Pandemic Resources for Libraries
Concerned about coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) in your library or wondering what to tell your patrons? We've put together some guidance and resources for libraries.
Go to:
Closings •
Reopening •
Meetings • •
Resources •
General Guidance
Library Closings
If your library has to close due to local outbreaks, please let us know by filling out this form, or if you need help with due dates of book club kits or ILL items due to patron illness, please let us know at nlc.ask@nebraska.gov.
Reopening Your Library
Guidance on restoring library services as conditions change:
- Phased Plan for Reopening Nebraska Libraries
- ALA COVID-19 Recovery a curated, online repository of tools, guides and resources from the American Library Association
- REALM Project: REopening Archives, Libraries, and Museums Information Hub: A COVID-19 Research Project from OCLC, the Institute of Museum and Library Services, and Battelle
- REALM Project Toolkit: decision-making checklists, test results in visial format, and other resources for libraries.
- Reopening Guidance for Cleaning and Disinfecting Public Spaces, Workplaces, Businesses, Schools, and Homes from the CDC
- Guidance for Opening Up America Again Framework - unofficial CDC guidance.
- OSHA Guidance on Preparing Workplaces for COVID-19
- Nebraska Directed Health Measures
- 2020 CARES Act Grants for Nebraska Libraries, awarded by the Nebraska Library Commission, and administered by IMLS and the CARES Act. (Deadline 6/20/20)
- FREE Customizable COVID-19 Signage Templates from Demco
- Reopening Guidance from the State Library of Oregon.
School Libraries
Looking for school library/media center-specific information?
Meetings
Need to hold a library board or other public board meeting? Governor Ricketts has issued an executive order waiving certain requirements of the Nebraska Open Meetings Act to allow elected board
officials to attend meetings virtually while in quarantine or isolation, through April 30m 2021.
- Once this executive order expires, library boards still have the option to hold meetings via teleconference or videoconference, as long as they meet the conditions in Section 84-1411 of the Nebraska Open Meetings Act. These meetings are subject to the full Nebraska Open Meetings Act, so be sure to post notice of the meetings as you would normally,
telling the general public how they may access the meeting (contact the board president or library director for a phone number or link and password.
- Zoom is a commonly used videoconferencing software and they
have a page of Privacy and Security Resources that will help libraries keep their virtual meetings safe and secure: https://zoom.us/docs/en-us/privacy-and-security.html.
- The Nebraska Library Commission does not endorse any one specific online meeting service; here are some commonly used resources.
Resources
Responses and Guidance from Local and National Library Organizations
Health education/facts:
Continuing Operations/Disaster Planning
Providing online/remote services:
Continuing Education:
General Guidance
General guidance for patrons and staff, from the
CDC:
- Practice preventative behaviors
- Stay home when sick
- Cover coughs and sneezes; wear masks/face coverings
- Wash hands frequently with soap and water
- Disinfect surfaces
- Wipe down doorknobs, light switches, table tops, keyboards/mice, phones, and other shared equipment.Guidance
from the CDC on disinfecting.
- Books and other library materials cannot easily be disinfected; remind patrons and staff to wash their hands after handling.
- How to Sanitize Collections in a Pandemic - article from American Libraries Magazine.
- How to Quarantine School Library Books - a guide from DEMCO.
- Temporarily remove toys, tech kits, games, and similar items that would need to be continually cleaned.
- from the National Institute of Health,
New Coronavirus Stable on Surfaces for Hours
- from the REALM Project, Initial test results show that the SARS-CoV-2 virus's ability to survive on tested materials after varies between 1 and 6+ days, depending on material and storage conditions.
- Promote online collections
- http://nlc.nebraska.gov/overdrive/
- http://nebraskaccess.ne.gov/resources.asp
- Free ebook sources
- Eliminate touch-points with patrons
- Provide tissues, masks, and hand santizier if possible.
- Have patrons scan their own cards.
- Encourage use of outside drop-boxes if you are open; if you close, ask patrons to hold materials and extend due dates/wavie fines.
- Consider curb-side service, closing meeting rooms, postponing or cancelling programming to limit traffic inside the building. Demco has this checklist for curbside services.
- Increase your WIFI signal so it extends outside the building to allow patrons to access the internet on their own devices outside.