Kudzu-Ops Mailing List: Re: Safe Handling of ILL materials

[Sandoval, John H (jsandoval1]

Hello John,

 

I think mail should be received with gloves if you feel it is safer and the idea of waiting to open the mail seems doable now that we seem to have more time on our hands since other aspects of the job have been removed. 

We don’t have to help the front desk as much right now since patrons are not coming into the library.  There is no hurry so waiting to open mail seems like a good idea right now. 

If there are libraries that prefer we don’t send back their material any time soon then I think we need a list.

 

Thank you,

 

 

John Sandoval

Interlibrary Loan / Reserves Manager

University of Miami Libraries

Otto G. Richter Library  

1300 Memorial Dr.  

Coral Gables, FL 33146

jsandoval1 [at] miami.edu

Ph. 305-284-6102
Fax 305-284-2540

 

 

 

 

From: Kudzu-Ops <kudzu-ops-bounces+jsandoval1=miami.edu [at] aserl-lists.org> On Behalf Of John Burger
Sent: Thursday, March 12, 2020 10:00 AM
To: Sandoval, John H <jsandoval1 [at] miami.edu>
Cc: Email lit for librarians supporting day-to-day operations of ASERL's "Kudzu" resource sharing program. <kudzu-ops [at] aserl-lists.org>
Subject: [kudzu-ops] Safe Handling of ILL materials

 

ASERL-ILL and Kudzu-Ops Friends:

 

I have received several questions about safe handling of ILL materials during the COVID outbreak – i.e., should libraries be concerned that COVID could be transmitted through contact with books that were used by a person with the virus.  CDC states the risk from physical surfaces is low, and not suspected to be a primary means of transmission. 

 

I also spotted this:  “We found that viable virus could be detected in aerosols up to 3 hours post aerosolization, up to 4 hours on copper, up to 24 hours on cardboard and up to 2-3 days on plastic and stainless steel. HCoV-19 and SARS-CoV-1 exhibited similar half-lives in aerosols, with median estimates around 2.7 hours.”

 

See cite:  https://www.medrxiv.org/content/10.1101/2020.03.09.20033217v1

 

 

So – In an abundance (perhaps over-abundance) of caution, should our libraries modify their ILL processes to let items sit untouched for 12-24 hours after contact ‘with the outside world’ (e.g., returned by patrons, received from a shipper, etc.)? 

 

As y’all know, I am not a practitioner, just spit-balling this.  I welcome your constructive criticism.

 

 

 

--jeb

 

John Burger, Executive Director

Association of Southeastern Research Libraries (ASERL)

c/o Robert W. Woodruff Library

540 Asbury Circle, Suite 316

Atlanta, GA  30322

 

404-727-0137