Zoom Meetup Recording & Notes

JUNE 30, 2021

Recording of the conversation
Notes from the call
o (0:30) Step 3 and 4 of BC Restart Plan

1. What are the implications of Step 3. It seems like vast majority of requirements have shifted from mandatory to recommended but we are still in transition so it would be up to libraries to determine how quickly to implement the changes

2. Elizabeth shared her understanding of the implementation of Step 3 for Whistler. With the guidance of a Health and Safety Coordinator, as of July 1st staff are no longer required to complete health screenings and are not required to fill out contact tracing information. If contact tracing was being done with members of the public that will no longer be required as well. Whistler’s municipal mask mandate will be rescinded on July 6th by council. From July 1st to July 6th the public is expected to adhere to the municipal mandatory mask mandate. As of July 7th, both staff and members of the public will not be required to wear a mask. However, the existing components of the Covid Safety Plan will remain in place until replaced by the components of a Communicable Disease Plan. According to WorkSafe BC website organizations are not required to write or post their Communicable Disease Plan. Whistler will utilize template sent by Andrea as a guide. There are likely measures and practices that overlap with your current HR practices or facilities practices to help maintain higher level of safety regarding communicable diseases. Key component is to have HR policy allowing employees to leave workplace (i.e. work from home) upon onset of illness. Practices to support hand hygiene and signage are important as are maintaining a clean environment. No requirement for additional cleanings but the wiping and then disinfection of surfaces particularly high touch areas are required.

3. Andrea spoke with the ED of the Municipal Safety Association who recommends that municipalities continue with current twice a day cleaning practices until Step 4 begins in September given that the main risk in public spaces is the public and not knowing their vaccination history

4. Christina questioned recommendation to continue mid-day washroom cleaning given evidence does not support that Covid transmits from surfaces and instead will follow evidence-based guidelines.

5. Elizabeth shared the other key components being proper building ventilation and supporting employees with obtaining vaccinations (i.e. flu vaccines).

6. Deb suggested that their pre-pandemic cleaning likely meets the new communicable disease requirements with perhaps some additional cleaning practices put into place to enhance safety.

7. 14:42:45 From Mari BC-PLB : I am not sure if this looks updated to folks. But is the current guidance http://www.bccdc.ca/Health-Info-Site/Documents/CleaningDisinfecting_PublicSettings.pdf

8. Question from John regarding whether libraries are planning on putting furniture back in place and placing stations close together. General discussion that there will be slow implementation of these types of practices.

9. 14:44:20 From Don Nettleton Okanagan Regional Library : So are you putting all your furniture back in place, and putting stations close together etc like pre covid?

10. 14:44:57 From Eva Kelemen : I'll be adding some seating but going slowly

11. 14:45:20 From Tina Nielsen : No, not until Step 4. We’ll add some furniture but keep at lower occupancy and seating separated still

12. 14:45:23 From Matthew FSJPL : Not fully, we have limited seating, and will be at 50% spaced Public computers until September

13. 14:45:32 From Deb Hutchison Koep (she/they) : We are putting things back still maintaining safe distance. Step 4 for more.

14. 14:51:16 From Karen Hudson : We’ll add some furniture but keep distanced seating and lower program room occupancy and seating separated still.

15. 15:06:29 From Christina de Castell : We have seating where people don’t eat, so do we let them sit close together? Seems like yes but hard to apply other guidance

16. Discussion regarding questions libraries may have about Step 4 of the restart plan. Don shared that they will require staff to continue wearing masks up until September, however, will assess the situation in the first few weeks of Step 3. Ursula shared that they will place signage stating masks are still recommended and will remove occupancy limits so that staff will no longer need to track occupancy. Ursula will continue with staff wearing masks for another week

17. 14:46:41 From Jacqueline Kozak (Wagner) : Are occupancy and time limits still being encouraged?

18. 14:47:26 From Matthew FSJPL : We will be phasing time limits out over the course of the next few weeks.

19. 14:47:34 From Deb Hutchison Koep (she/they) : @Jacqueline - no. There's an FAQ at the bottom of this page: https://www.worksafebc.com/en/covid-19/bcs-four-step-restart

20. 14:47:06 From susan walters : At this time, Richmond's (city and library) mask mandate will continue through step 3. Unless Council provides other direction

21. 14:47:25 From Christina de Castell : We are shifting masks to recommended

22. 14:47:56 From Eva Kelemen : We are shifting to masks recommended for people who are not fully vaccinated

23. 14:48:06 From Deb Hutchison Koep (she/they) : We are requiring staff masks for now. Recommended for the public

24. 14:48:12 From Kim - Castlegar : Staff masks, and recommended in public spaces poster

25. 14:48:28 From Mari BC-PLB : For government employees we are waiting to hear about masks in offices....it is likely that masks are recommended until you have had 2 shots. (I can share out what BC Gov does as it becomes available)

26. 14:48:29 From Rebecca Burbank -PR Library : We're continuing with mask requirement for staff for a few weeks as well. We have a range of comfort levels on staff.

27. 14:48:51 From Beth Davies (she/her) : o Staff are required to wear masks in public areas and shared workspaces. Masks are recommended for in-person meetings. Staff should be mindful of their co-workers’ comfort and only opt to work without masks where this is the clear preference of every member of the group.

28. 14:49:07 From Alice MPL : I discussed with staff. They are comfortable with not wearing masks so I'm making it optional for them

29. 14:49:10 From Courtenay Cryne : we are requiring staff to wear masks in public areas

30. 14:49:11 From Beth Davies (she/her) : Masks recommended for public.

31. 14:50:22 From Matthew FSJPL : @ Deb Are you keeping your "Sanitizing" Stations up? As well as making masks available to the public?

32. 14:51:25 From Deb Hutchison Koep (she/they) : @Matthew - we are keeping our sanitizing stations for now and making masks available on request.

33. 14:50:54 From Paul Burry : We're removing occupancy limits and slowly reintroducing normal seating levels. Masks will be recommended for staff and patrons who are not fully vaccinated. We're keeping sanitizing stations and plexiglass barriers (for now)

34. 14:51:13 From Jim Bertoia, Sparwood : Sparwood will keep sani stations up and offer masks.

o (16:50) Mandatory Staff Vaccines

1. Question arose regarding how to work with staff that are not vaccinated. Directors can view webinar by Harris law as well as many law firms who are addressing this issue on their websites. Employers cannot ask if staff have been vaccinated and employees are entitled to not be vaccinated. Employers cannot have policies requiring staff be vaccinated. The library environment does not pose sufficient risk in terms of a vulnerable population to justify the imposition of a mandatory vaccine policy.

2. 14:53:11 From Mari BC-PLB : Worksafe has some informatin on vacinations. https://www.worksafebc.com/en/covid-19/vaccination-and-the-workplace

3. 14:53:37 From jmoore : Article related to Covid Vaccines and staff: https://www.ctvnews.ca/health/coronavirus/customers-can-ask-about-an-employee-s-vaccination-status-but-employers-can-t-share-it-experts-1.5480723

4. 14:54:03 From Elizabeth Tracy (she/her/hers) : https://www.worksafebc.com/en/law-policy/occupational-health-safety/searchable-ohs-regulation/ohs-guidelines/guidelines-for-workers-compensation-act#SectionNumber:G-P2-21 See supporting vaccination section

o (21:15) Communicable Disease Plan

1. Mari spoke of inconsistency in language in terms of what government was using and what WorkSafe is using. Mari suggested the tendency would be to follow WorkSafe guidelines and requirements.

2. Christina commented that the Communicable Disease Plan is not clear at the moment and it seems the general expectation is to return to measures that were previously in place for the flu season. Concern regarding not having the budget to maintain additional cleaning measures and unclear definitions of what constitutes high touch surfaces and the actual definition of high touch in itself. It feels like everything is open for interpretation and it feels too soon to lift all restrictions.

3. Andrea shared that the Municipal Safety Association contact suggests that municipalities are approaching this very differently and he recommended to follow the lead of your Health and Safety reps at your City if you have one. Some municipalities are simply renaming their Covid plan to Communicable Disease Plan, some are using the template to prepare a plan, some are saying they have an existing exposure plan they will use going forward. Mari shared that the application of WorkSafe requirements are specific to local communities. Beth will share City of Burnaby’s Safety Officers template for the Communicable Disease Plan. If others have drafted a plan please share with the ABCPLD email list.

4. 14:56:28 From Deb Hutchison Koep (she/they) : We are going to create a "plan" for now - because that will help folks see the connections through the transition. It might merge into various policies or procedures longer term.

5. 14:58:50 From Karen Hudson : I used the Template and called mine: Communicable Disease Prevention Plan, which we will integrate with our policies eventually.

6. 14:59:06 From Brian - Hazelton : Same here Karen

7. 15:00:09 From Deb Hutchison Koep (she/they) : I'm going with "our COVID safety plan is in effect until our communicable disease prevention plan is in place..."

8. 15:01:10 From Brian - Hazelton : Used the template and referenced the COVID plan for detailed procedures.

9. 15:02:17 From Deb Hutchison Koep (she/they) : It sounds like some of us have drafted plans - maybe you could share them with the rest of us as well?

10. 15:03:15 From Don Nettleton Okanagan Regional Library : We are still going to have staff confirm they are not ill for the next while when they report, as that seems part of a communicable disease plan

11. 15:05:13 From Karen Hudson : Our Covid Safety Plan is now modified with PHO recommendations as our Covid Safety “Procedures”.

o (30:00) Additional Items – Mari

1. Mari asked if there were outstanding issues that need to be taken back to the Ministry of Health or BCCDC or should we revisit questions in a couple of weeks. Mari can follow-up with Andrea about specific requests.

2. Ursula had a question about indoor in-person programming. Mari suggested that it’s all based on size but that this can resume with a safety plan in place.

3. 15:04:37 From Deb Hutchison Koep (she/they) : Ursula - indoor programming is permitted. We will be doing some starting July 6. Pretty limited until the fall/winter

4. Cari would like clarification about distancing and barriers between staff. Mari suggested referring to the WorkSafe site, however, this can be a gradual shift in practices and specific to your locality. The key component is to manage the risk, identifying who is at risk and what reduces the risk. Heather shared concern about the ambiguity and impact on staff for managing the public and potential for conflict.

5. 15:04:53 From Don Nettleton Okanagan Regional Library : we're still maintaining that til step 4 Cari for most part for staff work areas, etc

6. 15:05:28 From Christina de Castell : Distancing generally isn’t clear

7. 15:06:10 From Karen Hudson : Barriers staying up, but removed social distancing signage.

8. 15:06:27 From Deb Hutchison Koep (she/they) : we are keeping barriers and directional signage "for awhile"...

9. 15:08:04 From Elizabeth Tracy (she/her/hers) : We will be keeping barriers and directional at least until phase 4 as well

10. Mari shared that funding letters have been sent and that the website has the allocation document and letter posted. Currently the Ministry is working on meetings with the Minister and with library partners. You may be contacted by Ministry staff regarding some operational components such as data audit and financial review process. Mari is still working on a year in a review and hopefully provide more details and a presentation about this at next meeting. Ministerial meetings will take place with local governments being able to request meetings regarding libraries. The number of meeting requests for libraries are down significantly. Ministry is doing prep work for library month in October. The summer reading club news release came out on Saturday and the Minister will be tweeting about this throughout the summer. Ministry will be reviewing library websites for programs and ideas to further champion libraries and reading.

11. Andrea shared that in 2 weeks Mari will share a summary of the annual reports.

o (43:10) Other items:

1. Alice asked where DVD cases can be ordered from; group shared some suggestions in the chat

2. Toby asked if anyone has had to evacuate their library and town due to a wildfire as they do not have a formal written plan but currently have 3 fires in the surrounding area. Cari shared that they were evacuated due to a flood so the library treated the situation similar to a fire drill with addition of retrieving their in house hard copy backup of computers on their way out. Others shared ideas in chat box.

3. Are libraries accepting meeting room bookings? At the moment no libraries are accepting bookings however some are accepting small private bookings and some are planning to open up meeting rooms in a couple of weeks once ready.

4. 15:19:02 From Ursula Brigl : Not until September.

5. 15:19:03 From Beth Davies (she/her) : not until stage 4

6. 15:19:03 From susan walters : not until Step 4

7. 15:19:06 From Cari : still offices until phase 4

8. 15:19:09 From Deb Hutchison Koep (she/they) : We won't open bookings until September at least.

9. 15:19:20 From Alex Faucher : It is not ours, but the district is taking bookings for the room in the building next to us, which we sometimes use

10. 15:19:26 From Elizabeth Tracy (she/her/hers) : We have started, but not for meetings until Sept.

11. 15:19:54 From Karen Hudson : Yes, we are booking large meeting room for 15 maximum so still distanced

12. 15:20:05 From Deb Hutchison Koep (she/they) : We have a reno in our biggest room which will significantly delay us. We also aren't ready to book others until we work out our needs...

13. 15:20:20 From Smithers Library : Our community gaming groups want to come back and use the library during closed hours. They thought waiting for Stage 4 was unreasonable.?

14. 15:22:05 From Ursula Brigl : https://www2.gov.bc.ca/gov/content/safety/emergency-preparedness-response-recovery/preparedbc for general information on preparing for an emergency.

15. Andrea updated that in July she will be working closely with Kevin (both are co-chairs of the BC Public Library Partners) to work on advocacy push of the partners with the main ask being stable operational funding for libraries including a request to increase inflation every year. Andrea is hoping to put together an advocacy toolkit for libraries to use by the end of July/early August

Next meeting will be July 14th.

JUNE 16, 2021

Recording of the conversation
Notes from the call
- Guest Mari Martin, Director of the Public Libraries Branch
  - (1:00) BC Restart Plan follow-up
    1. Mari confirmed that health checks are still required by employers after second vaccine
    2. Some directors are in conversations with their municipalities regarding continued requirement for staff to wear masks until September. If mask mandate is not continued there was discussion about continuing with keeping safety protocols in place to protect staff.
    3. Overall agreement that the change back to normal will be slow and steady with no firm deadlines. Guidance from the government will state the minimum requirements with libraries being able to add on additional layers of protection.
    4. Dr. Henry has spoken about a shift from a Covid safety plan to a communicable diseases plan with WorkSafe. Will this be a new plan?
    5. From Mari (PLB) : Step 4 details https://www2.gov.bc.ca/gov/content/covid-19/info/restart#step-four
    6. 14:41:19 From Ursula Brigl : I have decided to focus on going back to regular operational levels when Step 4 hits in September. Things will stay mostly as is during the summer. Exceptions are that we will hold some outdoor programming. The messaging will be that we are taking a gradual, measured approach to increase services to minimize the risk that we have to reduce services again should cases spike again.
    7. 14:42:22 From Tracey Therrien : We have yet to re-instate seating. We have just re-instated our pre-covid hours. One step at a time. Masks - before mandatory masks were mandated provincially our City required masks in all City buildings. We are in the midst of speaking with the City now and hoping that they will continue to require masks in public buildings, until at least Sept.
    8. 14:42:46 From Deb Hutchison Koep (she/they) : It's been helpful to remind everyone that there are no changes to requirements around distancing or masks in steps 1 & 2.
    9. 14:42:51 From Don Nettleton Okanagan Regional Library : the other thing you can use is that programming planning and other things happen sometime in advance and so we are planning toward into the fall now to ramp things back up. Also can point out that we have been far more services than most of the country and continued our services when much of the other parts of world and country were not so we are carefully thinking things through.
    10. 14:49:08 From Karen Hudson, Salt Spring Island Library : Enhanced cleaning protocols are in effect, any idea when this might change?
    11. 14:50:12 From Elizabeth Tracy (she/her/hers) : Karen - our H&S Coordinator believes that the enhanced cleaning will stay with us much longer.
  - Annual Grant Allocations
    1. All libraries should have received generic funding letters and link to allocation document last Friday
  - Grants 101
    1. Mari offered to provide information about grants at a future meeting should there be interest
  - Year in review
    1. This work is in progress and will be shared with ABCPLD
- (30:10) Mandatory Vaccine’s

Julie is currently working on 3 staff accommodations and suggested that this is a two-way process where the employee is also required to work towards the goal of being able to return to work onsite

(46:00) Plans for Canada Day Events

Scott shared that their plan is to join in on any of the city’s Canada day events. Libraries still have to vet the safety plans of the event organizer to ensure that the plans are consistent with their safety plan. Scott has established a separate safety plan for outdoor events versus plan for indoor events.
Tina shared that they were going to collaborate with municipality and Arts Council on a small Canda day event but has decided to not participate due to Covid reasons, lack of planning time and lack of control and limit of participant numbers as well as for reasons relating to the Kamloops school finding and recent targeted death of 4 family members in Ontario.

Wendy shared that their Chamber of Commerce is the primary supporter/sponsor of Canada day celebrations. This year the Chamber felt that celebration is not appropriate in light of the Kamloops discovery and is instead organizing an orange shirt fundraiser event. The Library has decided to put on a settlers outreach event with educational resources regarding residential school experience, truth and reconciliation and orange shirt fundraiser. Local politicians have been invited to open with speeches followed by a drop-in event that is well spaced out to comply with Covid safety requirements. Also hoping to have principal of local catholic school attend

o (01:01:00) Debate issue

Conversation about the debate between the classical liberal perspective on intellectual freedom versus social justice and progressive librarian perspective. This has become difficult topic for staff to wrestle with. One of the guiding scholars in this area is Dr Emily Knox (https://ischool.illinois.edu/people/emily-knox)who has written articles and also is on YouTube. There was a suggestion to look for the underlying commonalities between intellectual freedom and social justice. Another great resource is the Center for Free Expression at Ryerson University (https://cfe.ryerson.ca/)

o (01:05:00) Partnership Agreement

Question arose regarding any service/partnership agreements in place with municipalities that can be shared with Fernie who does not have one in place. City of Fernie is undergoing a core service review of funded organizations and library has been tasked with collecting info relating to this from other libraries

o (01:07:00) Holds Lockers

Heather asked if anyone has had experience with using Holds Lockers as Penticton is considering getting one. Scott shared that they tried them and don’t recommend them as they were used by drug dealers. Judy shared how Thompson Rivers University has been piloting their use for the last 6-8 months in Kamloops and can connect anyone interested with a contact there

o (01:09:00) Interest in Grants 101 session

Andrea asked if the group was interested in having Mari present a session on grants. The group decided this is not something of interest.

June 2, 2021

Recording of the conversation
Notes from the call
- Guest Mari Martin, Director of the Public Libraries Branch
  - Annual Grant allocations
    1. Aiming for mid-June distribution of funds
    2. Process will be similar to last year, Branch will send a letter to your Board Chair and CC you
    3. Libraries will receive the same amount as 2020
    4. Be in touch if something doesn’t seem right as they’re working with a new team on doing this process.
  - Summer Reading Club - what are you planning?
    1. If you’re organizing something and you think it’s an event that will showcase SRC, Branch is interested to hear about that.
    2. Libraries shared they’re doing:
      1. Mixture of in person registrations and virtual
      2. Mostly virtual programming
      3. Some libraries are doing in person and outdoor events, some will make that decision if things are going in the right direction in July
      4. Some are doing a number of virtual school visits
  - BC Restart Plan
    - We surfaced questions that we have. The 3 most pressing questions that we’ve asked Mari to look into:
      1) Clarify that when the Restart Plan says we have to create a “new safety plan” that it actually means “revised plan.”
      
      2) Will there be new sector guidance for retail, etc? If so when can we expect that? (Many of our questions can be answered through other sector guidelines).
      
      3) Clarify timing re: the safety plan - Some people understand that July 1st is the “deadline” for creating a new safety plan. Others reported that their municipalities are viewing Sept 1st as the deadline.
    - We also started to clarify the answers we’d like to see:
      - We’d like to keep masks mandatory for indoor public spaces until September OR until 70% have their 2nd vaccine
      - We’d like WorkSafe guidelines around entry and exit points needing to be separate to change to be more flexible
      - We’d like to cut the twice daily cleaning of keyboards and other high touch surfaces like shared desks, chairs and children’s toys
    - Other items we’d like clarity on:
      - occupancy limits
      - contact tracing protocols for programming and events
      - spontaneous gatherings of large groups
      - indoor seating areas
    - Next Steps: Mari is going to do her best to clarify the 3 questions outlined above. Mari and Andrea will meet to talk about which questions will be answered by which sector guidance, and which questions are unique to libraries. Once we’ve identified those questions, then we’ll go about seeking people who can answer those for us.
  - Most libraries reported they will NOT be starting indoor in person programming until the fall.
  - Question: how to address people who work in library building who have made it clear that they’re not getting a vaccine shot?
    - From Julie Spurrell (she/her) : We had an all-city staff info session this morning, HB. HR was clear that at this time there is no requirement for vaccine, and that we can't ask and staff shouldn't ask each other.
  - Hilary - Kamloops Indian Residential School news
    - Conversation about the impact this news has had
    - Judy proposed an idea to do a provincial reads program with the fiction book “5 Little Indians.” There was large agreement that this was a good idea and caution around the appropriate timing of when to roll this out. Initial timing suggested was early 2022.
      - Next steps: Judy, Andrea and Elizabeth will meet to flesh out the idea a little more. Possibility of asking Public Libraries Branch for funding.
    - AND is there something we can do sooner? Ideas:
      - Statement on Website about role of libraries in information gathering
      - GVPL - sharing out 215 resources, 1 per day. Maureen will share out.
      - Judy Moore: I am sending you a link to resources that have been pulled together by my team at the TNRL as you might find these useful. Be sure to check out the slider on the home page too: https://www.tnrl.ca/every-child-matters/

Zoom Meetup Recording & Notes

JUNE 30, 2021

JUNE 16, 2021

June 2, 2021

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