Wearing Your Masks and Keeping Your Distance An Analysis of Library Patron Compliance with COVID-19 Guidelines in an Academic Library By Edward Kownslar When the library at Stephen F. Austin State University re-opened in August 2020, the staff noticed that not all of the students in the building were complying with the university’s COVID-19 requirements (wearing facial coverings/masks and practicing social distancing). This paper will focus on: (1) the data collection methods to verify that a problem was occurring; (2) the library’s preliminary research to discover why some students were reluctant to wear facial coverings/masks; and (3) planning an enforcement strategy. This article is intended for all types of audiences and libraries. INTRODUCTION Stephen F. Austin State University restricted access to all buildings, and switched to online-only classes, between March and August 2020 to comply with the COVID-19 guidelines. The university re-opened in the Fall 2020 semester with full access to all campus buildings. However, everyone on campus was still required to follow the university’s COVID-19 rules, including wearing masks/facial coverings and practicing social distancing. The library complied with the university’s requirements about posting signs to follow these practices. The staff also made hourly announcements on the public intercom to remind everyone to wear masks to cover their mouths and noses while they were in the building. However, after implementing these procedures, the library staff received complaints that many patrons were still not wearing masks/facial coverings in the building. We first needed to confirm that the problem was occurring, so the library conducted head counts during November 2020 to
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record the number of patrons who were not wearing masks and facial coverings. DATA COLLECTION METHODS: PRELIMINARY PLANNING The Ralph W. Steen Library (https://library.sfasu.edu) has four floors. Each floor has areas dedicated to study and research. The third and fourth floors are completely reserved for study, and most of the print collections are also located on these floors. In addition to tables, these floors also have study rooms, study carrels, and enclosed individual study areas (“pods”). The first and second floors have tables and study carrels. However, these floors also have the library’s circulation desk, the offices for the library staff, and the offices for several other university departments, including: (1) the tutoring/writing center; (2) the Center for Teaching and Learning (CTL); (3) the “one-stop shop” for student services; (4) three computer/ instruction labs; and (5) the assistance/support desk for campus technology services. We decided to collect data on all four floors. When we received approval from the Library Director to collect the data, we established: 1. a schedule to collect the data; 2. the locations where we would collect the data; and 3. how frequently we would collect at each of the locations. DATA COLLECTION SCHEDULE The schedule for collecting the data covered November 1, 2020, through November 17, 2020, on the following days and times: Sundays: 3 p.m., 9 p.m. Mondays - Wednesdays: 11 a.m., 3 p.m., 9 p.m. NOTE: We did not collect data Thursdays – Saturdays because, according to the library’s statistics, fewer students enter and use the building on these days.
