The lead to the story wasn’t that that the new library was about to open. It was that the library will open to customers when the number of local covid cases drops.
Good for the library and the library board.
Anecdotally, meaning what we hear at the newspaper, more and more people are coming up positive with covid-19. If you need a color chart to emphasize that, we refer you to the state Health Department’s map of the state. That would be Jefferson County shaded in the deepest blue, meaning that we, along with only six other counties, are in the worst shape in the state when it comes to covid-19 cases.
And if you want something more concrete, the Health Department reports that we have had 4,160 confirmed cases with 335 currently active, and we have had a total of 102 deaths.
So while, as a state, our numbers are going up, up, up, and no one at the state level is doing much to curtail activity, it’s reassuring that someone at the local level is using some common sense to avoid more risk. And by risk, we mean to the employees who have to serve the public and to the patrons themselves.
Independent reporting for Pine Bluff & Jefferson County since 1879.
“We are keeping a daily watch on the covid numbers, which are increasing,” said Bobbie Morgan, director of the Pine Bluff/Jefferson County Library System. “They are still very high in Jefferson County and Pine Bluff, so we’re still waiting for those to come down a little bit so that we can open safely.”
Morgan said she would like to avoid what has happened at a couple of the smaller libraries. Staff at those facilities is small, as one might imagine, so when someone gets the coronavirus or is having to quarantine, there goes your staff and your library availability.
“If you only have two staff and they’ve both been exposed to covid, you have to shut down the library, and I really don’t want to have to do that with the main library,” Morgan said. “I want it so when we do open, we can stay open.”
And how would the public make those numbers come down? Keep on keepin’ on.
From our vantage point, it would seem that Pine Bluffians are being very conscientious about wearing masks. Unlike some places around the country, where people are not following the science and seem to be eschewing masks as some sort of political statement, residents here are following health department protocols, it would appear.
Where we have seen that adherence falter is in small groups where individuals know each other and falsely assume that it is very unlikely that they and their friends will catch and spread the virus. Many of those, it seems, are now suffering from it, perhaps because they didn’t social distance or wear a mask or both.
Morgan echoed those sentiments in urging the public to be safe.
“I’m hoping that the people in Pine Bluff really work on social distancing, wearing their mask and sanitizing their hands,” she said, “and these numbers will come down.”
We have been inside the new library long enough to write about what all it has and will offer. And it is exciting. (We’re imagining the cooking classes now!) But opening it up and contributing to an already risky situation is not prudent. At once, we are sad that the new facility hasn’t opened yet, as it is way overdue for that event, but we are happy that those in charge are putting safety first.