DGreport.com

It’s a daily hangout for clients of the downtown PADS shelters and the last stop before bed and chicken soup for patrons coming down with a cold or worse. So the Downers Grove Public Library has take steps to protect staff and visitors alike from the H1N1 virus and other seasonal illnesses.

Director Christopher Bowen began considering how the new flu would impact his very public facility when it first swept the country last spring. His plan for dealing with H1N1 — one of the first instituted by a public library — has been picked up by administrators throughout the country.

Bowen began by researching the virus, which fortunately only lives from two to four hours on flat surfaces like books, CDs and DVDs.  “If something is coming back from a home where there is flu, by the time it’s back on the shelves, it is no longer infected,” he said. It takes the library about 24 hours to re-shelf returned items.

That works for borrowed materials, but to deal with patrons who come in coughing and snifling, the library also has stepped up its infection control measures.

“We are certainly reminding staff to be very mindful of hygiene practices,” he said.  Although the free-standing hand sanitizer dispensers he was contemplating are out of stock, the library has made wipes and hand sanitizer available.

“There are individual dispensers at the service desks and latex and non-latex gloves are available for staff,” Bowen said. Staff members also have been reminded to wash hands often and to avoid touching their face.

Further, staffers are permitted to limit their exposure to patrons who appear ill.  “We are not competent to diagnose, but if someone is coughing and sneezing, staff members may keep their distance,” Bowen said, adding that it’s common for patrons to hold their library card in their mouth while standing in line to check out.

The library board also is permitting staff members to take up to three paid sick days during the current flu season in an effort to keep those with symptoms at home.

“Most of our staff is part-time. There isn’t regular sick leave for those who work less than 20 hours a week,” Bowen said.

The H1N1 sick leave makes it possible for part-timers who really need the pay to stay home when they are sick.  “It’s one thing to tell staff to stay home when they are sick and another to make it possible,” he said.

Bowen also has been in contact with PADS administrators to determine how they will handle an H1N1 outbreak at the shelters, several of which operate out of local churches.

The adminstrators had attempted to find a separate setting for sick guests but were unsuccessful, Bowen reported at the Oct. 14 library board meeting.

As an alternative, PADS “is emphasizing good hygiene in the shelters and urging clients to practice it outside of the shelters in the community,” according to the meeting minutes.

While it appears H1N1 may now be in retreat, Bowen has prepared for a worst-case scenario.

“If it gets really bad and the county health department announces it’s time for social distancing, we would cancel group meetings and our social programs,” he said. “In the worst case, we would make the lounges off-limits and just allow patrons to borrow materials or use the computers.”