Still waiting for a library book? It might be in a coronavirus quarantine

People aren’t alone in getting quarantined after potential exposure to the coronavirus. Library books and some returned retail goods are getting the same treatment.

At any given moment, thousands of books sit out a mandatory four-day isolation time in designated rooms in Sacramento’s public libraries. As a result, some items are now harder to get.

Studies have shown that the coronavirus lasts anywhere from a few hours to a week on surfaces depending on the material and temperature, so those shared objects that are harder to clean are being quarantined in an effort to reduce the spread of the virus.

Many organizations and businesses have turned to disposable products during the pandemic to reduce the chance of transmission. But libraries, which aim to put their books in as many hands as possible, don’t have that option.

“We are a lending institution,” said Lisa Dale, collection services manager at the Sacramento Public Library. “Sharing resources is what we do.”

In an effort to share safely, Dale said the Sacramento Public Library set up a system in which people drop off their returns in a bin or box outside the library. Then, containers are flagged with the date and placed in a designated room where they sit for four days before the items go back into circulation.

“Many of our libraries have community rooms and we’re using community room spaces as our quarantine space,” Dale said. “If a library does not have a community room, they’re using part of the library.”

The Sacramento Public Library used a combination of guidelines from government agencies and information from other organizations to construct its policies.

The American Library Association, the Institute of Museum and Library Services and the Reopening Archives, Libraries and Museums (REALM) project have conducted studies and put out information on library safety. Other studies of how long the coronavirus survives on paper products have also been used as a guide for books. The Sacramento County Health Department vetted specific plans.

The California Department of Public Health (CDPH) issued guidance to libraries June 9 that recommended quarantining returned items for a minimum of three days.

“The state-issued guidance documents are developed by multiple departments and agencies, including CDPH, with input from stakeholder groups and others who may have expertise in the issue, and consideration of the latest guidance from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and available scientific evidence, which has evolved rapidly,” wrote Ali Bay, a public relations official from the CDPH, in an email to The Sacramento Bee.

Bay wrote that the recommendation to isolate items for three days was based on an early study that showed the virus survived for up to three days on hard surfaces like metal, glass and plastic and for one day or less on porous surfaces like cardboard.

Sacramento libraries increased their quarantine time slightly beyond the state recommendations after seeing a study out of REALM that found trace amounts of the coronavirus on magazines after four days. They upped quarantine time from 72 to 96 hours and started holding magazines for an extra day beyond that.

The number of items in quarantine at a time depends on the library branch, Dale said, but most locations receive hundreds of items per day.

The pandemic has made it harder to get popular library items. In addition to instituting quarantine periods, Sacramento libraries have extended checkout times, from three weeks to six weeks, because they don’t want people to feel pressured to leave their houses to return to the library frequently, Dale said.

Though some customers are frustrated by the slower turnaround times, many have expressed appreciation for the extra precautions, she added.

“Initially we made a huge shift to digital resources, but so many people in our community still like to read their print book,” Dale said.

While Dale said most libraries “are aligned” in regard to return and quarantine policies, practices vary at retail stores. Some Sacramento boutiques said customers cannot try items on right now, while others allow try-ons but said they are sanitizing surfaces in the store more often.

Rob Henderson, general manager at REI in Sacramento, said clothing returns are quarantined for 48 hours before they can be put out for sale again. Customers are not allowed to try on clothing in the store at that location right now, Henderson said, but some wish to return items they tried on at home.

“We have these protocols that our headquarters have established, and they’re created in consultation with the guidelines from the CDC,” Henderson said.

Other retail chains reported similar practices. American Eagle Outfitters Inc. brands American Eagle and Aerie isolate returned items for 72 hours, then steam them and return them to the floor.

California state guidance for retail stores during the pandemic includes advice to “clean touchable surfaces between shifts or between users.”