By Jason Gabak
When Christian Zabriskie, executive director of the Onondaga County Public Library system, joined in as the guest speaker in the latest installment of the Manlius Informed series, he was able to shed some light on what the OCPL does and his insights from a career spanning two decades about what the future of libraries may hold.
Like many other organizations libraries have had to change around the concerns associated with the coronavirus.
But Zabriskie said libraries are resilient and according to him as history has shown, libraries can and must adapt to accommodate the needs of the people they serve.
In addition to putting an emphasis on the digital possibilities libraries allow people to access, Zabriskie said things are moving forward allowing patrons to check out physical materials.
“We are starting curbside pickup,” he said. “Well more like entryway pickup, but we are moving forward.”
Many libraries are also putting protective measures in place such as Plexiglas shields and will likely ask guests to respect social distancing and wear face coverings when the time comes to reopen something closer to the normal way people are used to.
With items that do go out on loan, extra precautions are being taken at this time.
According to Zabriskie items are placed in at least a 72 hour quarantine, up to a week before they are loaned out again.
He said with books in particular the concern does not seem to be with the paper, but with the mylar covers that many library books have.
By taking these measures, he said this is ample time based on what is known of the virus for it die before being loaned out again.
“We are following CDC guidelines,” Zabriskie said.
According to plans from the state, Zabriskie said libraries fall under the Phase 4 category in terms of reopening.
This phase focuses on places that host larger gatherings of people.
This is an effort many libraries have made in recent years to host more events like guest speakers, book clubs, community organizations and even guest entertainment in some cases.
Zabriskie said this has been a focused effort to help libraries grow and adapt with the interests of the communities they serve.
“We have become kind of a community living room,” he said.
This strategy and the results Zabriskie has seen are a good thing he said, but right now this poses some concerns.
Having people gather together at this time and in the near future will probably be more limited Zabriskie said.
But he said many things will carry on although in modified forms.
He said many libraries will be hosting book clubs and summer reading programs for kids, though in a virtual format on platforms like Zoom and packets and projects will be available for younger readers.
“We want people to be engaged,” Zabriskie said. “We also have programs for our older adults who are experiencing social isolation.”
Some other recent developments include teaming with the Syracuse Shakespeare in the Park organization to broadcast performances once a week.
“We’ve had to get more creative with programming but we are moving forward,” Zabriskie said. “We have to continue to innovate and grow.”
Zabriskie also fielded some questions from the audience.
When asked about the connection between OCPL and the other libraries in the county, he said there this is a complicated but in some ways simple arrangement.
Zabriskie said he oversees the OCPL, which is its own unit with a board of directors and other staff.
But other libraries such as Manlius and Solvay for example, those outside the City of Syracuse, are autonomous with their own boards and staff.
The OCPL does have relationships with other libraries and helps with communications and technology support and also assists with things like deliveries for interlibrary loans for example.
Being independent units, Zabriskie said this means different libraries will likely open at different times based on state guidance as well as how each library addresses its own needs for precautionary measures.
Zabriskie also touched on how public libraries differ from libraries in universities for example.
He said large university libraries often strive to have as much information as possible, where as community libraries often adapt with the interests of the community through a process he called weeding.
Zabriskie said for example he worked at one library that had about 150,000 volumes in it, but he said as much as a third of this collecting had not been touched in 15 years or more.
“We weeded out a lot,” Zabriskie said. “We donated things, sold things. We have to keep things fresh.”
He said it is most likely that if no one has looked at a book in years, it is unlikely someone will come in the next day seeking it out and it is probably safe for a library to consider removing items like that from its collection.
Moving forward,, Zabriskie said first and foremost everything has to be stable before libraries or any other organization can really now exactly how to move forward.
“There is just too much we don’t know right now,” he said.
In his opinion, Zabriskie said it is likely the virtual platforms will continue to play a role for the foreseeable future, but he said just like anything else this is an opportunity to innovate and better serve the community.
“It is going to be different,” Zabriskie said. “As long as this is with us things are going to be different, but that is OK. We are a resilient people and it is going to be OK.”
