The Moscow Public Library was hit hard by COVID-19. On March 18, all locations of the Latah County Library District closed due to COVID-19 concerns. Library District Director Chris Sokol said they started shutting down after seeing that other businesses were in response to the pandemic. The American Library Association recommended that libraries close due to COVID-19 concerns. This is what led to the Moscow Public Library, along with the other six libraries apart of the Latah County Library District, to close their doors. However, they kept their staff employed and developed strategies to continue providing for their patrons.
Closed, compact spaces made social distancing a challenge, and they couldn’t allow patrons into the library for safety reasons. That doesn’t mean people who wish to rent books or movies shouldn’t be able to. The Moscow Public Library, like other libraries in other states, adapted to their new restrictions.
“We developed a curbside pickup service, which is what every other library was doing,” Sokol said. “We developed protocols, researched what the CDC had to say about protocols and sanitization.”
It was a challenge for them, but they were able to develop sanitation protocols so patrons could pick up their items without having to worry about being infected. They did have to put their curbside pickup service on hold in March after the first case was confirmed in W h it man County.
“There were no cases in Latah County yet,” Sokol said. “We shut it down at that point because of the proximity with Whitman County. We wanted to get better prepared, so we shut it down, and then we picked up curbside assistance again on April 22.” They used that time wisely to ensure that they could function properly. They had staff train at home and developed guidelines and protocols to ensure the safety of staff and patrons. They developed an online scheduling software for patrons to request materials. However, they still remained closed.
When they opened, they put new protocols in place. This included occupancy limits, time limits on computers and social distancing.
It might seem like a lot of their availability was restricted due to COVID-19 concerns, but they still managed to find ways to engage with the community. They hosted story times and book reviews virtually, utilizing Facebook Live so children and teens could listen to staff members read.
Another policy they implemented is they are now fine free. They still encourage people to get their items in on time. Access to library computers and Kanopy will be restricted. Items that are damaged will be subjected to a fee. Sokol explained that they decided to implement this because it’s been a trend with many libraries across the country.
“It’s a way to break down economic barriers to library use,” Sokol said. “A lot of times people racked up fines, and they were really reluctant to come back and return the materials. They thought they didn’t have the money, or they were embarrassed, so people would just stop using the library.”
Sokol said that libraries who implemented this policy were seeing success. People were returning materials a lot more than they had been in the past. This policy is fairly new, they were going to implement it in March, but delayed it due to COVID-19. A lot of other libraries in the area were already going fine free according to Sokol, such as the Lewiston Public Library. However, the library won’t lose much revenue according to Sokol.
For more information on the fine free policy, along with information on the library’s programs, check out latahlibrary.org.
Ryan Hill can be reached at [email protected].