ALL COVID-19 POSTS & UPDATES

(Adapted by Robert Martin, Executive Director of the Independent Booksellers Consortium, with permission from Bookshop Santa Cruz in Santa Cruz, CA)

Part of the anxiety booksellers must face during this outbreak is whether having employees come into the store to process web orders and do curbside pick up is risking exposure for them. To that end, we created a set of rules for the employees. Maybe this will help others.

• Managers will never schedule more than 10 people in the store at the same time.
  
• Please wash your hands with soap and water when you first arrive before doing anything else.
  
• The store should try to keep a 6 ft. distance between employees and set up work stations to be at least 6 feet apart.
  
• Do not use public transportation to get to work--let your manager know if that is your only method so they can try to find an alternative for you.
  
• Employees coming into work need to be self isolating at home otherwise so as to not spread germs here. If you are not self isolating during your non-work hours, please let your manager know so they can find appropriate tasks for you to safely complete.
  
• The household situation of employees is also important to communicate--if you live with anyone who takes public transit, interacts with others for work, or is otherwise at risk.
  
• The bathrooms should cleaned and de-sanitized every morning by a professional crew, and staff are only using your bathrooms (not the building's bathrooms).
  
• Every work station and phone should be sanitized before you start working in the morning and then sanitized again every two hours.
  
• Once a manager assigns you to a particular station, only use that station, except when you need to use a shared register (which should be the minimum amount possible).
  
• Sanitize a pen and then carry that one pen with you for the rest of the day instead of sharing pens.
  
• Any shared documents (phone log, etc.) should no longer be required.
  
• Most importantly: do not come into work sick, wash your hands for at least 20 seconds with soap and water consistently, do not touch your face, and cough/sneeze into your sleeve.