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thewayneHad a Zoom meeting with my boss and co-worker today, and they've formulated a draft proposal for re-opening the school. Administrators, i.e. the library director, start back mid-May. Emily and I early July. They listed July 1, but that's a really stupid day (which doesn't prevent it from being the actual day): the 4th of July, Independence Day, a national holiday, is on a Saturday. Which normally means you'd get Friday off as a paid holiday. Which means we'd go in Wednesday and Thursday and then take Friday off. Which is stupid. Much smarter to just come in Monday the 6th.
Which means we'll probably come in Wednesday the 1st.
ANYWAY.
We'll be either eliminating half of the public patron computers or radically spacing them out. I hope we don't have to eliminate them as there are times when they're heavily used. Not to mention there are times when the student computers don't want to print because our Beloved Head of IT is having printer configuration issues and we'll put students on the public computers to print. Fewer public computers means less likely that we can use them for students printing, which means we'll end up having the students generate PDFs to mail to us staffers to print.
*sigh*
Lots of computers coming off the floor, lots of chairs being removed, maybe tables, too. They're putting up plexiglass barriers in a fashion that doesn't makes sense to me, we'll see what they end up being. I don't understand what they intend to do with the device that we use to desensitize the security gate strip.
Even though we workerbees start early July, we won't be opening the doors until the semester starts, or maybe the week before. Staff/faculty may be allowed in by arrangement. We'll be practicing using gloves, masks, and face shields, cleaning computers and tabletops, plus cleaning book covers! There's no sensible way to clean the books themselves, short of isolating them for a week or so before re-shelving them, and that's just not practical.
When it comes to interlibrary loan, I can wipe down the mail envelopes/boxes with hospital-grade wipes before opening the packaging, then the books themselves again, all while wearing gloves, then process the books before carting them for reshelving.
Speaking of ILL, I have to go in to the library and extend its shutdown into July. I had extended it into later May, now we have firmer information as to when we're reopening, even though that's just draft information.
O brave new world that has such things in't.
My boss contacted me a few days ago and wanted to move me to Lyn's desk, she retired at the end of last year. This was the first news about the plexi shields they were installing. My current desk overlooks the entire floor of the library, Lyn's overlooks the hall going to the restrooms and back classrooms, i.e. almost zero meaningful foot traffic. I told Boss that if I have to move, I want to move into the desk part next to mine so that I can still overlook the library floor. Me and the work study are the only two there for two hours or more before closing, and I wouldn't have that information if I were at Lyn's desk. Well, today's call says I'm not moving at all. So whatever.
My hope is that before we open is that PPE manufacturing and distribution has stabilized so that not only hospitals have all they need but that consumer retail can get what they need! We're going to go through a lot of masks and gloves through the day, which is going to require a large supply. We're not going to wear the same mask and pair of gloves all day long, we're going to put them on, take them off, throw them away. I know how to remove gloves safely and might reuse them, haven't decided yet. I'm going to consult with my National Institutes of Health doctor along with a National Library of Medicine contact before I resume working. Masks? Maybe I'll buy one of those neck things that can be raised and lowered, buy multiples so I can wear a different one every day and just take it off and throw it in the wash when I get home.
I don't know, lots to work out.
Until then: work from home, continue to get paid, keep REALLY weird hours. Hopefully don't injure myself again!
Which means we'll probably come in Wednesday the 1st.
ANYWAY.
We'll be either eliminating half of the public patron computers or radically spacing them out. I hope we don't have to eliminate them as there are times when they're heavily used. Not to mention there are times when the student computers don't want to print because our Beloved Head of IT is having printer configuration issues and we'll put students on the public computers to print. Fewer public computers means less likely that we can use them for students printing, which means we'll end up having the students generate PDFs to mail to us staffers to print.
*sigh*
Lots of computers coming off the floor, lots of chairs being removed, maybe tables, too. They're putting up plexiglass barriers in a fashion that doesn't makes sense to me, we'll see what they end up being. I don't understand what they intend to do with the device that we use to desensitize the security gate strip.
Even though we workerbees start early July, we won't be opening the doors until the semester starts, or maybe the week before. Staff/faculty may be allowed in by arrangement. We'll be practicing using gloves, masks, and face shields, cleaning computers and tabletops, plus cleaning book covers! There's no sensible way to clean the books themselves, short of isolating them for a week or so before re-shelving them, and that's just not practical.
When it comes to interlibrary loan, I can wipe down the mail envelopes/boxes with hospital-grade wipes before opening the packaging, then the books themselves again, all while wearing gloves, then process the books before carting them for reshelving.
Speaking of ILL, I have to go in to the library and extend its shutdown into July. I had extended it into later May, now we have firmer information as to when we're reopening, even though that's just draft information.
O brave new world that has such things in't.
My boss contacted me a few days ago and wanted to move me to Lyn's desk, she retired at the end of last year. This was the first news about the plexi shields they were installing. My current desk overlooks the entire floor of the library, Lyn's overlooks the hall going to the restrooms and back classrooms, i.e. almost zero meaningful foot traffic. I told Boss that if I have to move, I want to move into the desk part next to mine so that I can still overlook the library floor. Me and the work study are the only two there for two hours or more before closing, and I wouldn't have that information if I were at Lyn's desk. Well, today's call says I'm not moving at all. So whatever.
My hope is that before we open is that PPE manufacturing and distribution has stabilized so that not only hospitals have all they need but that consumer retail can get what they need! We're going to go through a lot of masks and gloves through the day, which is going to require a large supply. We're not going to wear the same mask and pair of gloves all day long, we're going to put them on, take them off, throw them away. I know how to remove gloves safely and might reuse them, haven't decided yet. I'm going to consult with my National Institutes of Health doctor along with a National Library of Medicine contact before I resume working. Masks? Maybe I'll buy one of those neck things that can be raised and lowered, buy multiples so I can wear a different one every day and just take it off and throw it in the wash when I get home.
I don't know, lots to work out.
Until then: work from home, continue to get paid, keep REALLY weird hours. Hopefully don't injure myself again!
no subject
Date: 2020-04-27 11:24 pm (UTC)(My niece and nephew are in grade school, and their school always starts the Thursday before Labor Day weekend. I always ask "Why?" but I have not yet got an answer I understand.)
no subject
Date: 2020-04-28 12:48 am (UTC)Even though I suspect that The Organization is hoping that we'll be able to re-open ourselves at some point in the next two months.
no subject
Date: 2020-04-28 03:00 am (UTC)Our high-water marks for the gate counter is 50-75, and considering what our enrollment numbers are for the fall right now compared to the same date last year, we'll be lucky to hit 2/3rds of last year's numbers. We're going to have much lower library usage in the fall. I won't be surprised if we're averaging 30 a day, and we're probably going to go to an 8-5 instead of 8-7 days. We've been very fortunate, we still only have 4 cases in this county. We'll see what happens when things start unlocking. July is still two months away, and I'm still staying inside.
no subject
Date: 2020-04-28 04:02 pm (UTC)While I basically agree with you, this is extremely preliminary. We won't be going back in tothe library until July, which will be to try and figure out how to safely serve a small number of people, and those people won't be coming in for another almost two months. At that point, the disease will be - globally - 7-8 months old, we'll have more information. At the least, by enforcing social distancing and number of people allowed in the library, I think we can maintain a reasonably safe place. I also think we'll be mailing a lot of books. The governor has a delicate balancing act she's dealing with. We've got an Idiot in DC and others elsewhere who are all but calling for other idiots with rifles to overthrow democratically-elected Democrats with said rifles. These idiots are too stupid to see the irony of the "Keep your hands off my body" t-shirts that they're wearing.
no subject
Date: 2020-04-28 04:17 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2020-04-28 09:25 am (UTC)My goodness... we’d be back to the dark days of quietly browsing patrons! But limiting numbers to 25% capacity doesn’t allow for musing over the collection for any length of time.
“ ...our Beloved Head of IT is having printer configuration issues...”
Printers are the Devil.
We should have some direction by next week.
no subject
Date: 2020-04-28 10:23 am (UTC)Makes me so glad that we’re not a public library! Yeah, I’ve heard so many stories from library friends about kids getting dropped off for librarians to baby-sit, it’s appalling.
Maybe when the kids come in you can just run them through a big shrink-wrap machine….
:-)
no subject
Date: 2020-04-29 03:17 am (UTC)>printers
Yeah, things are supposed to get easier over time. For some reason, printers are just as wonky now as they were when I used them all the time for work, back in the '90s. (Computers! They make your life easier . . until they don't.)
no subject
Date: 2020-04-29 09:23 am (UTC)I will admit that Win10 has been more receptive to print drivers than earlier versions, but then the printers just decide to follow some agenda of their own. As long as there is a way to get the job done, I’m happy!