Will there be a script for how to handle people who expect us to monitor other people's behavior (not social distancing, etc)?

A:        Yes, that will be included.

Q:        Will the Q & A sessions continue? These, along with the staff blog have helped me feel more connected and “in the know” about what’s going on in other departments and the branches, which is really appreciated.

A:        Yes, we’ll continue them for a while but we don’t know at this point how long we’ll do them.

Alicia said she liked Anna’s staff blog post on race the other day and said that a recent patron blog post featuring books on race in America has been very popular, with 130 views in two days and the titles checked out and holds placed on them.

Anna asked if the Story Stroll at Cumming would be reopening and it was confirmed that it would be.  The theme is Bigfoot Cinderella, complete with an 8-foot-tall Bigfoot.

Q:        How are we handling computer use with patrons?  Handing out keyboards? 

A:        We’ll be removing keyboards and mice from some of the computers to allow for social distancing.  The computers that will be used will have their keyboards and mice remain, but we will clean after each use.

Q:        Will there be training on the computer reservation system?

A:        Yes.  Ask your supervisor.

Anna asked if the big order of wipes has arrived yet and Tonya said that it has.

Nikki said that there was a lot of recruiting happening now.  We need a lot of CSAs, and an IS/YS posting just went up.

Q:        Will you consider high school students for CSAs?

A:        Yes, they just need to be 16 but do not need to have graduated from high school.  Elise emphasized that they are not just summer hires—they would need to be available throughout the school year.  She said we also have an in-house posting for Outreach Specialist.

Anna mentioned that there are state budget cuts but no hiring freezes at this point and that we need to be fully staffed.  She said that recent sales tax revenue decreases have been smaller than anticipated, which is a good sign.

Q:        Does chat end on June 15?

A:        No, we plan to continue with it.

Q:        Will chat stay the same hours once we reopen?

A:        Yes, it will remain at the current hours.

Q:        Will Information staff continue to monitor it?

A:        Yes.

Q:        Will we be quarantining slush items that patrons who are in-branch and browsing leave behind or don't want?

A:        We know that we won’t be able to quarantine every item that a patron touches, but we will have signage asking patrons to leave items they don’t want on a cart, and we will quarantine these items.