Library Covid Protocal in Fall 2020

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Libraries in cities large and small have taken on more and
more social services and functions as the country depends more and more on
digital forms and sources of information for business, education,
record-keeping, government services, and so on. This has been especially true
since the Great Recession of 2008 and then during the Covid-19 pandemic, when
almost all doors were closed to the public for certain weeks and months, the
role of the library as information hub became even more important. In the case
of the Grand Rapids Public Library several problem-solving teams formed to
create a sliding scale of public operations, according to CDC, State of
Michigan, and Kent County Health Department guidance. According to some of the
staff, it was helpful to look to libraries around the country taking the lead
on overcoming Covid limitations (care about physically touching and
transmitting virus on books and other media, Personal Protective Equipment
stocked and used correctly, supporting workers based at home versus in the
library premises).

In the end, a 4-phase model was established: phase four is
least virus danger and full access inside the libraries by patrons (normal
operations). Phase 1 was complete isolation: no public access, limited supply
of print and other physical materials, expanded monthly usage limits for
digital services (streaming of books, music, TV and movies, educational
series). Phase 2 added some services at four of the city\u2019s eight library
locations: largest site was the main library downtown, the other three large
buildings were Yankee Clipper branch, West Leonard branch, and Seymour branch.
State-wide interlibrary loans with participating partners resumed little by
little. Requests for printouts (documents sent in by upload form), and faxes
sent/received now carried no charge (but printing 50 pages per week was
capped). During Phase 3 the doors at all 8 library locations opened to allow
reduced occupancy of visitors for 30-minute periods, browsing the collections,
using public computers, consulting with staff, and picking up books or
print-jobs placed by phone or online.

The chronology of phases for the city of Grand Rapids
libraries began in 2020 on March 14 at the end of the day, closing to public
entry. Staff began scrambling for new protocols and figuring out how to
incorporate staffing based at home. (Phase 1 operations)

On June 15 limited services, days and hours, for curbside delivery
or walk-up window pickup at the 4 biggest (of 8) locations: Yankee Clipper in
NE, Seymour in SE, West Leonard in NW and Main (Phase 2 operations)

As of October 12 \u201cPhase 3\u201d was begun: all 8 locations with
limited building entry for 30 minutes per day on fixed days and hours but with reduced
occupancy limits. Social distancing and (supplied) face-masks required. Many building
staff even put costumes on to celebrate Hallowe\u2019en when so much else of normal
social routines had been suppressed or eliminated by the virus response
efforts. The earlier system of drive-up and curbside delivery of library
materials carried on, too. This photo at the checkout counter at the Yankee
Clipper branch displays an erasable board with checkboxes to show what services
are available. The list of most frequent uses of the library is summarized on
this board in list form.

About six weeks later, though, rising hospitalizations of Covid-related
illness led to state-wide restrictions on dining, travel, retail, and so on.
The GRPL branches returned to \u201cPhase 2\u201d on November 23. But instead of limiting
(closed to public) operations of staff to the four largest locations, now all 8
provided curbside services, on demand printing, and so on.

Then after the pandemic havoc of Thanksgiving, Christmas,
and New Years traveling and clustering of strangers and friends and family, levels
of infection (testing) and deaths (both at hospitals and nursing homes) began
to decrease. The GRPL announced plans to reopen their doors to limited public
access on February 24, 2021, following the \u201cPhase 3\u201d guidelines for all 8
locations. Nobody can be sure when the pre-Covid operations will return: days,
hours, user routines for the public Internet, library reference and loan
materials, events, outreach and education, \u201cdestination\u201d for people with no
where else to pass the time, and so on. This short video describes opening
details, https://youtu.be/G1ITqiZtgBA
(1 minute 46 seconds) as carried on their webpage, https://www.grpl.org/reopen/phase3/

As of Early March 2021, approximately 1/3 of Michigan adults
have received at least 1 of the 2 doses of vaccine (the Johnson & Johnson
vaccine was approved on emergency-use basis a week ago and required 1, not 2
doses). The POTUS asserts this week that all adults in the country will be able
to have vaccination by the end of May; and that schools should resume where
ever possible in-person by April, although such decisions rest with local
school board members. Vaccination of children is still undergoing trials, but
logistically likely could not be completed nation-wide until sometime in the
fall of 2021. It will only be in hindsight that some of the errors and triumphs
will be visible and can be appreciated, no doubt. But already there are
organized efforts to document the processes and responses, experiences and
stories and pictures along the way.

Signs (stories) of the Covid-19 year are being collected by
the local history section of the Grand Rapids Public Library, https://www.grpl.org/covid-19-stories/

As well, the Grand Rapids Public Museum is also seeking to
document some of the residents\u2019 experiences during the pandemic, https://www.grpm.org/community-documentation-covid-19/

At the national level, the Library of Congress invited
photographers on the Flickr photo-sharing website to submit up to five of their
own Covid-related pictures to their collection, https://blogs.loc.gov/loc/2020/09/library-seeks-pictures-of-pandemic-experiences
.

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