Reopening Plan moving to Phase Two February 1, 2021

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Thank you to everyone for helping us reopen successfully with Phase One on January 4th.  You have been amazing with our reset, our safety precautions and the positive way you have helped customers with library service.

Beginning Monday, February 1, 2021, we will be moving our opening plan to Phase Two.
The library hours will continue to be Monday-Friday 9:00-7:00, Saturday 9:00-6:00, Sunday 12:00-6:00.

Phase two will add a few service offerings.

  • New Grab N Go Service
      • Customers can come in and independently search library collections for up to 20 minutes.
      • Magazines will not be available in Phase two
      • Staff will hand out Grab n Go passes in the Plaza so that at any one time there can be up to 10 customers browsing the collections.  Once a customer checks out and returns their pass another customer can go into the collection areas.
      • Staffing- Public Service will serve as Grab n Go hosts and one staff member who is shelving will carry a phone in case we need to contact them.
      • This is an independent browsing experience.  Staff will not be able to look up materials or retrieve items from other areas of the library.
      • More details are available for this new service at https://intranet.tscpl.org/covid-19-service-procedures
      • Procedure sheets are available at the host station.
  • New Notary Service
      • The ILL staff will begin to take Notary Service by appointment on Monday.
      • There will be limited Notary service at this time.
      • Customers will need to book an appointments ahead of time and it will be a one customer service interaction in order to make sure both customer and staff are able to be safe and maintain social distancing. Customers can book appointments at https://tscpl.org/services/notary.  
      • The Notary station will be set up in the Teamwork Center and customers who have booked an appointment need to check in with the Grab N Go Host to be directed to the the Notary station.
      • More details about this new service are available at https://intranet.tscpl.org/covid-19-service-procedures
  • Tax form packet pick-up
      • Tax form packets are available in the Plaza and also at Curbside Pick Up.
      • This is also considered a grab n go service.
      • The forms in the packet are the ones we are distributing this year.
      • If a customer wants a different form direct them to sign up for a computer and they can print additional forms from the irs.gov website.
  • Afterschool Snack
      • Children 1-18 can pick up a Grab N Go afterschool snack.  We started this on Monday January 25th.

Opening Mid February

    • Booktique will open for limited service
          • Customers interested in visiting the Booktique will be able to browse and buy.
          • Much like the set up prior to closing the Booktique will have a limited number of customers who can be in the store at the same time.

Phase One limited services will remain

  • Customers can sign up and use a computer for one hour.  One computer/one person.
  • Printing is still free and limited to 25 pages per day
  • Copying and Fax Service remains a staff run service
  • All the safety precautions that we put into place remain.  It is important we remain consistent with our staff and customer expectations.

Other elements to remember- we are basing all our planning around three factors.

  1. Is it an essential service?
  2. can it be offered in a safe way for customers and staff?
  3. are we designing the element with a desire to keep our stress level low?

What I have included here is an overview.
Please continue to refer to the Covid 19 Service Procedure page for updates, videos and more details https://intranet.tscpl.org/covid-19-service-procedures

Please send any questions or concerns to the covid19@tscpl.org email group.  

Thanks
Reopening Team
Thad Hartman
Jesse Maddox
Lissa Staley
Patrick Berry
Carrie Cummings
Michelle Stottlemire
Joey Embers
Debbie Stanton
Autumn Friedli
Karen Watson
LeAnn Brungardt
Kelli Smith
Ruth Rodden
Marie Pyko

 

30 thoughts on “Reopening Plan moving to Phase Two February 1, 2021”

    • Marie Pyko on said:

      Michelle they will be the same as the hours we are open. Monday-Friday 9:00-7:00, Saturday 9:00-6:00 and Sunday 12:00-6:00. Last browser will need to be done at 7:00 pm on weekdays and 6:00 on Saturday and Sunday.

    • Marie Pyko on said:

      Elaine, Kelli and the ILL team are working on the final details for Notary appointments. They will have that in place before we implement the service.

  3. Angie Reed on said:

    With patrons being able to browse for 20 minutes- is that an honor system thing or will they be timed somehow?

    • Angie Reed on said:

      Also- is this a single person browsing or will groups (like parents with kids) be able to browse on one pass? Will they all need separate passes?

      • Marie Pyko on said:

        Each person going in for Grab n Go browsing will need a pass. We are not restricting where each customer with a pass goes in our collection areas other than the North Reading Room will not be open. So if a family wants to browse they can be in the Kids area but all need a pass. There will only be 10 people using Grab n Go browsing at any one time.

    • Marie Pyko on said:

      They will have a pass that has the time they need to check out and leave on it. If we need to locate customers who have gone over their time (like 10 minutes) we will use the host phone to contact the shelver with the phone to locate the customer. It is an honor system with a back up for locating people. More details will be available on the procedure documents and the videos the Reopening Team is creating.

    • Michelle Stottlemire on said:

      Jim – people can come in now to use their own devices, but we do have to assign them to a computer (for a space to be) and the are limited to one hour. We’ve had several folks doing this over the past few weeks because all their passwords are on their laptop, etc. 🙂

  6. Marie Pyko on said:

    We will not have spaces for customers to sit in the main part of the library. If a customer wants to use their phone to look up items for check out that is fine. They still will only have 20 minutes for Grab n Go browsing.

    • Marie Pyko on said:

      All collections are being moved into the Media area that were in the Plaza. Most of the Express collections right now are also being used to fill holds so we don’t need to have to move too many of those items. Binge boxes will be shelved in the Media area. The youth book bundles are going to be housed again in the Kids Library.

  8. michelle-morris on said:

    I don’t think this will be an issue straight away, but where will patrons- who are waiting their turn for a grab and go pass- be asked to physically wait?

    • Marie Pyko on said:

      We will be asking customers to wait in their cars. We will not have a space for customers to wait. The Grab n Go host will record their names and give them a range of time to expect the next available spot.

      • Carrie Cummings on said:

        I believe we decided not to record names if there were no passes available. The turnaround time is quite short so “check back in 10 minutes” will probably be the response in those cases.

  9. Jayme Lyons on said:

    I have been asked about the Topeka Room. Will they be open? If so when or by appointment? Will we assign computers there for one hour?

    • Marie Pyko on said:

      The Topeka Room will not be open at this time. Donna Rae and Sherri are exploring ways to book appointment for research customers but we are still working out the details for that.

      • Debbie Stanton on said:

        Following up on Marie’s response, we are now taking LibCal appointments for independent research time using the physical materials in the Topeka Room. Researchers can sign up for up to 1.5 hours in the space using the links on either the Genealogy page (https://tscpl.org/genealogy) or the Local History page (https://tscpl.org/history). I’m working on a handout similar to what they have for Notary in case anyone comes in and wants to use the Topeka Room but doesn’t have an appointment. All of the scheduling will go through Sherri Camp and Donna Rae Pearson.

    • Deborah Ellerbrook on said:

      Yes, the tax form packets will have all the forms and instructions that we have:
      1040 form, 1040 instructions, Kansas K-40, Kansas Schedule S, Kansas Homestead Claim form (while supplies last).
      They will be labeled with what is in them.

  11. Lissa Staley on said:

    I think it’s best to imagine Grab and Go as a completely new service, and maintain that the library collections are not “open” in any way that people remember but instead promote how happy we are that we are issuing 20 minute passes to individuals to quickly walk to their favorite shelves or areas, grab some books and movies to stock up their library pile at home, checkout at a kiosk, and go. ( If people have specific items they need, they should place holds. If people miss leisurely browsing – that is NOT this service. This is Grab and Go and people need to focus on getting in and out quickly. Celebrate people who are in and out faster than the 20 minutes! Make it a contest to beat the clock. Don’t encourage running though. Running is still bad.)

  12. Sherry Best on said:

    When we were open before, we asked people to sanitize their hands or wear gloves as they came into the rotunda.
    Will we be asking them (or requiring them) to do that before we hand them their Grab and Go passes?
    Also, if they pick up a book but decide they don’t want it, do they reshelve or should we ask them to put it on a quarantine cart?
    And can we mark the quarantine cart the “Cootie Cart – Don’t Touch These”?

    • Marie Pyko on said:

      We will have hand sanitizer available in all areas of the library including by the Grab n Go station. Customers will be encouraged to use hand sanitizer during their visit to the library. We will have a cart for customers to leave they don’t take in each space. We can take those items down to Circulation several times in the day.
      Staff are encouraged to regularly wash their hands or use hand sanitizer as they work each of the areas of the library.

  13. LeAnn Brungardt on said:

    Just a clarification point, kid and teen magazines and comics are still available for checkout. Magazines for adults (those from the North Reading Room) are not.

    • Deborah Ellerbrook on said:

      No, we are not charging for State tax forms. They are in the packet with all of the other forms.
      We have a limited supply of the Homestead and Schedule S forms. Those forms (and all other Kansas forms) are available at the Scott State Office building.

      Scott State Office Building
      120 SE10th Street
      Mon-Fri |8am-4:45pm

      I will send out updates as we run out of forms.