[Michlib-l] What libraries have opened to the public ? Fully? No Appointments? Are doing Saturdays yet? Or are you not planning to open fully anytime soon

[Lisa Waskin]

Pamela,

We have nine libraries in our district, located in the Eastern Upper Peninsula.  We opened them all at different times and stages, depending on the staff and preparedness levels, starting June 23rd.  We still have one library that is one of our school/public locations that is open only by appointment, but the rest are fully open now.  The first library went straight to opening without any curbside or appointments first, and had no problems.  The other eight were all open for curbside and then appointment only first, and phased in.  We have limited time on the computers, removed seating, taken away all the toys, and have only done outdoor programs and virtual programs at this time.  We have our first indoor book discussion group scheduled for October 15th at our main branch in the Sault.  We are limiting the number of people that may attend.

Honestly, we have had very few issues at any of the libraries.  Some people still prefer curbside.  We have a lot fewer people coming in than before, at all the libraries.  We have four school/publics, and those have undergone the greatest changes.  The librarians in those locations are doing Library on a Cart, where they have a laptop with mobile circulation and a schedule for each classroom for the week.  They do story times in the classes and check out the books to the kids that way now instead of having classes come to the libraries.

We have a wipe down schedule for the buildings, we have tables and carts for people to place items on that they have browsed but not checked out so that we can quarantine them, we have a half hour limit on computers, we are using plastic wrap on the keyboards that we swap out between each patron, we have the germ shields in place at the desk, we only have one point of entrance to all of the buildings, we are very strict about requiring masks, and asking patrons to pull them up over their noses, we have disposable masks for the patrons who “forgot” theirs, and it is going pretty well.  We are open normal hours at all of our locations, including Saturdays.  The first week we were open, we had people stationed at the front doors in one hour shifts to welcome people back, make sure they were wearing a mask, and see if there was anything we could do to help.  We were friendly and firm, and people said they really appreciated having someone greet them.  I wish we could have someone do that all the time, but time and money really don’t allow it unfortunately.  Maybe down the road we can get volunteer FOL to be greeters.

I hope all goes well for you, and if you have any other questions, please don’t hesitate to ask.

Warm Regards,

Lisa

 

Lisa Waskin, Director

Superior District Library

541 Library Drive

Sault Ste. Marie, MI 49783

Ph. (906) 632-9331

Fax (906) 635-0210

 <mailto:lisaw at uproc.lib.mi.us> lisaw at uproc.lib.mi.us

 

From: Michlib-l [mailto:michlib-l-bounces at mcls.org] On Behalf Of ML Tamarack Circulation via Michlib-l
Sent: Tuesday, September 29, 2020 3:36 PM
To: michlib-l at mail3.mcls.org
Subject: [Michlib-l] What libraries have opened to the public ? Fully? No Appointments? Are doing Saturdays yet? Or are you not planning to open fully anytime soon

 

We have lots of questions on how opening to the public might go. We are open by appointment right now. However, we are looking at opening up fully no appointments.  How do you go about contract tracing? How do you go about managing time that patrons are allowed in the library?  Or do you not limit? Did Curbside end when you fully opened up ? How many libraries have added Saturdays back in to their opening plan? 

We are currently not open on Saturdays.  Open via appt for browsing or curbside.  Mon, Wed and Fri 11 to 430 and Tues and Thurs 11 to 730.

 

Thank you in advance !  I appreciate any information you can provide us.

 

-- 

Pamela Feutz

Adult Services
Tamarack District Library 
832 S Lincoln 
Lakeview Mi 48850

 

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