Students will have to make multiple reservations if they want to study with a group in the library this semester.
In an Aug. 26 email sent from the office of the provost, the executive director of the Cullom-Davis Library Barbara Galik said students will need to make reservations through the library website in advance in order to enter the building.
Students can only make reservations for one seat at a time, and if someone is planning to attend with others they would each need to reserve individual seats near the same location. Students will have to schedule their own time in the library using the EMS system, utilizing it under the title “Library Seat Reservations.”
Other changes include a condensed access to the Academic Success Center, Center for Teaching Excellence and Learning (CTEL) and the IT Service Desk to the entry desk, near the front library entrance.
Masks are required to be worn at all times and a student’s Bradley ID access will be swipe only. Additionally, a worker will ask students where in the library they are heading and will give them a marker that will direct them to their destination.
Seating capacity is being reduced to 25 percent and chairs and furniture have been set up to enhance social distancing.
Books have to be removed from shelves for three days after they are touched and journals with glossy coverings have to be quarantined up to four days. Students will have to request certain books and items from the circulation desk in order to receive them.
Galik said that the library’s new procedures are the result of research on COVID-19, talking to other librarians at peer institutions in other states and participating in multiple meetings of the directors of most of the academic libraries in Illinois, ensuring that Bradley was meeting that same high standard.
“There were no examples to follow so we set our own standards and procedures based on what we could learn,” Galik said in an email to The Scout. “Removal of all the soft furniture which could not be wiped down after every use was and social distancing of tables was done by a Bradley team who, from my understanding, did all of the social distancing on campus. When in doubt, we erred on the side of being cautious.”
Additionally, Galik said that the library is following recommendations from the REopening Archives, Libraries and Museums (REALM) organization regarding the quarantining of books.
“Two major library organizations and [Batelle research lab] are testing how long the virus is active on various library materials,” Galik said. “Until recently, those quarantine times were three days (72 hrs) for books and four days (96 hrs) for glossy magazine pages. We just received news that this has been raised to seven days because books in libraries are shelved tight or stacked together and the virus lives longer on books that are close together.”
Additionally, food is not allowed in the library. Stacks Cafe remains open but operates separately from the library and students must use the left side door to enter and exit.
Trevor Smith, a senior mechanical engineering major, described the library guidelines as an impactful way to keep people out of the library. Smith said he was an avid library user, spending 15 or more hours a week in the building. Now, he doesn’t plan on using it at all.
“There are no quiet secluded spaces in the library to study anymore,” Smith said. “With the basement closed and the seating chart spreading people out across the entire library there is no place like that anymore.”
Additionally, Smith feels that the new library format does not fit its usual purpose.
“While spacing out the tables to exactly six feet is good for capacity reasons, I wish they spaced them out even more to be more comfortable. Right now it feels like a large exam hall rather than a place to prepare for exams,” Smith said.
Freshman computer science major Tom Jansen said that even though he understands the need for guidelines, he does not plan on going to the library much either.
“In my mind, the library is designed to be a place where students gather and learn together or work on projects together, but with these limitations, it would be easier to go to a dorm or apartment without masks instead.”
