The Douglas County Library Board of Trustees will consider reopening the libraries to limited browsing at a Feb. 9 meeting.
A Feb. 4 meeting was set to determine whether the Douglas County Public Library should reopen its doors.
Library trustees debated opening at their meeting on Tuesday.
Trustee Bonnie Rogers said people she’s talked to are asking when the library will reopen its doors.
“People are talking out there,” she said. “We need to say to the public that we are here to serve you. We have to do something, make a statement that we’re meeting these guidelines and that we’re being as responsive as we can.”
Trustee Kathryn Garrahan agreed.
“I agree, we should open to some amount of browsing,” she said. “The library was a happy place in my heart, we need to start some sort of browsing again.”
The library closed on Dec. 7 after a surge of coronavirus cases occurred in the two weeks around Thanksgiving.
On the day they closed, Douglas County had only experienced seven deaths from the virus. In the intervening six weeks the county has had 21 additional deaths, mostly among older residents.
At the December meeting of the library trustees, Librarian Amy Dodson said people were literally walking in and saying they had the virus.
“Patrons let us know that they tested positive and were in the library the day before, or they would say it while they were in the library, ‘Hi, I have COVID.’”
Trustees instructed Dodson to contact Douglas Public Health Officer John Holman to get his advice.
The library is not the only public facility that has closed due to the virus.
On Wednesday, the Douglas County Board of Health discussed the Senior Center, which has essentially been closed since St. Patrick’s Day 2020.
Holman said he agreed that the senior center needs to open as quickly as possible.
“Our seniors and are having a touch time with isolation,” he said. “We need to try and get those services up to speed as quickly as possible.”
Key to that process is getting seniors vaccinated, and that means obtaining enough vaccine both in Douglas County and Nevada.
On Sunday, The Chateau in Gardnerville is conducting its first coronavirus vaccination clinic for its residents.
Residents of senior living communities were prioritized in the first tier of vaccinations.
The Chateau is partnering with CVS to conduct the vaccinations. According to the state, eight residents and nine staff members have tested positive for the virus at the assisted living facility, but they’ve had no deaths.
Eleven of the county’s deaths have been at Gardnerville Health & Rehab Center.
Carson City Health and Human Services reported that it has administered 7,041 of the 7,175 doses of the coronavirus vaccine it has received. That doesn’t count vaccinations conducted by other entities such as Smith’s and Walgreens, or care home residents.
On Thursday, Lyon County commissioners declared an economic emergency in their county, saying restrictions placed have adversely affected businesses.
The resolution calls for any government officials or agents from agencies from outside the county who conduct virus compliance inspections to quarantine for a minimum of 10 days before inspections. Under the declaration, possible prosecution would be referred to the Nevada Attorney Generals Office. The resolution also encourages both the Lyon County sheriff and the district attorney not to respond to complaints under the governor’s emergency directive.
