Read on Twitter
1/ jumping to the meat of the argument: libraries can be essential without being considered first responders. libraries are nothing without their library staff.
think of it like a day at the beach...
think of it like a day at the beach...
2/ you're on the beach (in oregon, natch) with your family and suddenly there's a sneaker wave ( https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sneaker_wave) that pulls your partner and one of your children into the ocean. your 1st instinct is to go in after them. that would be a mistake ( https://www.beachconnection.net/news/swim110413_517.php) &
3/ coast guard tip #2 here: ( https://midatlantic.coastguard.dodlive.mil/2018/06/5-rip-current-safety-tips-you-need-to-know/). help from land! keep yourself safe while trying to help others. if you don't follow this advice you become another life to save, doubling the trouble for first responders & uselessly endangering your own life.
4/ does the fact that you can't personally wade into the water & pluck your family from the cold dark watery depths mean you aren't essential to them? absolutely not. does it mean you aren't a first responder and you shouldn't add to the first responders' burden? absolutely yes.
5/ it's the same with libraries.
6/ libraries are essential to communities: summer reading helps keep kids from the summer slide, libraries are a tech and reference resource for all, libraries have become the third place in our communities, some libraries have full-time social workers.
7/ library staff are not first responders., they have neither the proper medical training, nor, in many, cases the proper PPE to do much of any kind of in person librarianship. any time library staff comes into contact with the public right now, first responders' jobs get harder.
8/ how does this make libraries different from other essential jobs right now? libraries have a choice while most other essential services (groceries, warehouses, farm laborers, etc) have none. the further we stay from the public right now, the better it is for all.
9/ if we stay away, we won't be stressing medical health systems and first responding systems, we'll be leaving more PPE for essential workers who can't isolate themselves, and we'll not be vectors for getting others sick.
10/ we take care of library staff who are concerned about themselves & their loved ones. we keep as much staff employed as possible so that at every stage of library building reopening we serve the patrons as well as they need to be served while keeping staff as safe as possible.
11/ so what can libraries do right now? what every library i've met with over the last two months is valiantly trying to do (and what we've always done): deliver library services to patrons. we do it by phone, by email, by facebook (ew!), by zoom, and, occasionally, by mail.
12/ we continue to give authoritative info to those who need it. we fight the infodemic ( https://www.un.org/en/un-coronavirus-communications-team/un-tackling-%E2%80%98infodemic%E2%80%99-misinformation-and-cybercrime-covid-19). we help people find what they need: shelter, food, money, mental health help, & tax prep help (see @JanieH's https://princetoncovid.org/ or https://www.driftwoodlib.org/ .
13/ we try to reach those without internet, electronic device, or home. we make sure to advocate for those without internet, electronic device, or home - those who are nearly completely cut off from many essential services and sources of information.
14/ and we help each other. the number of helpful, intelligent, fun, and creative people i've met over the last two months in zoom meetings, phone calls, and #librarytwitter has been mind blowing. yes, even you :)
15/ @catsav and her ideas that help other library folk. @JanieH and her help with the community portal. @eminencefont and her fight for library staff. everyone who has tweeted, emailed, or flag semaphored a necessary piece of info, a joke, or just to say "howdy."
16/ this unfortunately long twitter piece was inspired by @eminencefont's https://www.libraryjournal.com/?detailStory=Dont-Leave-Workers-Out-of-the-Library-Narrative-Opinion, @acornsandnuts' https://elgl.org/libraries-the-choice-to-be-essential/, & responses to those pieces by @DonnaLanclos, @librarianmer, & @MineEyesDazzle (& many thoughts from library folk both online and off).
