Public libraries are one of the most important resources for a small community as it provides things like internet and computer access, free entertainment options, and of course, books.

With the COVID-19 pandemic being a seemingly unending maze of unknowns, the concept of checking out books was one that seemed almost impossible.

With school starting, making sure there was a plan in place for libraries was tantamount for school and community libraries alike.

Fortunately, scientists and librarians were able to figure out a system to get libraries back to checking out materials, with the caveat of a little extended patience necessary for those who may want to check out books after they have been returned.

Libraries allow people to use computers, which may be a little off limits right now due to sanitization issues, but books, DVDs and other materials are still available for check out, and librarians are using a technique that was more common for humans in the early days of COVID.

While things like DVDs or compact discs can be sanitized, including both the disc and the case, books however, are much different.

Each page of a book could potentially harbor a trace of a virus, which isn’t a new issue for librarians, but with so many unknowns surrounding COVID-19, it’s an issue they are now forced to face head on.

When books are returned, they themselves are now being quarantined in bins where they can choke out the virus before being sanitized, wiped down, and then put back on the shelves for the next person.

This sort of protocol is being followed by both schools and public libraries, including at Wallace Jr./Sr. High School where librarian Katie Bauer has got a pretty good system set up for herself and her students.

“I am quarantining materials in bins for four days and avoiding stacking them in the bins,” Bauer said. “I place a bin in the front and swap them out each morning. The latest tests have shown that you should avoid stacking materials because the virus can survive for six-plus days if books are stacked.”

The latest tests that Bauer mentioned come from the REopening Archives, Libraries, and Museums, or REALM Project, where scientists used common materials found in libraries and tested the longevity of the SARS-CoV-2 virus’s ability to exist on those materials.

The materials?

Buckram cloth (used for hardcover book coverings), coated paper (common for paperback book covers), biaxially oriented polyester film (used for the protective layer for hardcover books), polypropylene (used for storage of DVD and CD media), and 1-inch polyethylene foam (used for storage and shipping in libraries and museums).

The items were not sterilized before testing, but the results showed that stacking the books in bins still allowed the virus to remain active, but not stacking them and allowing space between them did not.

Most libraries have adopted a four-day quarantine program for their returned books, but that is seemingly the standard minimum before they are wiped down and placed on shelves.

Just another way schools and communities are adapting to help serve their communities.

Full test results from the REALM Project can be found at www.webjunction.org/news/webjunction/test4-results.html.