Colfax Public Library closed March 18 for COVID-19 public health emergency
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By LeAnn R. Ralph
COLFAX — As of 5 p.m. Wednesday, March 18, the Colfax Public Library has been closed and will remain closed until the declared public health emergency for COVID-19 has been lifted.
Based on recommendations from the American Library Association and the Indianhead Federated Library System, closing the library temporarily is the best way to keep people safe and to help stop the spread of the virus, said Lisa Bragg-Hurlburt, director of the Colfax Public Library, during a meeting of the Colfax Public Library Board March 17.
“We do so reluctantly … we don’t want to be drawing (people) in where they could be harmed. We do not want to attract people together for the next few weeks,” she said.
Governor Tony Evers declared a health emergency in response to the COVID-19 coronavirus March 12 following the World Health Organization’s declaration of a public health emergency of international concern and the United States Department of Health and Human Services declaration of a public health emergency.
Governor Evers ordered all public and private schools in the state to be closed as of 5 p.m. March 18 and to remain closed indefinitely.
Earlier in the day on March 17, Governor Evers directed the Wisconsin Department of Health Services to issue an order limiting gatherings to less than 10 people to help slow the spread of COVID-19, a severe respiratory disease caused by a novel coronavirus that originated in China in December.
All restaurants and bars were ordered to close dining areas as of 5 p.m. March 17 as well and are only allowed to continue take-out or delivery services.
The Chippewa Falls public library and the Eau Claire public library have already announced they are closed, and the Menomonie library board was going to be voting soon on whether to close, Bragg-Hurlburt told the library board members.
The library’s courier service also has shut down, she noted.
Part-time staff members at the Colfax library will be kept usefully occupied and working from home, Bragg-Hurlburt said.
Jolene Albricht, youth services librarian, will be given the option of working in the library two days per week on cleaning projects and covering books, or she can work from home on children’s programming projects, she said.
The Indianhead Federated Library System also has changed the due date system-wide on materials checked out from libraries so that everything checked out now is due April 6, Bragg-Hurlburt said.
If need be, the library system can extend the due date for sometime in May for all currently checked-out materials, she said.
Prior to the governor declaring a public health emergency, the Colfax library had already taken many coronavirus safety precautions, including moving the public computers farther apart and placing “sneeze guards” between them; hand sanitizer available for the public to use and reminding the public to use the sanitizer before and after using the computers; frequently disinfecting used surfaces, such as counters, tables, chairs, keyboards, earphones, and hard surface toys (all plush toys were removed from the library); and providing informational coronavirus bookmarks to the public.
The general public has been encouraged to practice “social distancing,” which means staying at home as much as possible, and if you have to go somewhere, such as the grocery store or a pharmacy, to maintain a distance of six feet between yourself and other people.
The Colfax Public Library Board unanimously approved a motion to close the library as of 5 p.m. March 18 and that the library remain closed until the declared public health emergency is lifted.
Closing policy
The Colfax Public Library Board also approved an amendment to Section 8.12 of the personnel policy pertaining to the library’s emergency closing policy.
In addition to the library director already having the authority to close the library early or delay opening or to close the library all day due to inclement weather, under the amended policy, the library may also be closed for a declared public health or safety emergency.
The amended policy includes the provision that all library staff will be paid for their shifts for up to one month, to be reviewed monthly by the library board thereafter.
Colfax Public Library Board members agreed the amended policy should go into effect immediately but that it should also be reviewed by the village’s administrator, Lynn Niggemann, and reviewed by the village’s attorney.
If the wording of the policy must be adjusted in some way after being reviewed by the administrator and the attorney, the Colfax Public Library Board can take it under consideration at the next meeting, board members agreed.
The library board approved tabling an agenda item pertaining to a sick leave policy for part-time library employees until the next meeting April 21 and directed Hurlburt to obtain more information about the village’s policy on sick leave for part-time employees included in the village’s employee handbook.