Updated library guidelines to improve health safety

Happy New Year! Hope you had a wonderful winter break, including our bonus snow days. Unfortunately, while we were away from campus, the Omicron variant has been spreading quickly. To help decrease the chance of spreading viruses, including the Omicron variant of COVID-19, and thereby improving our chances of keeping school open, the following guidelines are applicable beginning today:

• Wear a face mask (preferably KN95 or N95) that fully covers your nose & mouth
• Sit only on library chairs, stools, benches, or floor seats – 1 person per seat (including on benches)
• Do not sit directly on the floor as this tends to create crowding which increases the risk of virus transmission (whether COVID-19, influenza, or others)
• MAX of 2 people per table during lunch or anytime someone at table chooses to eat or drink (when eating or drinking, please lift the bottom of your mask or briefly remove your mask then put it back on)
• MAX of 4 people per table during study blocks (keep masks on & don’t add extra chairs)
• Keep your masks on at all times when using computers and do not eat or drink at the computer tables
• When you finish using a table or keyboard, clean it with a disinfecting wipe (near printer)
• Refrain from using the library as a thruway to the Commons

Thank you for following these guidelines so that all of us can be a bit safer!

Take a break to create without screens or words

This winter, take a break from typing and swiping to create something without screens or words. Consider doing this regularly to give your eyes a rest from blue lights and to engage different parts of your brain.

While you might consult a recipe, plans, or instructions along the way, choose an activity for which the creating you do – the magic – involves something other than words, writing, or coding: draw, paint, sculpt, build, cook, play, knit, dance, make, photograph, collage, repurpose, stitch, fold, hum, or bake.

You’ll find book displays like this all over the library with ideas for things you might make. . .