Next Steps in the Library’s Return to Its Pre-Pandemic State

Submitted by Anna Lyle and Stephen Kight

With the Governor’s recent executive order and increasing numbers of people being fully vaccinated for COVID-19, there are rapidly changing expectations by the community for the library to return to its pre-pandemic state as soon as possible.  With that in mind, we are announcing the following changes:

Mask Requirement for Patrons: Earlier this week we changed the wording of our signage in the branches, on our website, and on social media to remove the “requirement” terminology.  Masks are still encouraged and provided for free.

Food and Drink:  We temporarily suspended the policy allowing food and drink when we started requiring masks.  We will remove the “No food and drink” signs on April 26^th and begin allowing food and drink again at that time.  There are no plans at this time to bring back the vending machines, and a decision has not been made whether they will return in the future.

Meeting Rooms:  Three of the four meeting rooms will be available for reservation by the end of May.  Each location is different depending on the size of the room and library activities.  As our policy indicates, the meeting rooms are available for public use only when not in use for library programs or activities.  Reservations will be available for dates up to 30 days in the future.  Pre-pandemic, we allowed reservations up to 60 days in advance, but are still planning summer programs that have not been nailed down yet.  We don’t normally allow any public meeting room use in June and July due to programs, but we are making an exception for this summer because our in-person programming schedule is lighter this year.

• Hampton Park—Community groups and organizations may request the use of the meeting room beginning April 23^rd for dates beginning April 26^th. 
• Sharon Forks—One-half of the meeting room will be available for reservation at a date TBD (approx. mid-May), but will not be available for much of the summer due to the next Book Walk engagement program.
• Post Road—Meeting room will be available for reservation at a date TBD (by end of May).
• Cumming—Reservations will not be accepted for the duration of the roof replacement project, which may result in occasional, unscheduled closures.  Meeting room will also be needed for staging several other facilities projects taking place over the next few months. Meeting room will reopen after these projects are complete. 

Study Rooms:  Two study rooms at each location reopened on April 12^th.  The remaining study rooms will reopen on April 26^th. 

Staff Use of Rooms:  While we are reopening meeting rooms and study rooms for the public, we understand that there continue to be plenty of reasons for staff to continue to use these spaces, including preparing or filming programs, working independently, or having space to take lunches and breaks.  Staff should not hesitate to reserve space as needed (just as patrons would do), including buffers before and/or after if desired.

Furniture:  Most of the furniture currently being stored in various rooms around the branches will be returned to the public areas over the next month.

Computers:  Remaining desktop computers will be returned to the public areas over the next two weeks.  A date has not yet been determined when we will return the AWE computers to the public areas.

Branch-Specific Questions:  Each branch is different, and Branch Managers are happy to talk with you about questions you have about a specific branch.

We realize these are a lot of changes at one time, and we appreciate the adaptability staff have shown as we are transitioning back to our pre-pandemic state.  We continue to keep the needs of staff in mind as well as patrons when changes are made, and we want to hear from you if you have questions or concerns.  Please feel free to leave a question or comment below, and you are welcome to do so anonymously if you prefer.  You’re also always welcome to leave a comment in a suggestion box in any of the five buildings, or to email your supervisor, Anna, or Steve at any time.