Online programs, curbside service, safety keeping local facilities from being ‘place of spread’

It would seem that Pierce County libraries and their directors care greatly about patron access to free information. After receiving an email from a “concerned citizen” sometime back asking that the Journal inquire into the state of library access for Pierce County residents in the COVID-age, we made a few phone calls recently to the public health office and area librarians, and heard a story’s worth!

“None of the libraries are closed,” Pierce County Health Officer AZ Snyder said when reached by phone towards the end of October. “They’re just closed to in-person browsing.” The reason, Snyder said, is to make sure that libraries don’t become “a place of spread,” for COVID-19. The state of Wisconsin is currently under Executive Order 90, whereby as of September 22, 2020 Governor Tony Evers declared a public health emergency for 60 days after all but one county in the state (Price County), registered a “high” level of disease activity among 18 to 24-year-olds for SARSCoV- 2, “the virus that causes COVID-19.” The morning just prior to our phone chat, Snyder said, Pierce County had tipped into the red zone on the Harvard disease model, meant to track and suppress illness. Reaching red on the Harvard disease model wasn’t exactly a good thing, to say the least.

So what happens to public information in a time like this? After all, contained within the same state statutes that give the Governor authority to declare a public health emergency in chapters 321 and 323, the legislature declares in chapter 43.001 that, “it is the policy of this state to provide laws for the development and improvement of public libraries, school libraries and interlibrary cooperation among all types of libraries.” In plain terms then, libraries matter, but so does public health. If the Governor declares a public health emergency, but this in turn seems to imperils public access to information, where is the balance to be struck? To find out, we phoned up and otherwise contacted Pierce County librarians, to get some more details and facts.

“We’re still sorting some things out, but we are committed to providing access in the

Photo by Joseph Back. safest way possible,” Ellsworth Library Director Tiffany Meyer said when reached for comment October 22. Until that very morning she said, the Ellsworth Public Library had been open, with a publicly viewable spreadsheet down at iflsweb.org suggesting this open door library policy began October 1, before being curtailed for health reasons. In light of the coming cold weather, meanwhile, Meyer said of Ellsworth Library service that “we might need to change our model a bit during winter,” though Ellsworth had extended its Wi-Fi service into the parking lot behind the building. The library plans to be open whenever the Harvard model is in orange, yellow, or green—but not red. For the time being, safety and health mean library service will be rendered at a distance. The situation is much the same in Prescott and River Falls.

Shifting first to Prescott, an informational flyer on the inside of a glass door makes known that walk-in and in-person services are “not available” at present, while faxing, copying and printing can all be done Monday through Friday via Curbside Pickup by calling 715-262-5555, and Wi-Fi has been extended around the building as well as into the parking lot. Items can be returned 24/7 via the outside return slot, and curbside pickup of materials is also available, by appointment. For virtual programs offered, library patrons are directed to go to prescottpubliclibrary.org/programs, as nothing is held on site at present. So what of River Falls and its environs?

“Use of our electronic resources has gone up significantly,” Library Director Tanya Misselt said in response to Journal staff inquiries about library service in the City on the Kinne. Due to its location on the county border it followed information from a variety of sources, but Pierce County was among them. Among the options for River Falls Library patrons meanwhile are e-books, audiobooks (both Overdriver and Freading) e-magazines through Flipster, and many research databases. Misselt said in addition that curbside pick-up Monday through Friday from 10am to 6 pm and on Saturday from 10 am to 2 pm “provides access to all of our physical material.” River Falls patrons may request assistance with selection of material by phone at 715-425-0905 or online at https://www.riverfallspubliclibrary.org/care-package.html. Furthermore, as a demonstration of commitment by the River Falls Library to patron access during these times, Wi-Fi has been extended around the building, and the library is circulating not just print books, but Chromebooks as well, along with 26 Wi-Fi hotspots, with 15 provided by the Library Foundation for patron needs—this is, after all, the 21st Century. Meanwhile, Plum City Director Kayla Campbell also got in touch with the Journal after receiving our contact information via phone message and had this to say about library services in southeastern Pierce County.

“The library is open Monday, Wednesday, and Fridays from 10am until 4 pm,” Campbell said from over at Plum City. “We are continuing to provide appointments and curbside service for both pick-ups and drop-offs,” she said of the most common contact-free option offered by libraries, but there was more as well.

“Additionally, we have locker pick-up available for those who are unable to make it in during our standard operating hours. In the event neither of these options work, we will provide scheduled access to the building on Tuesdays or Thursdays if possible,” she said. Though not doing in-person programming as of late October, Campbell said the Plum City library was working on providing alternative options such as virtual book clubs and continued to provide copying, printing, and faxing services to area residents.

From Plum City we move northward to Elmwood, where Library Director Jenna Beyer added to the comments by Campbell, replying to our phone inquiry by email.

“Elmwood is currently open five days a week for curbside, library by appointment, and home delivery,” Beyer communicated on October 26. “Patrons have access to our Wi-Fi, computers, printing services, and materials. Because we currently can’t safely have in-person programming, we are offering take-and-make kits,” she said, saying that Elmwood was doing pumpkin painting at the moment. Alongside that, she said that “All libraries in Pierce County have been very fortunate to receive guidance from AZ Snyder, and we are doing our best to provide services and support to all patrons in this difficult time.” From Elmwood we go lastly to Spring Valley, where Library Director Rebecca Dodge had this in part to share when reached for comment.

“Although the library has been closed to the public since March 17 the library right away began curbside services when Governor Evers allowed us to do so on April 27,” Dodge made known by email. “Since then we have been following the guidelines set forth by our local Pierce County health department which has been the only area health department in our western region of Wisconsin to provide specific COVID-19 guidance for the unique services and operations of public libraries.” Going on to say that the Spring Valley library was working with Pierce County Health and that there would be social distancing and masks required once the library was once again open to the public, Dodge went on to clarify questions as to access for the public.

“Even though our library doors are closed, access to library resources and materials is NOT (emphasis original) denied to the public. Patrons can check out magazines, books, DVDs, and audiobooks, etc., through our outdoor curbside services. We offer printing, faxing and copying. We circulate mobile WI-FI hotspots and have WI-FI access outside our building… Programs have been moved to online and we distribute takehome STEM kits for families to do an educational activity at home,” Dodge said. In addition to the above, Spring Valley area residents have interlibrary loan services available with 96-hour quarantine before checkout via curbside pickup, with a minimum 72-hour quarantine on all returned items. “Yes our typical operations have changed in that we quarantine all returned items a minimum of 72 hours and items that come in for interlibrary loan requests are quarantined for 96 hours. But our libraries have been innovative and creative in figuring out ways to serve our communities while keeping our staff and communities safe,” she closed out her comments via email.

As for a potential crisis to address, however, we did notice something online: a possible need to recruit more men to learn the Dewey decimal system and its many wonders. Out of the fifty-four member libraries within the Inspiring and Facilitating Library Success (IFLIS) network, just three of those filling out the system-wide service survey at the IFLIS website had identifiably “male” first names: Joe Niese of Chippewa Falls; Ted Starck of Menomonie; and Rob Ankarlo of Cumberland. This being so, how might boys be encouraged to read more and become librarians? The reading score gap between girls and boys, after all, was in place long before COVID, and is nothing to celebrate.