Staff deep cleaning, implementing changes in preparation for reopening doors to the public
Nicholas P. Sims Library will return to business as usual, soon.
As local businesses and public institutions emerge from the lockdown response to the COVID-19 pandemic, the staff at the library has been cleaning, moving furniture, reorganizing collections and implementing a list of changes in order to mitigate risks as they open the library doors back up to the public, revealing a completed construction project in the process.
“The library staff and library board would like to thank the community for their flexibility and patience as we navigate both COVID-19 and building construction,” says Barbara Claspell, director of the library, “The library’s main focus is to reach a point that our doors can be safely opened while continuing the required health and safety precautions provided by the governor, the CDC, and the Texas State Library and Archives Commission.”
Among the changes patrons will notice when the doors open back up:
• Limited patron entrance (determined by departments).
• Masks will be required.
• Social distancing must be followed.
• Temperatures may be taken.
• Patrons who are sick are asked not to enter.
• Reminder to wash hands and use hand sanitizer.
Additionally, says Claspell, “the staff installed sneeze guards at the needed locations. We have signs and distance markers that will need to be placed after materials are relocated to their home location. A locker has been ordered to be placed outside by the old elevator entrance. This locker will be used for curbside service. Basically, patrons may continue to request items for pick-up and the materials will be placed in the locker. Patrons will be given a code to retrieve their materials at any time, day or night.”
When the library reopens fully, patrons will find a facility with much more room from a completed expansion project on the side of the library where the children’s wing is located.
Claspell says the library’s reopening is near, but the date has yet to be finalized. In the meantime, patrons are still able to contact the library to check out materials and pick them up through curbside pickup. All items returned to the library are quarantined for a period of time and cleaned according to library standards and government recommendations.