A small, rural public library, we have public restrooms. In pre-pandemic times, our restrooms were not kept locked, and were cleaned once a day by our building's maintenance person.
Like many of you, I have had to tackle a lot of previously unaddressed conundrums since March of 2020. Especially when it involved developing a Safety Plan, this "tackling" has required research, patience, a good sense of humor, and lots of flexibility.[1]
My library's reopening plan calls for not allowing group meetings/ programs for a time.
I have been looking at some of my post-COVID "Ask the Lawyer" responses, and they are pretty grim. Such serious writing.
Of course, these are serious days, and operating during COVID-19 is a serious topic.
But I have been on the lookout for a chance for some joy, if not some outright levity. And finally, this question supplies one!
Should a board of trustees vote on their institution’s COVID-19 Safety Plan? Or should the adoption of the Plan be left entirely to the institution’s director or executive director?
Who is “in charge” of a library’s safety plan--the trustees, or the director?
It’s tricky, but if you bear with me, you will get an answer.
I work at a public library that is gradually reopening to the public. We employ quite a few librarians who trend older and have underlying health conditions. Many of these staff have been working remotely for the past few months, but not necessarily on tasks essential to their positions.
This is a heart-breaking question, and I am sure it has been a hard process to get to this phase in your operations and planning.
In regards to COVID-19 when libraries do reopen, (and allow people in) is it advisable to ask customers to leave the public building if they are exhibiting any visible COVID symptoms? If so, are there benchmarks for how extreme symptoms should be or how policies should be worded?
As the member writes, it is very difficult to determine if some physical factors—coughing, a flush, seeming malaise—are in fact symptoms of COVID-19. Confronting a patron with suspected symptoms can also lead to concerns impacting community relations, privacy, and the ADA.
[Submitted from a SUNY Library]
This is a deep array of questions, requiring a deep array of answers.
But let’s start with the basics.
There are 64 SUNY campuses, some with more than one library.
Our library has taken the next step in re-opening and is welcoming the public back into our building. We have a Safety Plan, and we have posted signage in key areas to help the public follow our safety practices, including staying at least six feet apart whenever possible, and every visitor using hand sanitizer upon entry and (if over the age of two) wearing face coverings at all times.
Public and Association libraries have questions about making policies creating conditions that must be met for library staff to return to work. Can they set policies that exclude vulnerable employees from being able to return to work? Can they set policies requiring non-vulnerable employees to return to work?
I had initially considered bundling this question with another submission about temporary actions or policies during COVID-19. After all, both questions relate to policy, and a big goal of “Ask the Lawyer” is to provide legal information efficiently.
