WEBVTT Kind: captions Language: en 1 00:00:00.350 --> 00:00:04.920 Institute of Museum and Library Services 2020 Grants to States All States Conference May 2 00:00:04.920 --> 00:00:07.870 13, 2020 Virtual Proceedings by: CASET Associates, Ltd. caset@caset.net 3 00:00:07.870 --> 00:00:10.490 Agenda Item: Disaster Preparedness: Learning from your peers 4 00:00:10.490 --> 00:00:11.490 MS. 5 00:00:11.490 --> 00:00:12.490 FARRELL: Welcome everyone. 6 00:00:12.490 --> 00:00:17.150 Rob Favini is the Head of Library Advisory and Development at the MA Board of Library 7 00:00:17.150 --> 00:00:18.150 Commissioners. 8 00:00:18.150 --> 00:00:22.340 There he serves as the LSTA coordinator and leads the agencyís team of grant consultants. 9 00:00:22.340 --> 00:00:29.270 In addition, he oversees outreach services to library directors, trustees, and friendsí 10 00:00:29.270 --> 00:00:30.270 groups. 11 00:00:30.270 --> 00:00:38.179 Rob also serves in his spare time as a trustee at the Fitchburg Public Library in Fitchburg 12 00:00:38.179 --> 00:00:39.550 Massachusetts. 13 00:00:39.550 --> 00:00:43.659 Our second speaker and superhero is Denise Lyons. 14 00:00:43.659 --> 00:00:50.809 Denise has been Deputy Director of Statewide Development at the SC State Library since 15 00:00:50.809 --> 00:00:51.809 2008. 16 00:00:51.809 --> 00:01:00.600 She has an MS in Public Service Management and Nonprofit Administration from DePaul University 17 00:01:00.600 --> 00:01:08.050 in Chicago, and an MLIS in the University of South Carolina. 18 00:01:08.050 --> 00:01:17.009 Denise was a TIA leadership fellow in 2010, and is currently part of IFLA Evidence for 19 00:01:17.009 --> 00:01:22.649 Global and Disaster Health Special Interest Group. 20 00:01:22.649 --> 00:01:27.079 And while Iím speaking about the South Carolina Library, Iíd like to do a little shout out 21 00:01:27.079 --> 00:01:33.380 and congratulation to J. Caroline Smith who is the Diversity and Inclusion Consultant 22 00:01:33.380 --> 00:01:35.560 at the South Carolina State Library. 23 00:01:35.560 --> 00:01:39.130 She was named as one of the 2020 LJ movers and shakers. 24 00:01:39.130 --> 00:01:44.109 So lots of superheroes going on in South Carolina. 25 00:01:44.109 --> 00:01:49.140 Our final superhero speaker for this afternoon is Mark Smith. 26 00:01:49.140 --> 00:01:56.829 Mark is Director and Librarian at the TX State Library and Archives Commission and has served 27 00:01:56.829 --> 00:01:59.719 his home state since November 2013. 28 00:01:59.719 --> 00:02:07.450 He holds a Bachelor of Arts and English and a Master of Library Science from the University 29 00:02:07.450 --> 00:02:10.090 of Texas at Austin. 30 00:02:10.090 --> 00:02:16.940 Mark has over 35 yearsí experience in the library field and has worked in three states 31 00:02:16.940 --> 00:02:20.730 and in a variety of library settings. 32 00:02:20.730 --> 00:02:26.010 I will mention here that we will let each one of the speakers speak and then we will 33 00:02:26.010 --> 00:02:27.540 take questions. 34 00:02:27.540 --> 00:02:31.810 So now Rob, if you want to start us off. 35 00:02:31.810 --> 00:02:32.810 MR. 36 00:02:32.810 --> 00:02:34.520 FAVINI: Thanks, Michele. 37 00:02:34.520 --> 00:02:40.940 Also, Iím excited to be on the last program of the day and not worried about people running 38 00:02:40.940 --> 00:02:45.580 out to catch flights at the airport, so this is a very exciting time to present. 39 00:02:45.580 --> 00:02:51.130 What I want to do today is walk through our disaster preparedness planning at the Massachusetts 40 00:02:51.130 --> 00:02:52.580 Board of Library Commissioners. 41 00:02:52.580 --> 00:02:58.100 It has been a bit of a journey, I want to talk a little bit about how we were setup 42 00:02:58.100 --> 00:03:05.010 before the pandemic and how we are really realizing that what we were setup for really 43 00:03:05.010 --> 00:03:10.250 needs to change, and so weíre shifting gears very quickly, weíre evolving, and weíre 44 00:03:10.250 --> 00:03:12.430 trying to be as flexible as possible. 45 00:03:12.430 --> 00:03:17.950 One thing we came to realize, the old military adage is that generals arm up to fight the 46 00:03:17.950 --> 00:03:22.870 previous war, and in our case the previous war was Hurricane Katrina. 47 00:03:22.870 --> 00:03:28.430 This was the defining event that really informed our disaster preparedness services that we 48 00:03:28.430 --> 00:03:35.810 developed, many which under the eyes of Gregor Trinkaus-Randall, longtime member of the MBLC 49 00:03:35.810 --> 00:03:36.810 staff. 50 00:03:36.810 --> 00:03:44.060 It really was a program that defined it in that we were very much concerned with buildings, 51 00:03:44.060 --> 00:03:50.800 we were very much concerned with collections, and very much concerned with all things physical. 52 00:03:50.800 --> 00:03:55.860 And in particular we were really concentrating on the impact of water events and the aftermath 53 00:03:55.860 --> 00:04:00.780 of these water events, so we were talking a lot about mold and drying things out and 54 00:04:00.780 --> 00:04:07.610 repairing things to get them before an event like a water event would happen. 55 00:04:07.610 --> 00:04:13.710 So a lot of our systems plans that have been in action really reflected this. 56 00:04:13.710 --> 00:04:20.410 And again, it had to do with physically teaching librarians to process things, talking directly 57 00:04:20.410 --> 00:04:23.650 to librarians, archivists, records custodians. 58 00:04:23.650 --> 00:04:29.530 We were concentrating on things like cleanup kits, emergency supplies located all across 59 00:04:29.530 --> 00:04:33.160 the state and encouraging folks to have some on hand. 60 00:04:33.160 --> 00:04:40.690 We also had a way to help with technical assistance if it was an emergency on-call, if something 61 00:04:40.690 --> 00:04:47.680 happened, if a flood happened, if pipes burst over collection, we were really setup to do 62 00:04:47.680 --> 00:04:54.630 that, we had a lot of partnerships with that in some organizations such as Polygon, Belfor, 63 00:04:54.630 --> 00:05:01.120 BMS CAT and New England Document Conservation Center. 64 00:05:01.120 --> 00:05:08.840 In addition to that, we tried to have folks setup for success in their own world and be 65 00:05:08.840 --> 00:05:10.240 prepared as they can. 66 00:05:10.240 --> 00:05:16.890 MBLC was an initial partner in the creation of dPlan, which is a disaster planning software. 67 00:05:16.890 --> 00:05:22.910 This enables libraries of all sizes to put in their particular collection and requirements 68 00:05:22.910 --> 00:05:28.050 and their physical environment, and then with the software create a plan. 69 00:05:28.050 --> 00:05:34.560 So really it gave a lot of capability to everyone throughout the state no matter the size. 70 00:05:34.560 --> 00:05:38.920 On a side note there is a new version of dPlan coming out which is being developed by Northeast 71 00:05:38.920 --> 00:05:42.000 Document Conservation Center. 72 00:05:42.000 --> 00:05:43.530 So keep an eye out for that. 73 00:05:43.530 --> 00:05:47.770 But this proved to be a very useful tool for our libraries, and weíre happy to be part 74 00:05:47.770 --> 00:05:48.770 of it. 75 00:05:48.770 --> 00:05:57.020 The other thing that we found is that Katrina had a rallying effect to start partnerships 76 00:05:57.020 --> 00:05:59.130 that maybe wouldnít have started before. 77 00:05:59.130 --> 00:06:05.720 A good example of this is COSTEP Massachusetts, we are key partners to this day, and really 78 00:06:05.720 --> 00:06:10.870 the mission of this organization is to bring together our libraries, cultural institutions, 79 00:06:10.870 --> 00:06:16.750 and pair them up with state and regional organizations and agencies to provide disaster relief. 80 00:06:16.750 --> 00:06:22.310 I would recommend anyone going to it we do have national and regional resources listed. 81 00:06:22.310 --> 00:06:27.440 Right now the focus of this group has been on programming and networking as opposed to 82 00:06:27.440 --> 00:06:33.910 specific events, but theyíre also another ever-evolving organization. 83 00:06:33.910 --> 00:06:38.690 And finally, even throughout subgrants you can see that our concentration really was 84 00:06:38.690 --> 00:06:45.880 on protecting collections and really preserving and digitizing things with an idea again that 85 00:06:45.880 --> 00:06:46.880 physicalness of it. 86 00:06:46.880 --> 00:06:55.680 All of that of course changes a couple months ago with the COVID-19 pandemic. 87 00:06:55.680 --> 00:06:59.360 Massachusetts was hit rather hard. 88 00:06:59.360 --> 00:07:06.370 Right now, todayís case log, we have slightly over 79,000 cases reported, with slightly 89 00:07:06.370 --> 00:07:11.270 over 5000 deaths due to the COVID-19. 90 00:07:11.270 --> 00:07:18.740 Like everyone else it really presented us a challenge of moving to remote locations, 91 00:07:18.740 --> 00:07:22.740 working remotely, and really not having a playbook. 92 00:07:22.740 --> 00:07:27.470 And we were immediately dealing with libraries who had a lot of questions to answers we just 93 00:07:27.470 --> 00:07:34.620 simply did not have, because this was something that was so new and so different that we couldnít 94 00:07:34.620 --> 00:07:40.449 pull anything off the shelf, nor could our existing disaster planning satisfy a lot of 95 00:07:40.449 --> 00:07:41.840 the questions they had. 96 00:07:41.840 --> 00:07:46.080 Just to walk you through the timeline of how weíve been working through this, March 10 97 00:07:46.080 --> 00:07:49.290 was the day the world changed, certainly for the MBLC. 98 00:07:49.290 --> 00:07:51.910 A state of emergency was proclaimed. 99 00:07:51.910 --> 00:07:56.990 Our office shut down, we moved to remote locations. 100 00:07:56.990 --> 00:08:01.800 And that proved to be a challenge in and of itself, remobilizing as a remote organization. 101 00:08:01.800 --> 00:08:10.060 March 23 was another big date, here the governor declared a stay at home advisory in keeping 102 00:08:10.060 --> 00:08:11.760 only essential businesses open. 103 00:08:11.760 --> 00:08:16.290 They did not mention libraries specifically, so that created a lot of debate whether libraries 104 00:08:16.290 --> 00:08:17.290 were essential. 105 00:08:17.290 --> 00:08:21.610 We never want to say libraries are not an essential part of the town, but for these 106 00:08:21.610 --> 00:08:26.419 purposes it really didnít fit the plan, but we still had a few libraries that were opened 107 00:08:26.419 --> 00:08:27.840 up. 108 00:08:27.840 --> 00:08:35.959 On March 31st they extended the declaration of essential businesses only. 109 00:08:35.959 --> 00:08:40.059 By that point most of the libraries in Massachusetts had been closed. 110 00:08:40.059 --> 00:08:47.069 Weíd started seeing furloughing and layoffs of staff, and we just saw an overall anxiety 111 00:08:47.069 --> 00:08:54.069 level raise, because on Marsh 31st the governor had put a pin in to say on May 4th we would 112 00:08:54.069 --> 00:08:56.269 be looking at a reopening date. 113 00:08:56.269 --> 00:09:02.660 That did not hold true, because on April 28th the governor had another statement where he 114 00:09:02.660 --> 00:09:07.449 was extending the closure to May 18th, and then announced a Reopening Advisory Board, 115 00:09:07.449 --> 00:09:09.680 and thatís the position weíre in now. 116 00:09:09.680 --> 00:09:14.490 Again, causing more anxiety because a lot of people are wondering where do libraries 117 00:09:14.490 --> 00:09:20.029 fit into this, and we have not had specific representation on this reopening board, but 118 00:09:20.029 --> 00:09:23.279 we have been connected with a lot of people who are involved in it. 119 00:09:23.279 --> 00:09:30.050 So how we have been working with this particular disaster, we partnered with our affiliate 120 00:09:30.050 --> 00:09:35.040 Massachusetts Library System, and decided to have one place to put all of our resources. 121 00:09:35.040 --> 00:09:40.320 We were really concerning ourselves with getting any kind of announcement that came out or 122 00:09:40.320 --> 00:09:45.920 any kind of examples of how people are doing things and putting them in one location that 123 00:09:45.920 --> 00:09:48.829 people across the state have access to. 124 00:09:48.829 --> 00:09:53.230 In addition, using the connections that we had made through COSTEP, we are also able 125 00:09:53.230 --> 00:09:59.459 to distribute the Massachusetts Emergency Planning Daily Situation report to all of 126 00:09:59.459 --> 00:10:00.459 our libraries. 127 00:10:00.459 --> 00:10:04.019 So weíre trying to keep them informed as best we can as we find information. 128 00:10:04.019 --> 00:10:10.290 But as we got closer to the May 4th date, we really got the pressure from across the 129 00:10:10.290 --> 00:10:13.699 state of trying to open, what will be the next plan. 130 00:10:13.699 --> 00:10:20.269 So a lot of libraries are looking to any help with an advisory or some sort of a guidance 131 00:10:20.269 --> 00:10:27.040 in the planning of coming back to full services, restoration of full services. 132 00:10:27.040 --> 00:10:31.119 We donít like to say reopening because in a lot of ways libraries have never closed, 133 00:10:31.119 --> 00:10:36.170 theyíve just not had their buildings able to serve their clientele. 134 00:10:36.170 --> 00:10:42.980 So to better inform us we partnered again with our affiliate Massachusetts Library System 135 00:10:42.980 --> 00:10:45.480 and the 10 automated library networks across the state. 136 00:10:45.480 --> 00:10:58.819 We hosted (audio cuts out) MS. 137 00:10:58.819 --> 00:11:20.670 FARRELL: I think Rob will rejoin us in a few minutes. 138 00:11:20.670 --> 00:11:40.910 It was interesting to see his slide, how it unfolded in such a short period of time. 139 00:11:40.910 --> 00:11:47.220 Iím really amazed at how the State Library was able to move forward very quickly. 140 00:11:47.220 --> 00:11:53.569 Rob is in the process of calling back. 141 00:11:53.569 --> 00:12:01.720 But Iím sure at the end of these three presentations youíll have plenty of questions, because 142 00:12:01.720 --> 00:12:11.910 thereís a lot thatís been covered and will continue to be covered by the other two speakers. 143 00:12:11.910 --> 00:12:13.750 MR. 144 00:12:13.750 --> 00:12:19.300 FAVINI: Hello everyone. 145 00:12:19.300 --> 00:12:21.249 I was disconnected. 146 00:12:21.249 --> 00:12:26.529 Iím hoping Iím back on, Iím going to continue. 147 00:12:26.529 --> 00:12:32.860 We had 10 sessions with about 575 attendees, and we wanted to get some guidance around 148 00:12:32.860 --> 00:12:41.000 three specific areas of what people might have questions about. 149 00:12:41.000 --> 00:12:42.199 One of those was collections. 150 00:12:42.199 --> 00:12:51.639 We used a software package called Padlet, that was really just creating a major, almost 151 00:12:51.639 --> 00:12:57.459 like recreating a room where you could put sticky notes on large flip charts and capture 152 00:12:57.459 --> 00:12:59.540 peopleís input. 153 00:12:59.540 --> 00:13:05.319 On collections we found out that a major concern was materials handling, and decontamination 154 00:13:05.319 --> 00:13:10.170 was top of the list, people wanted to know how safely they could handle their collections. 155 00:13:10.170 --> 00:13:15.179 Another part was they wanted to look for guidance around PPE, how can they get it, who was supposed 156 00:13:15.179 --> 00:13:21.899 to be in charge to get it and things like that. 157 00:13:21.899 --> 00:13:26.899 Another section that we looked at was the service delivery. 158 00:13:26.899 --> 00:13:31.660 This took into account how you were going to provide services once you got back into 159 00:13:31.660 --> 00:13:32.660 your building. 160 00:13:32.660 --> 00:13:38.790 We had a lot of questions around here were building occupancy, rules about excluding 161 00:13:38.790 --> 00:13:43.759 populations, is it okay to not have elderly people come in with the general population, 162 00:13:43.759 --> 00:13:49.339 is there a way to monitor children, is it okay to close to children because children 163 00:13:49.339 --> 00:13:53.660 canít really social distance and wear facemasks on a consistent basis. 164 00:13:53.660 --> 00:13:58.430 A lot of these things weíre hoping that libraries are able to connect with their local boards 165 00:13:58.430 --> 00:14:02.439 of health to get some guidance around these parts. 166 00:14:02.439 --> 00:14:11.399 And finally, we had a section around staff concerns, what folks are going to do once 167 00:14:11.399 --> 00:14:14.260 they get their staff into their libraries, what vulnerable populations are among their 168 00:14:14.260 --> 00:14:15.519 staff and how do they deal with that. 169 00:14:15.519 --> 00:14:19.959 And again, this is one where weíre driving people to go to their local health departments 170 00:14:19.959 --> 00:14:28.249 to find out what their rules are around staffing buildings and how they can let people in there. 171 00:14:28.249 --> 00:14:32.519 And again, throughout this whole thing one of the things that we learned is people are 172 00:14:32.519 --> 00:14:39.369 really looking hard for really library specific guidance, and that has been the hardest part, 173 00:14:39.369 --> 00:14:43.850 is that now weíre finding more examples out there, but for the longest time there really 174 00:14:43.850 --> 00:14:49.100 wasnít anything available that said specifically libraries should do X, Y, or Z. 175 00:14:49.100 --> 00:14:54.069 So right now, weíre working very hard on resumption to full-service guidance. 176 00:14:54.069 --> 00:15:00.550 Weíre talking about using a phased approach where the first phase is limited opening with 177 00:15:00.550 --> 00:15:07.360 just staff and then moving closer to opening full services. 178 00:15:07.360 --> 00:15:15.399 And also, the date for Governorís Reopening Advisory Commission, which is promising to 179 00:15:15.399 --> 00:15:20.170 give us a lot more guidance specific to what we can do. 180 00:15:20.170 --> 00:15:26.649 And then prepare for being flexible to prepare for some possible fall shutdowns, and then 181 00:15:26.649 --> 00:15:31.670 working on our own agency contingency of service plans. 182 00:15:31.670 --> 00:15:34.500 MS. 183 00:15:34.500 --> 00:15:38.720 FARRELL: Thank you, Rob. 184 00:15:38.720 --> 00:15:43.559 Now we will take Denise Lyons. 185 00:15:43.559 --> 00:15:45.059 MS. 186 00:15:45.059 --> 00:15:49.579 LYONS: Hello everyone. 187 00:15:49.579 --> 00:15:56.220 I am here to share some information about a research project that the South Carolina 188 00:15:56.220 --> 00:16:00.829 State Library has been working on, with faculty from the University of South Carolina, and 189 00:16:00.829 --> 00:16:06.009 then Iíll move into some information about our Statewide Emergency Preparedness Committee 190 00:16:06.009 --> 00:16:10.449 and work during this pandemic. 191 00:16:10.449 --> 00:16:15.649 We began this specific research project on librariansí roles in emergencies and natural 192 00:16:15.649 --> 00:16:21.759 disasters after the catastrophic flooding in South Carolina in 2015. 193 00:16:21.759 --> 00:16:27.889 Weather events here have not only increased over the years, but they have increased in 194 00:16:27.889 --> 00:16:28.889 intensity. 195 00:16:28.889 --> 00:16:34.579 We hosted two studies between 2015 and 2017, and then went to Houston to interview Houston 196 00:16:34.579 --> 00:16:39.459 Public Library Staff and administrators about their role during Hurricane Harvey. 197 00:16:39.459 --> 00:16:46.629 Since librarians have long been first responders during all kinds of situations in the community, 198 00:16:46.629 --> 00:16:51.429 we felt it was important to learn about what professional librarian knowledge, skills, 199 00:16:51.429 --> 00:16:55.730 and competencies were used during several years of weather events. 200 00:16:55.730 --> 00:17:00.840 Our goal is to use the finding to enhance curriculum development at the School Of Library 201 00:17:00.840 --> 00:17:06.000 And Information Science of the University of South Carolina, and continuing education 202 00:17:06.000 --> 00:17:07.990 offered by the state library. 203 00:17:07.990 --> 00:17:16.040 To show you the severity of the flooding, these photos show Columbia in 2015, Charleston 204 00:17:16.040 --> 00:17:27.290 in 2016, and a photo showing the same site in Houston before and after Hurricane Harvey. 205 00:17:27.290 --> 00:17:32.280 Our intention is to examine and document the dynamic phenomena related to public libraries 206 00:17:32.280 --> 00:17:36.179 and their social responsibility in times of disaster. 207 00:17:36.179 --> 00:17:40.750 We developed our project from a public health framework because with it we can find clear 208 00:17:40.750 --> 00:17:44.440 guidelines in people, processes, and partnerships. 209 00:17:44.440 --> 00:17:49.150 Also, our lead researcher works with those in public health, and we felt if we wanted 210 00:17:49.150 --> 00:17:54.330 those colleagues to understand and support our work a common framework they use would 211 00:17:54.330 --> 00:17:55.330 help. 212 00:17:55.330 --> 00:18:00.860 Situation specific case research was utilized to design all three of the studies. 213 00:18:00.860 --> 00:18:05.750 The methodology consists of qualitative and quantitative approaches, including focus groups 214 00:18:05.750 --> 00:18:06.770 and a survey. 215 00:18:06.770 --> 00:18:12.539 In the first set of focus groups information was collected regarding the librarianís activity, 216 00:18:12.539 --> 00:18:18.390 such as what information they gathered and distributed, library partnership, and information 217 00:18:18.390 --> 00:18:22.120 needs and the use of technology, including social media. 218 00:18:22.120 --> 00:18:28.600 The study in 2017 consisted of a survey on community membersí use of disaster information 219 00:18:28.600 --> 00:18:35.740 sources and evaluation of the informationís credibility during and after the 2015 flooding 220 00:18:35.740 --> 00:18:38.200 and 2016 Hurricane Matthew. 221 00:18:38.200 --> 00:18:44.350 For the third project we conducted five focus groups for a total of 50 librarians and administrators 222 00:18:44.350 --> 00:18:46.090 of the Houston Public Library. 223 00:18:46.090 --> 00:18:49.289 Our questions focused on three areas. 224 00:18:49.289 --> 00:18:55.070 The first was public librariansí use of multiple channels and technology for information distribution 225 00:18:55.070 --> 00:18:56.070 and services. 226 00:18:56.070 --> 00:19:03.160 The second was the public libraryís collaboration with multi-level agencies to facilitate emergency 227 00:19:03.160 --> 00:19:08.909 response and recovery, and the third was community membersí use of disaster information sources 228 00:19:08.909 --> 00:19:16.730 and evaluation of the informationís credibility before, during, and after Hurricane Harvey. 229 00:19:16.730 --> 00:19:20.620 If you have worked in a public library, you will see that our results yielded challenges 230 00:19:20.620 --> 00:19:22.650 that are probably not surprising. 231 00:19:22.650 --> 00:19:28.080 We learned the general publicís lack of skill in using technology to access information 232 00:19:28.080 --> 00:19:30.110 was a significant problem. 233 00:19:30.110 --> 00:19:35.260 We already know that low literacy and functional literacy are challenges here in South Carolina. 234 00:19:35.260 --> 00:19:41.890 Even the FEMA agent agreed that their paperwork and processes are complicated. 235 00:19:41.890 --> 00:19:46.570 Another challenge we encountered was that the public libraries were not fully prepared 236 00:19:46.570 --> 00:19:52.350 to provide sufficient essential disaster and health information for adult users online. 237 00:19:52.350 --> 00:19:57.639 They were not proactive in disseminating and promoting access to critical disaster information 238 00:19:57.639 --> 00:20:00.520 in English and other languages. 239 00:20:00.520 --> 00:20:05.130 One library administrator specifically mentioned wishing for health sciences librarians to 240 00:20:05.130 --> 00:20:09.909 help with health information during this time. 241 00:20:09.909 --> 00:20:14.850 We also learned that 14 percent of the stateís FEMA applications were filed at the Richland 242 00:20:14.850 --> 00:20:20.179 County Public Library System in 2015, and that the Internet is absolutely necessary 243 00:20:20.179 --> 00:20:22.009 for all of these processes. 244 00:20:22.009 --> 00:20:26.880 The lack of access to internet across the state, especially in rural areas, is a problem 245 00:20:26.880 --> 00:20:29.870 that continues today. 246 00:20:29.870 --> 00:20:35.740 Social media served as main channels to provide real-time information services. 247 00:20:35.740 --> 00:20:40.520 We learned there was a lot of sharing of pages posted on Facebook and retweets on Twitter. 248 00:20:40.520 --> 00:20:45.100 Some libraries run their own social media updates, such as the statewide library, and 249 00:20:45.100 --> 00:20:51.029 our nearby Richland and Lexington County Libraries, but in Houston social media is centralized 250 00:20:51.029 --> 00:20:56.720 and goes out through the cityís communication division. 251 00:20:56.720 --> 00:21:00.860 When conducting our surveys and interviews of public health partners we came across several 252 00:21:00.860 --> 00:21:04.970 instances of the library being an integral part of the community. 253 00:21:04.970 --> 00:21:15.450 The FEMA agent stressed what a positive experience he had working in the library. 254 00:21:15.450 --> 00:21:20.150 In South Carolina, the libraries have strong relationships which were valuable during these 255 00:21:20.150 --> 00:21:22.919 disasters and remain important today. 256 00:21:22.919 --> 00:21:27.799 In Georgetown for example during emergency the staff from the library regularly serves 257 00:21:27.799 --> 00:21:31.340 in the countyís emergency operation center. 258 00:21:31.340 --> 00:21:40.429 This slide shows some of the required competencies and skills that we learned through the research. 259 00:21:40.429 --> 00:21:45.049 Public libraries are in a vital position to serve their local community information needs 260 00:21:45.049 --> 00:21:50.360 and to reach community members whose everyday lives have been affected by a crisis, because 261 00:21:50.360 --> 00:21:55.720 the community trusts libraries and librarian services in times of crisis. 262 00:21:55.720 --> 00:22:00.330 We do note however that many of these on the slide are not directly incorporated into the 263 00:22:00.330 --> 00:22:05.409 LIS curricula, but we believe that the professional degree should include coursework to cover 264 00:22:05.409 --> 00:22:06.409 them. 265 00:22:06.409 --> 00:22:11.720 We also believe that the LIS program should provide mentoring to enable public librarians 266 00:22:11.720 --> 00:22:19.919 to deliver training programs to support staff membersí professional development. 267 00:22:19.919 --> 00:22:24.880 Our findings also indicate there are a few provisions of critical information services 268 00:22:24.880 --> 00:22:27.420 that public libraries and librarians should provide. 269 00:22:27.420 --> 00:22:31.899 Itís very important to make sure that there are trustworthy digital health resources for 270 00:22:31.899 --> 00:22:33.669 adult users. 271 00:22:33.669 --> 00:22:38.330 In addition to that point we believe in providing health information and technology literacy 272 00:22:38.330 --> 00:22:40.720 training to the general public will be helpful. 273 00:22:40.720 --> 00:22:46.240 They should also promote the use of credible resources and multiple languages and services 274 00:22:46.240 --> 00:22:49.740 by the public librariesí websites anytime. 275 00:22:49.740 --> 00:22:57.600 Partnerships with medical librarians and public health staff and agencies can support these 276 00:22:57.600 --> 00:22:58.600 efforts. 277 00:22:58.600 --> 00:23:03.720 At the time several public librarian participants in the study did not feel it was necessary 278 00:23:03.720 --> 00:23:09.679 for the library and information science education program to cover disaster preparedness response 279 00:23:09.679 --> 00:23:15.539 and recovery in the LIS curricula, although further research will study whether this still 280 00:23:15.539 --> 00:23:16.539 holds true. 281 00:23:16.539 --> 00:23:22.750 Current plans for the school include at least one new course to address some of these competencies. 282 00:23:22.750 --> 00:23:27.590 It was agreed however that continuing education offerings such as those provided by the state 283 00:23:27.590 --> 00:23:33.750 library are essential to better prepare librarians to provide disaster and health information 284 00:23:33.750 --> 00:23:34.750 services. 285 00:23:34.750 --> 00:23:39.350 The state library regularly provides webinars, training classes, and multiple day training 286 00:23:39.350 --> 00:23:47.669 for mini conferences, as well as up to date resources on our website and in our catalogue. 287 00:23:47.669 --> 00:23:52.879 From this and other learnings of the agency we decided we would create a Statewide Emergency 288 00:23:52.879 --> 00:23:57.070 Preparedness Committee to help with ongoing needs for preparedness and planning, especially 289 00:23:57.070 --> 00:24:00.830 when itís not during our typical bad weather season. 290 00:24:00.830 --> 00:24:04.840 We have a few members of our state library staff and some of the public library staff 291 00:24:04.840 --> 00:24:10.460 who have been a part of various emergency preparedness trainings in recent years. 292 00:24:10.460 --> 00:24:14.870 Our first tasks are to build a network of resources and create a replicable toolkit 293 00:24:14.870 --> 00:24:17.260 as well as update the lib guide. 294 00:24:17.260 --> 00:24:24.970 We plan to include not just weather emergencies but safety, and of course now pandemic. 295 00:24:24.970 --> 00:24:30.789 Secondarily, we will be hosting an emergency preparedness and facility summit modeled on 296 00:24:30.789 --> 00:24:35.220 the one from the Georgia Public Library Service and their team of Nate Rall and Angela Stanley 297 00:24:35.220 --> 00:24:36.759 have offered their support. 298 00:24:36.759 --> 00:24:43.309 We also want to replicate the FEMA Preparedness Ambassador program from Region Two in New 299 00:24:43.309 --> 00:24:46.769 Jersey, which you may have heard Michelle Stricker from the New Jersey State Library 300 00:24:46.769 --> 00:24:51.039 talk about at PLA. 301 00:24:51.039 --> 00:24:55.429 The committee will also continue to work on continuing education needs, such as those 302 00:24:55.429 --> 00:25:00.889 listed on the slide, and developing stronger relationships with partners and experts in 303 00:25:00.889 --> 00:25:05.860 the field. 304 00:25:05.860 --> 00:25:11.090 Usually Iíll show you some of the resources that we use, but with our lack of time today, 305 00:25:11.090 --> 00:25:19.570 I just listed some of the websites that you can review and use in the future. 306 00:25:19.570 --> 00:25:24.799 This is a screenshot of the lib guide that we put together with our COVID19 resources. 307 00:25:24.799 --> 00:25:30.549 It includes our general information, reopening information, and while not on this screenshot 308 00:25:30.549 --> 00:25:39.470 thereís also a communications guide and clinical posters in English and Spanish. 309 00:25:39.470 --> 00:25:44.500 What we have been doing as a state library focuses a lot on continuing education, professional 310 00:25:44.500 --> 00:25:48.740 development, and general guidance for library staff and administrators. 311 00:25:48.740 --> 00:25:54.029 We hold weekly informal chats, launched some interactive training, and believe it or not 312 00:25:54.029 --> 00:26:00.399 the jugglers actually have a piece that addresses mindfulness, and have greatly expanded online 313 00:26:00.399 --> 00:26:02.360 learning offerings. 314 00:26:02.360 --> 00:26:06.830 With our CARES funds weíre distributing MiFi devices and supporting more permanent solutions 315 00:26:06.830 --> 00:26:11.720 for bookmobile wireless services as well as some direct subgrants. 316 00:26:11.720 --> 00:26:17.580 We continue to offer our guidance on reopening plans and communication plans as our agency 317 00:26:17.580 --> 00:26:20.010 is still fully working remotely. 318 00:26:20.010 --> 00:26:24.700 Weíve been working at the federal and state level with our representatives on broadband 319 00:26:24.700 --> 00:26:29.620 expansion and other topics that will benefit the library. 320 00:26:29.620 --> 00:26:35.210 So we will continue to move forward with our projects and programs, surveying our libraries 321 00:26:35.210 --> 00:26:40.110 regularly to assure that weíre keeping up with special needs, and to see how all this 322 00:26:40.110 --> 00:26:42.549 progresses over the next few months. 323 00:26:42.549 --> 00:26:46.950 If you have any questions, please feel free to contact me. 324 00:26:46.950 --> 00:26:48.460 Thank you. 325 00:26:48.460 --> 00:26:49.460 MS. 326 00:26:49.460 --> 00:26:52.230 FARRELL: Thank you, Denise. 327 00:26:52.230 --> 00:26:56.520 I really appreciate all your thoughts on this. 328 00:26:56.520 --> 00:26:58.370 And our next speaker is Mark Smith. 329 00:26:58.370 --> 00:26:59.370 MR. 330 00:26:59.370 --> 00:27:01.010 SMITH: Thank you, Michele. 331 00:27:01.010 --> 00:27:02.600 Good afternoon everyone. 332 00:27:02.600 --> 00:27:08.409 I appreciate having the opportunity to participate in the panel today. 333 00:27:08.409 --> 00:27:11.370 I learned a great deal from the speakers. 334 00:27:11.370 --> 00:27:17.169 Iím going to briefly touch on a lot of the points that they talked about, although I 335 00:27:17.169 --> 00:27:26.169 also wanted to start out talking a little bit about our agency, how we responded as 336 00:27:26.169 --> 00:27:32.080 an agency to the situation. 337 00:27:32.080 --> 00:27:37.009 With dealing with the crisis we have been essentially guided by two sets of documents. 338 00:27:37.009 --> 00:27:42.330 The first is our Continuity of Operations Plan, or COOP, which is a required document 339 00:27:42.330 --> 00:27:49.530 for all state agencies in Texas, and which we review and revise every year. 340 00:27:49.530 --> 00:27:55.019 The COOP defines major disasters that could disable large parts of our operation and lays 341 00:27:55.019 --> 00:28:00.760 out structures for emergency management and communication during those periods. 342 00:28:00.760 --> 00:28:06.740 The COOP in Texas as you might imagine has been very geared towards natural disaster, 343 00:28:06.740 --> 00:28:11.620 which until now has been mostly what we have had to deal with. 344 00:28:11.620 --> 00:28:17.769 But on a more basic level we also have a loose set of documents for our agency that we call 345 00:28:17.769 --> 00:28:22.899 the Business Continuity Plan, and thatís a policy and procedure that defines how to 346 00:28:22.899 --> 00:28:27.419 maintain essential services under kind of more normal circumstances. 347 00:28:27.419 --> 00:28:33.799 Now I wish I could say that either of these documents planned for a pandemic, as I have 348 00:28:33.799 --> 00:28:37.559 heard that some other organizationsí policies have done. 349 00:28:37.559 --> 00:28:38.860 They did not. 350 00:28:38.860 --> 00:28:43.299 So weíve had to basically adapt from our COOP as we defined which of our operations 351 00:28:43.299 --> 00:28:48.240 were considered essential and needed to stay open and which were not. 352 00:28:48.240 --> 00:28:52.769 And our response to the pandemic I will say has sort of fallen between these two documents, 353 00:28:52.769 --> 00:28:57.460 and weíve had to kind of anticipate where we needed to take the agency in response to 354 00:28:57.460 --> 00:29:03.279 the situation as it developed, and under somewhat conflicting guidance I would say from time 355 00:29:03.279 --> 00:29:07.950 to time from state and local agencies. 356 00:29:07.950 --> 00:29:13.880 I will say that fortunately for us until recently the governor had mostly left it up to state 357 00:29:13.880 --> 00:29:19.960 agencies to develop their own responses, and gave us a lot of latitude to do that, which 358 00:29:19.960 --> 00:29:25.830 weíve appreciated and has allowed us to respond as we needed to. 359 00:29:25.830 --> 00:29:35.250 Now, shifting to kind of our response in terms of the libraries of the state, I was listening 360 00:29:35.250 --> 00:29:41.679 with great interests to Robís and Deniseís comments about Katrina, and Deniseís comments 361 00:29:41.679 --> 00:29:43.690 about lessons learned in Harvey. 362 00:29:43.690 --> 00:29:47.950 We too were able to learn a lot of really valuable lessons during Hurricane Harvey and 363 00:29:47.950 --> 00:29:49.669 afterwards. 364 00:29:49.669 --> 00:29:55.509 Hurricane Harvey was of course an incredibly devastating weather event in Texas and in 365 00:29:55.509 --> 00:29:56.789 national history. 366 00:29:56.789 --> 00:30:01.690 We learned about many resources that we had not been aware of before. 367 00:30:01.690 --> 00:30:08.399 Most notably we learned to our surprise, maybe nobody elseís, that libraries are specifically 368 00:30:08.399 --> 00:30:13.299 designated in FEMA as essential services, which means that they can go to the head of 369 00:30:13.299 --> 00:30:20.840 the list for recovering funding needed to reopen libraries if theyíve been badly damaged. 370 00:30:20.840 --> 00:30:25.259 The other thing that we learned about is the Heritage Emergency National Task Force or 371 00:30:25.259 --> 00:30:31.570 HENTF which is a unit of FEMA tasked to respond to the impacts of a natural disaster on cultural 372 00:30:31.570 --> 00:30:34.500 heritage institutions, including libraries. 373 00:30:34.500 --> 00:30:40.799 And we were able through HENTF and their very responsive administrative Lori Foley to connect 374 00:30:40.799 --> 00:30:46.200 with a network of people across Texas who were also responding to the emergency. 375 00:30:46.200 --> 00:30:52.039 They connected us with folks in museums, archives, art institutions, historic preservation and 376 00:30:52.039 --> 00:30:57.429 humanities who were also coping with the same types of impact. 377 00:30:57.429 --> 00:31:04.100 Also, during Harvey, we greatly benefited from the prior experience of other states, 378 00:31:04.100 --> 00:31:09.370 most notably New Jersey where they had just recently dealt with Hurricane Sandy. 379 00:31:09.370 --> 00:31:15.529 Our colleagues at the New Jersey State Library, we met with them immediately following the 380 00:31:15.529 --> 00:31:21.649 initial impact of Hurricane Harvey and were able to really learn a lot of great lessons 381 00:31:21.649 --> 00:31:25.350 from them and really chart our response. 382 00:31:25.350 --> 00:31:28.639 And finally, I want to say we were really grateful to our colleagues at the IMLS who 383 00:31:28.639 --> 00:31:35.879 allowed us to use maximum flexibility to extend LSTA funds to be able to award libraries small 384 00:31:35.879 --> 00:31:39.460 grants to help them recover. 385 00:31:39.460 --> 00:31:44.340 Those were great lessons we learned after Harvey, and they did help us somewhat in this 386 00:31:44.340 --> 00:31:46.179 crisis. 387 00:31:46.179 --> 00:31:54.860 But as the other speakers have explored there are similarities and specific differences 388 00:31:54.860 --> 00:32:01.490 between recovering from a hurricane emergency and the kind of pandemic situation weíve 389 00:32:01.490 --> 00:32:03.399 had with the Coronavirus. 390 00:32:03.399 --> 00:32:09.700 I have to say that being a different kind of emergency, and frankly one that our library 391 00:32:09.700 --> 00:32:13.830 community and we were really not fully prepared for. 392 00:32:13.830 --> 00:32:19.249 So most of the rest of the society, I think on some level we have been reactive in this 393 00:32:19.249 --> 00:32:25.470 situation more than proactive in terms of the pandemic aspects of it. 394 00:32:25.470 --> 00:32:30.279 But I will say that I think our reactions have been ahead of the curve of the guidance 395 00:32:30.279 --> 00:32:35.260 that weíve received at least through official channels, and we sort of stayed a little bit 396 00:32:35.260 --> 00:32:37.649 ahead of that. 397 00:32:37.649 --> 00:32:42.220 But like with Harvey we learned some very key lessons from Coronavirus, have learned. 398 00:32:42.220 --> 00:32:47.249 So under FEMA libraries are considered essential services, thatís still true, but what does 399 00:32:47.249 --> 00:32:51.659 that mean to be an essential service if all library services are closed, which most of 400 00:32:51.659 --> 00:32:54.889 ours have been and still are? 401 00:32:54.889 --> 00:32:59.019 We maintain and have maintained publicly that the current crisis has shown that libraries 402 00:32:59.019 --> 00:33:05.169 are more essential than ever, and we have observed that libraries who are the most progressive 403 00:33:05.169 --> 00:33:09.600 in terms of virtual and remote services are the ones that have best been able to serve 404 00:33:09.600 --> 00:33:11.869 their clientele during a crisis. 405 00:33:11.869 --> 00:33:16.450 Our libraries still have access to FEMA funding, but itís now rolled into funding for cities 406 00:33:16.450 --> 00:33:22.169 and counties and administered on the state level by an agency in Texas called the Texas 407 00:33:22.169 --> 00:33:24.429 Department of Emergency Management. 408 00:33:24.429 --> 00:33:28.789 Lori Foley is still with FEMA and we have been in touch with her, but she has not been 409 00:33:28.789 --> 00:33:32.409 quite as direct a player this time around. 410 00:33:32.409 --> 00:33:37.269 Much of the preparation that libraries have done around disaster recovery, which involves 411 00:33:37.269 --> 00:33:42.049 paper and books as well as furniture and equipment and structures and other tangible resources 412 00:33:42.049 --> 00:33:45.380 has not been as applicable in this emergency. 413 00:33:45.380 --> 00:33:49.980 I think as Denise suggested and the other speakers, the lessons that have been applicable 414 00:33:49.980 --> 00:33:56.419 are the ones about how to keep the staff and the public safe, how to connect to information 415 00:33:56.419 --> 00:34:01.809 resources, how to be a conduit to recovery information, and thatís a somewhat different 416 00:34:01.809 --> 00:34:04.179 thing under the virus situation. 417 00:34:04.179 --> 00:34:10.350 This is a little different threat in that weíre not dealing with wind and rain damage, 418 00:34:10.350 --> 00:34:15.630 itís an invisible deadly threat that has required a response, and frankly in some parts 419 00:34:15.630 --> 00:34:21.080 of our state that has seemed sometimes like overkill to some people, especially in areas 420 00:34:21.080 --> 00:34:23.570 that havenít been as touched. 421 00:34:23.570 --> 00:34:29.820 And I have to be honest and say itís compounded at times by conflicting guidance from different 422 00:34:29.820 --> 00:34:36.679 levels of government, and now we have this kind of partisan divide issue that is complicating 423 00:34:36.679 --> 00:34:38.060 things as well. 424 00:34:38.060 --> 00:34:44.420 Specific to libraries weíve seen that many libraries lack sufficient remote access, lack 425 00:34:44.420 --> 00:34:50.810 of broadband of course is always a problem, as well as lack of devices with which to access 426 00:34:50.810 --> 00:34:52.880 online services. 427 00:34:52.880 --> 00:34:57.021 And weíve been concerned by a lack of consistent messaging for libraries about how theyíre 428 00:34:57.021 --> 00:35:04.490 responding, how to communicate their value and how they can be and should be part of 429 00:35:04.490 --> 00:35:07.210 the solution for recovery. 430 00:35:07.210 --> 00:35:12.290 So in light of that unique challenge of the pandemic weíve tried to provide libraries 431 00:35:12.290 --> 00:35:15.380 with specific tools and response. 432 00:35:15.380 --> 00:35:21.040 Like many states we have tracked closure in our states and reported that information to 433 00:35:21.040 --> 00:35:22.040 national groups. 434 00:35:22.040 --> 00:35:25.460 Weíre also trying to track libraries that are reopening. 435 00:35:25.460 --> 00:35:29.900 We very early on put up a resource page for libraries with links to relevant documents, 436 00:35:29.900 --> 00:35:32.810 the URL is listed there. 437 00:35:32.810 --> 00:35:37.830 Our library development and networking group convened a series of conversations with libraries 438 00:35:37.830 --> 00:35:42.250 statewide, including a kickoff webinar that had nearly 1000 people participating, and 439 00:35:42.250 --> 00:35:47.000 that was followed by a series of virtual regional meetings across the state to share information 440 00:35:47.000 --> 00:35:50.220 and to find out what libraries were coping with. 441 00:35:50.220 --> 00:35:55.590 We developed a communications plan for libraries to use during the crisis, and that has proved 442 00:35:55.590 --> 00:35:57.120 quite helpful. 443 00:35:57.120 --> 00:36:02.130 We created a resource guide for library reopening as some of you have, and weíve cribbed from 444 00:36:02.130 --> 00:36:05.420 other states liberally, I can assure you. 445 00:36:05.420 --> 00:36:10.120 We were also I have to say very grateful for the CARES grants. 446 00:36:10.120 --> 00:36:17.260 We are using those funds to provide subgrants to libraries to address COVID response as 447 00:36:17.260 --> 00:36:21.270 well as digital inclusion for our libraries. 448 00:36:21.270 --> 00:36:29.630 So just to kind of conclude our story and bring you up to date, on April 27 Gov. Abbott 449 00:36:29.630 --> 00:36:35.410 went on TV to announce that he would be opening up Texas, and specifically identified libraries 450 00:36:35.410 --> 00:36:39.950 and museums among the services that were allowed to reopen. 451 00:36:39.950 --> 00:36:45.270 Of course, we welcome the governorís implicit judgment that libraries are among the most 452 00:36:45.270 --> 00:36:47.830 needed services in society. 453 00:36:47.830 --> 00:36:54.160 However, most libraries in Texas are city or county libraries and have not been opened. 454 00:36:54.160 --> 00:36:57.580 But the governor did specify that state-run libraries would open for service. 455 00:36:57.580 --> 00:37:04.910 So since last week we have been offering limited services in our reading room here in our building, 456 00:37:04.910 --> 00:37:08.810 but weíre doing that very cautiously, and on an appointment only basis. 457 00:37:08.810 --> 00:37:13.840 So thatís where we are with our work on the COVID response, both as an agency and in support 458 00:37:13.840 --> 00:37:16.270 of local libraries, as they work through the issues. 459 00:37:16.270 --> 00:37:21.100 But Iíll just close with the observation that in times of crisis we know that people 460 00:37:21.100 --> 00:37:25.770 look to libraries for help in recovery, and libraries in turn look to their state libraries 461 00:37:25.770 --> 00:37:27.050 for support. 462 00:37:27.050 --> 00:37:32.770 This situation is so different from other disasters weíve faced in terms of a lot of 463 00:37:32.770 --> 00:37:38.510 people are hurting, some have lost love ones, some have been touched by illness, loss of 464 00:37:38.510 --> 00:37:44.200 jobs and incomes, people donít know where theyíre going to live or even how theyíre 465 00:37:44.200 --> 00:37:47.660 going to live, how theyíre going to cope. 466 00:37:47.660 --> 00:37:51.890 People are deeply uncertain about the future, they are scared that the situation is going 467 00:37:51.890 --> 00:37:58.310 to get worse, weíre certainly dealing with that on a staff level, on a societal level, 468 00:37:58.310 --> 00:38:00.760 and certainly with our libraries. 469 00:38:00.760 --> 00:38:05.350 But I really believe, and I know everybody on this call does as well, that libraries 470 00:38:05.350 --> 00:38:07.170 can be very helpful in the crisis. 471 00:38:07.170 --> 00:38:12.680 But I think itís going to be more demanding emotionally and psychologically than most 472 00:38:12.680 --> 00:38:14.730 of what weíve dealt with in the past. 473 00:38:14.730 --> 00:38:21.900 Our disaster response is going to have to rely on our ability to develop community sustainability, 474 00:38:21.900 --> 00:38:27.430 some of the things Denise was talking about apply here of course, helping people find 475 00:38:27.430 --> 00:38:32.280 jobs, helping them retool for transition to different types of work, supporting remote 476 00:38:32.280 --> 00:38:36.840 learning, information access, and just to help them connect to recreational reading 477 00:38:36.840 --> 00:38:40.660 and viewing that I think is important to nourish their souls. 478 00:38:40.660 --> 00:38:46.410 So itís a strange new world weíre facing, libraries are uniquely situated I think though 479 00:38:46.410 --> 00:38:53.060 to help people to cope with that, and of course our state libraries will help them cope as 480 00:38:53.060 --> 00:38:54.060 well. 481 00:38:54.060 --> 00:38:59.440 So hereís my contact information, Iíll join my colleagues in being happy to answer any 482 00:38:59.440 --> 00:39:00.440 questions. 483 00:39:00.440 --> 00:39:01.440 MS. 484 00:39:01.440 --> 00:39:09.880 FARRELL: Thank you, Mark, we really appreciate all your experience and knowledge. 485 00:39:09.880 --> 00:39:14.630 It has been wonderful to hear Rob and Denise and Mark talk about how the various libraries 486 00:39:14.630 --> 00:39:20.170 have been handling this crisis, and it is a very different animal than what weíve had 487 00:39:20.170 --> 00:39:21.180 in the past. 488 00:39:21.180 --> 00:39:29.320 I see one question form Colleen just asking Mark if she can have a link to the FEMA site 489 00:39:29.320 --> 00:39:35.390 that mentions libraries as essential services. 490 00:39:35.390 --> 00:39:41.530 Iím sure there are other people who want that so we can get that out to you, and probably 491 00:39:41.530 --> 00:39:47.180 send it along in a follow-up email. 492 00:39:47.180 --> 00:39:50.120 Iím looking for other questions. 493 00:39:50.120 --> 00:39:55.670 I do want to say as subgrants are givem out and everything thereís excellent resources 494 00:39:55.670 --> 00:40:01.060 that youíve been mentioning, and I think the thing to think about is when you give 495 00:40:01.060 --> 00:40:07.200 a subgrant to a library or a museum that you make sure that theyíre using the recommended 496 00:40:07.200 --> 00:40:13.950 resources from the EPA that are approved, because there are a lot of scam artists out 497 00:40:13.950 --> 00:40:14.950 there. 498 00:40:14.950 --> 00:40:20.120 And so I think a lot of people are trending to the state libraries for leadership, and 499 00:40:20.120 --> 00:40:26.000 I think a lot of the materials as weíve seen here today in this presentation, a lot of 500 00:40:26.000 --> 00:40:29.940 work has been done on this kind of topic. 501 00:40:29.940 --> 00:40:35.540 And as we get more information, as each speaker has said itís a moving target, so it has 502 00:40:35.540 --> 00:40:41.590 been amazing to see how much people move forward. 503 00:40:41.590 --> 00:40:47.340 I see a question here from David Beach, how did you prepare your staff for the emotional 504 00:40:47.340 --> 00:40:51.690 difficulties facing during the opening. 505 00:40:51.690 --> 00:40:55.180 Denise, do you want to address that? 506 00:40:55.180 --> 00:40:58.880 Or anyone else? 507 00:40:58.880 --> 00:40:59.880 MS. 508 00:40:59.880 --> 00:41:02.130 LYONS: Sure, I can answer. 509 00:41:02.130 --> 00:41:03.590 We are not open yet. 510 00:41:03.590 --> 00:41:04.940 We are still working remotely. 511 00:41:04.940 --> 00:41:11.260 But while weíve been away, I think that some of the things that have been most helpful 512 00:41:11.260 --> 00:41:18.740 are our CE coordinator has been doing weekly chats with public library staff, directors, 513 00:41:18.740 --> 00:41:22.660 just real drop-in kind of thing. 514 00:41:22.660 --> 00:41:29.970 One week had a specific focus, but really it is just a place for them to be able to 515 00:41:29.970 --> 00:41:36.980 come around and talk about things in a way that maybe they havenít been able to find 516 00:41:36.980 --> 00:41:37.980 other places to share. 517 00:41:37.980 --> 00:41:45.570 Obviously, we send out as many resources from the state as we can, and we encourage them 518 00:41:45.570 --> 00:41:54.870 because all of our libraries are county based to find similar resources at county level. 519 00:41:54.870 --> 00:42:03.120 Weíve done some mindfulness webinars, actually the childrenís coordinator did the juggling 520 00:42:03.120 --> 00:42:11.290 training, which was a way to try to lighten some of the mood, and again talked about mindfulness, 521 00:42:11.290 --> 00:42:20.140 and weíve had other staff related lunches and drop-ins and slack conversations and things 522 00:42:20.140 --> 00:42:28.560 to try to keep people engaged while theyíre working remotely and maybe feeling a little 523 00:42:28.560 --> 00:42:36.490 disconnected from their colleagues, so those are a couple things off the top of my head. 524 00:42:36.490 --> 00:42:37.490 MS. 525 00:42:37.490 --> 00:42:39.380 FARRELL: Rob, do you have anything to add to that? 526 00:42:39.380 --> 00:42:40.380 MR. 527 00:42:40.380 --> 00:42:41.380 FAVINI: Sure. 528 00:42:41.380 --> 00:42:45.920 We are targeting our CARES Act money, weíre just trying to figure out when would be the 529 00:42:45.920 --> 00:42:51.250 best time, but we want to do a series of, for our library staff, mindfulness and mental 530 00:42:51.250 --> 00:42:53.560 health programming. 531 00:42:53.560 --> 00:42:57.330 And weíre targeting that to a little bit later in the year, only because weíre really 532 00:42:57.330 --> 00:43:03.500 not sure when the Massachusetts libraries are going to be having full staff back in 533 00:43:03.500 --> 00:43:04.950 their libraries. 534 00:43:04.950 --> 00:43:10.320 So possibly late fall, early winter, weíll be looking into some of those direct grants 535 00:43:10.320 --> 00:43:12.330 or subgrants to address those issues. 536 00:43:12.330 --> 00:43:13.330 MS. 537 00:43:13.330 --> 00:43:14.470 FARRELL: Thank you. 538 00:43:14.470 --> 00:43:19.290 How about you, Mark, anything that you can add? 539 00:43:19.290 --> 00:43:20.290 MR. 540 00:43:20.290 --> 00:43:27.000 SMITH: Well we certainly have been struggling with that, certainly with our own state library 541 00:43:27.000 --> 00:43:30.640 agency staff as well as staff across the state. 542 00:43:30.640 --> 00:43:35.670 In terms of state library agency staff, I think one of the challenges when everyone 543 00:43:35.670 --> 00:43:42.170 is working remotely is keeping people kind of connected with one another and making them 544 00:43:42.170 --> 00:43:43.400 feel part of the team. 545 00:43:43.400 --> 00:43:50.570 Weíre having weekly, weíve never had all staff meetings before, we had seven in a row 546 00:43:50.570 --> 00:44:01.560 with our agency now, we have frequent meetings on a divisional level, on a unit level, organizationally, 547 00:44:01.560 --> 00:44:08.900 just to try to keep people in touch with each other and connected, so thatís been important. 548 00:44:08.900 --> 00:44:14.030 We have of course been sharing EAP information, weíve been sharing other types of information 549 00:44:14.030 --> 00:44:16.730 to help people deal with it. 550 00:44:16.730 --> 00:44:24.680 On the library level thatís obviously harder, and we canít really address that so much 551 00:44:24.680 --> 00:44:29.290 directly, but just trying to be there as much as we can for our libraries statewide, be 552 00:44:29.290 --> 00:44:35.310 a resource that they can use, steer them towards materials, weíve got a wonderful library 553 00:44:35.310 --> 00:44:41.910 development and networking team that is very empathetic and compassionate and clued into 554 00:44:41.910 --> 00:44:43.290 the needs of the library. 555 00:44:43.290 --> 00:44:49.050 So we know them, obviously in all the states we know our librarians really well, a lot 556 00:44:49.050 --> 00:44:55.720 of them we know personally, so how to utilize as much human support as we possibly can during 557 00:44:55.720 --> 00:44:56.720 this time. 558 00:44:56.720 --> 00:44:57.720 MS. 559 00:44:57.720 --> 00:45:03.380 FARRELL: Thank you, Mark, I can tell you we have been doing virtual coffee breaks and 560 00:45:03.380 --> 00:45:12.290 also virtual tours of museums, surprise, surprise, as a way of the staff connecting and just 561 00:45:12.290 --> 00:45:14.930 feeling weíre all together. 562 00:45:14.930 --> 00:45:22.480 And we did have a staff person who had an in quotes mild case of COVID, and he is now 563 00:45:22.480 --> 00:45:28.260 back at work and weíre all happy and pleased to have him back, and we had an all staff 564 00:45:28.260 --> 00:45:34.740 meeting today, and he said during it, he said the symptoms and everything, he goes this 565 00:45:34.740 --> 00:45:35.920 is serious. 566 00:45:35.920 --> 00:45:41.350 And that coming from somebody who has had it is a real statement. 567 00:45:41.350 --> 00:45:47.550 So Iím real amazed at how much people are hanging in there and doing the best that they 568 00:45:47.550 --> 00:45:52.080 can during these very difficult times for a lot of people. 569 00:45:52.080 --> 00:45:59.760 Iím seeing another question by Claudia who says please ask Rob to repeat the software 570 00:45:59.760 --> 00:46:05.230 he is using to aggregate responses from his library. 571 00:46:05.230 --> 00:46:06.230 DR. 572 00:46:06.230 --> 00:46:09.260 FAVINI: The product is called Padlet. 573 00:46:09.260 --> 00:46:13.140 There is a free version. 574 00:46:13.140 --> 00:46:19.290 Actually, our affiliate Mass Library System had a subscription to it. 575 00:46:19.290 --> 00:46:23.650 Itís really neat, it really does recreate that sticky note thing, and we also could 576 00:46:23.650 --> 00:46:29.100 have people electronically vote on things, so it also recreates placing dots and has 577 00:46:29.100 --> 00:46:33.370 comment areas, you can drop in pictures, videos. 578 00:46:33.370 --> 00:46:39.730 It worked out very nicely for a remote situation and kept people engaged beautifully. 579 00:46:39.730 --> 00:46:40.730 MS. 580 00:46:40.730 --> 00:46:42.890 FARRELL: Thank you. 581 00:46:42.890 --> 00:46:47.790 And we have another question or more of a comment from Maura Walsh. 582 00:46:47.790 --> 00:46:54.320 Actually, I think a lot of us could use this citation link to FEMA essential services. 583 00:46:54.320 --> 00:46:55.660 Could we get it -- MR. 584 00:46:55.660 --> 00:47:05.130 SMITH: Definitely Michele, in fact Iím looking for it right now, but I canít quite find 585 00:47:05.130 --> 00:47:08.060 it, but if I find it before weíre off the call Iíll share it. 586 00:47:08.060 --> 00:47:09.060 MS. 587 00:47:09.060 --> 00:47:10.060 FARRELL: That is fine. 588 00:47:10.060 --> 00:47:15.590 And I will mention that IMLS has a link to the FEMA site on our COVID page on the IMLS 589 00:47:15.590 --> 00:47:16.590 website. 590 00:47:16.590 --> 00:47:24.400 So I strongly suggest you look there because we are putting information that we feel our 591 00:47:24.400 --> 00:47:31.650 grantees can use related to COVID, and certainly some of the many grants and other information 592 00:47:31.650 --> 00:47:39.680 that we have available now on COVID. 593 00:47:39.680 --> 00:47:45.780 Now let me see if I have any other questions here. 594 00:47:45.780 --> 00:47:47.160 Janet McKinney asks can you spell that Rob. 595 00:47:47.160 --> 00:47:48.160 DR. 596 00:47:48.160 --> 00:47:55.600 FAVINI: I just typed it in chat, but itís Padlet. 597 00:47:55.600 --> 00:47:57.990 MS. 598 00:47:57.990 --> 00:48:09.230 FARRELL: Do we have any other questions? 599 00:48:09.230 --> 00:48:16.260 I think weíve almost covered all the questions from what I can see. 600 00:48:16.260 --> 00:48:22.650 IMLS, obviously we covered a lot of information here and I canít thank Rob, Denise, and Mark 601 00:48:22.650 --> 00:48:29.060 enough, you are truly superheroes to us, coming forward in this very difficult time for state 602 00:48:29.060 --> 00:48:32.180 libraries and taking your time to make this presentation. 603 00:48:32.180 --> 00:48:35.770 We are so grateful at IMLS for this. 604 00:48:35.770 --> 00:48:45.690 And now I would say that weíd like to have my wonderful boss, Teri DeVoe, come back online 605 00:48:45.690 --> 00:48:48.180 and do the conference wrap-up and closing remarks.