Logo for the Marathon County Public Library System. Image courtesy: Marathon County Public Library/Facebook
WAUSAU, WI (WSAU) — There will be no changes to procedures at Marathon County Public Library branches for now, though leaders of the system appear to be getting closer to at least a partial reopening.
During the Library Board’s regular meeting on Monday, leaders voted to take no action on allowing for more in-person services but will revisit the matter during their next meeting on May 17th. Director Ralph Illick said with both vaccinations and cases going up his suggestion was to stay the course for now.
“Still keep June 1st as a target date (for reopening) with limits for occupancy based on guidance from the health department,” he said. “Maybe Tuesday’s there’s a morning block and Thursday’s is an afternoon block for curbside delivery. Then put each branch at say 25% or 50% capacity. We can easily do that.”
Illick says he also doesn’t want to put his staff in harm’s way. Around 50% of employees have received one dose of the COVID-19 vaccine, including Illick himself. That means come mid-May most of the staff would have a second dose, pushing them closer to inoculation.
“Everyone’s very excited and very anxious to get on with their lives, which we recognize. But we aren’t ready staff-wise to start exposing folks without everybody having a chance [to get vaccinated,]” he said.
In addition to concerns about the spread of COVID-19 and the variants that have shown up in the last few weeks, there’s also concern about staffing. Some newer employees haven’t had adequate training in all of the aspects of in-person transactions and services in the library, so they would require more time before getting up to speed.
Most branches of the library are open by appointment only with curbside pickup being offered as well. For more information on the latest COVID-19 guidelines for the library, click here.
