 Welcome to this episode of Talk of the Town, I'm James Milan and today I get to talk to a familiar face to me and to all of you I'll bet to Andrea Nicolai, the director of our libraries, lamentably closed at the moment like so much other stuff, but we're going to find out what the good news is around that or around services provided in programs, etc. from Andrea. Andrea, thanks for joining us. Oh, you're welcome. It's so great to be here with you. Thank you, James. We always enjoy our conversations with you and we notice, of course, you are ensconced in your home as I am in mine, as everybody who's watching is in theirs, I'll bet. But tell us how are you doing? We are very interested to know with the folks we're talking to these days how they are doing as individuals. So how's it going for you? Thank you. I'm holding steady like so many of us, taking it day by day, trying to keep perspective and one of the things that has been helpful to me has been learning how to meditate. So that's how I've been, you know, I've found it helpful and I've also been keeping in touch with friends and family in all of the ways that we can now. So that's also been great. Yeah, it's tremendously helpful, the technology we have available. Hey, right here, right in front of us using it as we speak. And we'll talk about that in a little bit as well. But let me ask you, how are you actually conducting your work as the library director? And how are you communicating with staff? And, you know, how is that all working? Yeah, so we've got got a few things going on. We've got weekly Zoom meetings with library department heads. So getting together with the head of children's services, adult services, teen services, and all of our other department heads to talk about library services that we can provide during this time, and doing some as much planning as we can do right now. So weekly meetings with my team, individual one on ones as needed with my team. I've been in daily contact with the assistant director of libraries, Anna Lytton. You've seen her face maybe on Facebook live sessions, teaching people how to use Libby and all of the wonderful resources we have. And I also host every Friday afternoon, a social hour for the entire library staff. And everyone gets together on Zoom and or as many people as have the time to do it. And that's been a wonderful way to kind of see the people that we normally are so used to seeing and smiling at and, you know, saying hello to every day. I mean, no matter what department you work in in the library, you've got, you know, people, you know, your colleagues in other departments. So that's been a nice way to get together virtually on a weekly basis as well. Yeah, it's a great idea. It's something that we have just started as well at ACMI, a little kind of Friday afternoon happy hour thing. And I think that's absolutely essential, right? Right now, because among the many other things that just feel anti, you know, against our very human instincts about our current situation is the idea that, you know, I've been in the library for countless hours. And I know that everybody who worked there is very busy. And yet they all have time for a little bit of kind of social interaction with the folks who are coming in there like myself, just making use of the library as as as patrons, or with each other, because I've noticed the conviviality among the staff. And of course, that's missing for all of us. So anything you can do, I think, to mitigate that is a great idea. Yeah, I've sorry, go ahead. No, no, that's fine. I also have been following the lead of the town really sending messages to my staff on a daily basis. At the end of the day, I send the library update, and it gives information about what I've learned, what other people have shared with me about the library world and developments related to the quarantine period and and public health and things of that nature. So information that's helpful to staff to understand the various things that are unfolding in communities across Massachusetts and, you know, the library world. So that's been, I think, helpful as well. Well, you give your staff, as you said, weekly or nightly updates what's going on. Give us one. Because I'm sure people are very, very curious. The library, as you well know, is one of the most treasured institutions in this town, as in most towns, I think. And people are going to be very curious to know, hey, what is possible to keep going forward with at this time? Understanding that there are some things that just aren't going to be possible to translate into this kind of pandemic era world that we're living in at the moment. Well, as we've seen in our day to day lives, we need resources and support for education and entertainment purposes, just like, you know, in normal times, we use the library for that purpose. Right now, what we're focusing on is connecting people with virtual resources that help support social distancing. So right now, as we find ourselves in the sort of the surge or the, you know, the thick of it, social distancing is really important. So we've been adding to our e-content collection. So when I talk about e-content, I'm trying to stay away from jargon here, but e-books, downloadable audiobooks, streaming video, streaming media of all kinds through Canopy, Hoopla, Libby, which is the Overdrive app, and Acorn TV, and some of the other, we have a whole list of databases available for any number of digital collection purposes. So we've been Sorry to interrupt, but that list, when you say we have a whole list available, you're talking about going, it's on the website? It's on the website. And I also include a sort of short version of that list in my twice a month newsletters. So we've been instead of sending, we typically send three newsletters, three different newsletters out, one to children and families every Sunday night, one to the general interest list, and one to our plugged in 50 and older adults. We've been consolidating those lists and sending all of the information out twice a month to our list of e-newsletter subscribers, because we know that people talk to each other, like even if you're not the intended audience, your neighbor might have a kid who would benefit from that. And if you're on the list and you know about, you pass the word on. So we're just all about getting the word out about the services that we can offer right now. You asked for a description of what those are and we are supporting virtual programming. So obviously there's no replacement for being in the community room and enjoying a lecture or a book discussion group. But we are taking advantage of the technologies that are available to us. So we're using Zoom to host book discussions, movie discussions. We even have a game chat where you can get together and talk about a video game with other video game enthusiasts. We have a scavenger hunt happening next month for people to discover library resources and win a chance to win a gift certificate to a local Arlington restaurant. We're supporting supporting the local restaurants at the same time. Awesome. Yes. Yes. And teen photo contest. We have the virtual story times twice a week. So on Facebook Live, where our children's librarians are providing Facebook story times or Facebook Live story times. You don't need to be a Facebook account holder or user to access those. So if you just go to our page, our page is public, just go to the page at the appointed time. You can see the story time with your with your kids. And that's been extremely popular. And it's a way that has also supported a little bit of interaction. Because normally in a story time, a librarian will be saying like, Oh, hey, look, there's Eli and there's Sarah. But with Facebook Live, you do have the option to kind of chat in. So parents have been saying, you know, Eli's here, Sarah's here, and so forth. And so the librarians are able to say, Oh, hey, it's nice to see you. And I think that means something to kids, even even though they know it's not the same kind of experience, that connection is so important. And so I've been really impressed with our librarians have have translated their skills to these virtual platforms. Yeah, so that I mean, again, I've got to I know that you've got a lot more programming to talk about or other other events to to let us know about. But I have to dive in and just kind of say right here that, you know, you mentioned that that these things are virtually accessible for folks. I know that you guys are acutely aware at the library in normal times, as we are at ACMI of the digital divide that exists in our community as in as in, you know, as everywhere, folks who access the library's physical plan, in order to make use of the resources that are there, that they can't replicate in their homes or can't, you know, just simply don't have internet access, don't have a laptop, don't have the things that they need. I know that you are mindful of the needs of that part of our community, even as we are all traversing this crazy time, making full use of our own privileged access to that technology. So tell us a little bit about, you know, is there any good news for folks who are wondering, hey, you know, what what can replace the library I used to get to walk into and jump on a computer, etc. Yeah, yeah. Thanks for raising this issue. It is something that we've been thinking and talking a lot about with with library staff with I've been talking about with other directors. So the digital divide is obviously very real here and it's real in Arlington. I am really looking forward to finding ways through our summer reading program to connect to families that may not be on the lucky side of the digital divide, and for whom, you know, it might be a struggle to get a device into the hands of their kids, or to, you know, download an ebook or something of that nature. So our we are really eager to, to give books to kids through a chance through through Arlington Eats, we're partnering with Arlington Eats this summer to, to basically find out work with Arlington Eats to find out the the general interests or ages of the kids in the households that they deliver to and then get books into their into their their delivery. So we're really excited about that. It's we need to work out some details, but it's a way that we can help kids connect with the summer reading program and start thinking about, you know, participating in that that really important library program. We our summer reading program is is vital to, you know, that they talk about the summer slide. And I know that school I mean, Lord knows that schools being online now have have really posed a lot of challenges to parents who are trying to, you know, keep their kids on track in some way, shape or form. Summer reading is another way that we support families and the education system to do that, to keep kids reading skills up. And, and so this program with Arlington Eats is one way that we're hoping to bridge the digital divide just a little bit to get kids excited about reading. Yeah, I just wanted to throw in that that that sounds wonderful on a couple of different levels, possibly the first and foremost, it could be very effective to do what it is that you're trying to do. Secondly, though, one of the bright spots, if we can even speak in those terms of the conversations we've been having over the last couple of weeks with various folks on what we call different kinds of front lines in this in this battle, we're all we're all fighting. One of the bright spots has been the innovative and and creative collaboration between different groups and agencies in town to kind of come together and leverage their mutual, both connections and energies and ways of doing things so as to reach, you know, even more people with whatever services they provide. So the Council on Aging is working with Arlington Eats, which is also working with FoodLink, which is and the fact that therefore you are also, you know, able to figure out a way to partner with Arlington Eats, who have had to move to a home delivery system we know, rather than people coming to pick up food at a central location, they're having to just move to home delivery. Well, that's excellent for your purposes. And the fact that you recognize that they do and that there is, you know, real momentum towards making something fun, you know, function well there. It's just it's a it's a bit of good news. And we're always looking for that. So I wanted to absolutely. Yeah, thank you. Absolutely. And they've been such a like an open partner. It's fantastic. So and they're doing such amazing work. And I mean, the other thing that I'm really interested and keep on on doing and I will continue to do is promote the other services in town. We have so many cross promotional opportunities right now. And I was so impressed with Christine Shah and her talk of the town episode. That's where I learned about the telephone call reassurance program. So in my most recent in the library's most recent newsletter, we highlighted that program and that you know, I mean, we need to be highlighting all of those great programs that are helping cross the divide. And the phone reassurance program, it's a beautiful program. I mean, being able to get a call from a social worker once a week, just to say hello, check in see if anything right. So again, just to you know, you because you referred to it, you know, that program is just as you described, you know, it is where social workers, another another staff really from the council on aging are making a point of reaching out telephonically to folks who are isolated in their homes, especially maybe older residents or people who don't have the means to be getting out and about at all, or to make other kinds of social contact, just checking in on them, letting them know somebody's thinking about them and caring for them, etc. Who knows just how much, you know, just how important that really is for so many people who otherwise are not having that essential social contact we all depend on. Yeah, yeah. And I would add that I mean, as excited as we are about giving books away to kids over the course of the summer. We also, of course, are really focused on a phase one plan to and when I say phase one, any reopening process is going to be somewhat phased across probably most town departments. We're certainly not alone in that respect. But when we think about a phase three opening, we think about a way to get physical library materials back into the hands of Arlington residents and patrons. And so we're not ready to do that yet, because we haven't gotten the, you know, we don't have the safety protocols in a place that will make that possible. Some of it does depend on having personal protective equipment and so forth. But we are very keen on instating some sort of curbside delivery program as as it gets closer to the time of, you know, I mean, well, when we enter the first phase of reopening, so it's not going to be like one day, the doors fly open and everybody is welcome back in the library. That's just not realistic, given given the way things are going. But but I'm in constant discussions with other library directors with with the Minuteman Library Network about how libraries can safely do this. And we're not quite sure what it looks like yet, but we're really, really keen on that because we know we know that that plenty of people don't have smartphones or want just prefer physical books. So we're really interested to pursue that. And how constant I mean, because you've just touched on the very idea of reopening, which I think people understand is a ways away is going to need to be done in phases. But nonetheless, I think everybody's super anxious to get any kind of good news they can around that. I'm wondering how much you are also in communication with town officials who, of course, will be implementing whatever decisions are made by boards of health on the state level and other state entities. I know, and I'll just throw in that there was a town, a virtual town forum earlier this afternoon on which we're speaking. And I happened to tune into that. And there were questions about the library coming into the town manager and, and Christine Benjordo from the Health and Human Services in town, etc. about, hey, when, when, when is the is the library going to be one of the first things that gets reopened, etc.? Well, there were no definite answers forthcoming, but it was clear both on the, on the end of the populace that there's real interest. And, and on the end of the officials that they are really thinking about this and thinking of the library as a kind of high profile institution in town. I'm just wondering, is that something that you're in constant communication with them about? Or is it mostly that you're having to look at what the library systems more generally are, are, are planning on and planning for? Well, it's, it's a little of both. So I am in constant communication with the, with the town manager with the other town department heads, we have a weekly meeting. There's no question that any decision making around the phased reopening of the libraries will involve the input of the Health and Human Services Department, as well as the best information that we have about materials handling from the CDC, from library and museum institutions, you know, national associations will be looking at, I mean, it's obviously the library business is a unique business. So I think, you know, they're relying on me to gather the best information that I can gather from the community and bring it to our, our town leaders. So it's definitely a partnership. And it's definitely, like you said, constant communication. I'm wondering whether, given the fact that the, that the library is vacant at the moment, whether there has already been some kind of extensive cleaning or sterilization of the library taking advantage of that, that the vacancy at the, at this moment, or whether there are just plans to do so, you know, obviously before those doors do open again. Yeah. So we are, we do have cleaning teams, or a cleaning team, I should say, in the building on an almost daily basis, to do some of the cleaning that we can never get to during other times. So that's been helpful. It's not the same as the, like, COVID-19 related cleaning that will, like those disinfectant protocols that will come when we have actual, like when we have people in the building again. But that's another thing that I'm working with town leadership on, trying to figure out what will, what will be necessary to keep people safe as we, as we start to see more people in the building, whether it's staff, or the public, or both. So yeah, we're taking advantage of the vacancy during this time as well. And so far as we're spiffing up the teen area. So we had a plan and we had already ordered furniture, some replacement furniture for the teen space. So we are using this time to get a painter in there to repaint the space, repaint the chalkboard columns, the beloved chalkboard columns that get scrawled on all year long. And the diner booths that are so popular. So the teen space is getting a facelift. And we're also continuing with some of the important capital projects that had begun before the shutdown happened. So we're doing some repointing around the building. You anticipated my next question beautifully. Well done in that. Yeah, we were wondering about what kinds of plans you had had that were imminent or or in the shorter medium term that you've now had to adjust postpone, I assume not abandoned, but you know, that have been really impacted by by the closure. Yeah, we had a couple of major capital projects in the pipeline. So the building is being repointed. There's a company that's going to be coming in and the facilities department is is managing this obviously. But the front steps are going to be repointed and sealed. There are some things or some window heads. That's what they're called. I'm learning a lot about masonry masonry these days. But there's some repointing that's going to happen. So people will see some construction vehicles and so forth around the building in the coming months. And that's what that's about. We also have a chiller project in the work. So we're replacing our very ancient end of life chiller on the top of the building and that that delivery schedule has been a little delayed. But again, working with the facilities department to make that happen. And so from, you know, from a capital projects perspective, it's, you know, we're everything got delayed, but we're moving along now. And that's, that's really nice to see. It's a good feeling. So I've always thought of the library as a pretty chill environment. But is that what a chiller is for? No, what is a chiller? A chiller. Yes, I'm sorry. A chiller is part of our HVAC. You've been spending so much time with this, Andrea, that it's just, you know, you forget that the most don't know what the heck you're talking about. Yeah, thank you. Thank you for for that pause. So a chiller, a chiller basically is the the apparatus that allows the building to be cooled every, every summer. And it's, it's really, it's directly related to the air conditioning of the building. So it keeps us keeps us chill all summer long. And of course, the library is a place that people often seek comfortable climate. So that's, that's going to be supported. And I can't help but ask, I'm sure, of course, that they're being well tended to, but how about our precious bees? The bees are, you know, the bees are doing their thing. We haven't had best bees in the building since the shutdown, but they it's not like they come every, I think they do, they do come for just a check every month. But the bees are okay, they're, they're, they're starting to pollinate, they're starting to, I'm not sure if, if both hives survived in the optimal way over the course of the cold months, but we will get the, we'll get besties back in there and check on them for sure. Yes, obviously, bees are a much treasured resource, you know, or much treasured kind of attribute that in the library. But you know, there are there, there are all kinds of priorities right now. And I'm sure they can, you know, bees also can manage on their own a certain amount of the time. Another question I think that people might have is about the reading dogs, are they still reading the kids? Somehow? No, you know, the dogs are not that is a really popular program. So with reading to dogs, kids can make an appointment with a dog and their handler. Those reading dog programs take place at the library, typically. Sadly, that is on hold. Wouldn't it be amazing to find a way to get a dog on zoom to do that? Not sure about the feasibility there, but it's a nice thought for sure. But but it's such a, it's such a wonderful way for kids to feel comfortable reading aloud, because a dog does not judge. So that's what that program is all about. And it's a wonderful program. But these are the these are the programs that, you know, it hurts, it hurts the heart that we cannot offer them right now. But you know, think of how how they will be appreciated once we are able to offer them again. That's what we have to keep focus on. Well, I can tell that your meditative practices has, you know, has been effective in terms of, because you're right, actually, that it's really important to keep things things in perspective and that there are things that we have that's easy. It's easy to take for granted. And we can't do that now. And I hope that as we all do get back to whatever normal is on the other side of this, and it will include the library once again in our lives in a in an in an ongoing way. Let's hope that we can appreciate for a good long while, what it was that we have always been able to count on. I want to make sure that we have not given any kind of short shrift or omitted anything that you wanted to make sure that people are aware of. Oh, boy. You know, I think we've we've covered a lot of ground. I think, you know, again, very interested in reintroducing physical materials to the community when it's safe to do so. And I think, you know, within the library community within many, many industries, there's a lot of talk of the importance of social distancing and how that will continue over time. And so I think what we're going to expect when when we are able to have people back in the building is that social distancing will continue to be important. And we'll obviously be following all of the health guidelines around that and whatever else is important to to observe. So we're going to we're going to focus on innovating within those guidelines and doing doing things in maybe creative and new ways within the health guidelines that are going to keep everyone safe. Yeah, the, you know, the town manager at this virtual town meeting in which the questions about the library came up was mentioning that, you know, the challenge is the same there only more so in a lot of ways than than in any as in any other public space. And that is just to figure out how to reopen and make those spaces available without having people be either too close to each other or in the same space for too long. And the library is a place where people love to be, you know, if not right next to each other, then certainly in close proximity and where people are used to hanging out for hours at a time should they wish. So that will be it will be an adjustment for everybody undoubtedly. Yeah, but as we've seen so many times before, I mean, our patrons and the community are they are very open minded. When you know, whenever we've made a big change at the libraries, whether it's, you know, moving to open holds like we did right before the shutdown, actually, you know, people are very patient. They're very as a whole. I'm generalizing. But, you know, we've been so impressed with just the generosity of spirit that people meet change with in in this town. I mean, it's remarkable. And I think that civic mindedness and for the same reasons that people love the library, they're, you know, they're willing to accept and work with us on a lot of a lot of change. And I just I will continue to count on that, that generosity of spirit and that sort of positivity that we can bring to some of the restrictions or circumstances that we continue to find or something. A lot of faith, a lot of faith. Well, I suspect that I'm not the only one for whom when the library closed down, even though it was made total sense. Boy, that was that was one of those real defining markers of man, we are in some serious stuff here because this is a, you know, a resource that's right at the heart of our community. And so therefore, we're in for some for some sacrifice coming forward. In the same way that that was the case, the realization, whoa, this is this is real and serious. I expect that as library opens reopens in whatever form and over however long that takes, people are going to, you know, feel hopeful in a certain way. And that's that that comes from the job that you guys do all the time. So we appreciate it. We appreciate you taking the time today. We appreciate the fact that you are investing a lot of energy and figuring out figuring out how best to offer as much as what you offer usually as you can right now. And we wish you good luck in continuing to do that. Thank you so much, James. And I really have to hand it to my staff. They're amazing. They are. I second that for sure. Top to bottom. Library is a wonderful place. And we will anticipate without too much anxiousness. It's eventual return to our midst. Andrea Nicolai, it's wonderful to talk to you. Best of luck. Everybody out there. This is Talk of the Town. I'm James Milan. Thanks for joining us.