Temporary layoffs at Regina libraries as plans continue for reopening

As the second phase of the province’s reopen plan gets going and many people head back to work, about 100 people at the Regina Public Library are out of a job.

The library issued temporary layoff notices to about 100 workers in its bargaining unit last Friday, leaving about 80 workers on the job.

Jeff Barber, the library’s director and CEO, said the organization ended up having two phases for its service delivery under the pandemic. At first, everyone was kept on, with some people put to work getting programming and services ready for online delivery during the shutdown.

“As it became apparent that this would be a little bit longer, we reassessed that digital content and the services and programs that we were able to provide and put together that new set for this next phase, and a part of that was looking at what resources do we need, what people do we need, to plan, implement, and execute these programs and services,” explained Barber.

A large portion of the staff members who were laid off are those whose work depends on having a flow of people through the doors.

The layoffs were done under the province’s new public emergency layoff provision. That means they can last for a maximum of 12 weeks, and after that everyone either needs to be brought back to work or the layoffs will have to be more permanent.

Some people could be brought back sooner. Barber said there’s a team at the library now working on how to provide other services going forward, such as a possible curbside pickup service.

“It’s not necessarily a start and finish,” he said. “We have the flexibility as the scene changes and as services are provided to call back some of the people that we need to provide the services.”

Barber said the library’s branches likely wouldn’t open until the fourth phase of the province’s reopen plan, but things still wouldn’t be completely open.

“There would still be safety requirements and protocols in place that would mean that we would have to limit particular kinds of services — at the moment, certainly the number of people in our locations,” said Barber.

“The physical distancing requirements, as well as the cleaning requirements and safety protocols, make some of the things that we traditionally do problematic at the moment.”

There are problems that need to be solved before the libraries can open — things like spacing out seating, possibly needing to control customer flow in the branches, and sanitizing materials.

Barber said it can be difficult to sanitize books, though some libraries are looking at setting materials aside when they’re returned until the virus would die in a few days. But even that could pose a space problem, according to Barber.

“At any given moment we have about 100,000 to 120,000 items out, so in terms of the volumes that we work with, that’s really unmanageable,” he said.

The digital offerings at the library have been very popular during the pandemic; they include eBooks and audiobooks but also some streaming TV and movies. Some of the library’s services, like language tutoring, are also being offered online.

Barber said the library teams will be looking at how to continue some of those new digital offerings even as branches begin to open.

“It’ll be good to see what comes out the other side as both a physical and a digital offering,” Barber said.