FOPL.ca Useful [Re-Opening] Links Newsletter (April/May 2020 Summary)

Hope you, your staff, families and communities are doing well.  Be safe.

We’re doing well here at FOPL with our WFH strategy and continue to Zoom, teleconference, partner, and lobby for the best interests of Ontario’s public library systems.

I hazard a guess that public libraries will be allowed to physically re-open (under some restrictions) in one of the coming provincial government permissioned phases.  Now is the time to continue your planning and readiness strategies.

Our very popular FOPL OpenMediaDesk Facebook group is open to all Ontario library staff and boards.  We’ve been posting hundreds of links to ideas, events, and inspirations for social media and website postings and programs to help our communities as they WFH (work from home) and help their kids with activities and home learning guided by their professional teachers.

Hundreds of potential fun and educational resources for website and social media links are suggested there for all ages of our communities.

Any Canadian library staff or board member is welcome to join this closed group.  Here’s the link (Just ask to join and I’ll approve you!):

https://www.facebook.com/groups/FederationofOntarioPublicLibraries/

Here are some links to the FOPL.ca blog that you might find useful if you’re not a regular or your haven’t subscribed in your RSS feeds.

Virtual Messaging and Programming Ideas for Library Physical Closures

Important information for re-opening planning.  Every COVID-19 outbreak in Ontario, mapped

Ontario Unveils Guiding Principles to Reopen the Province Premier and Ministers Commit to New Phased Approach for a Safe Restart and Recovery

Reopening Ontario after COVID-19

For your re-opening study needs: Beginner’s Guide to Successful Facebook Ads

Municipal World: MW Shares Podcast:  Reopening, reconnecting, and pondering the double bubble

Publishers Weekly: Public Libraries After the Pandemic

Post-COVID Planning: How to Answer an Unanswerable Question

A guide to reopening your office, from South Korea’s government

How to reopen your workplace, according to Microsoft, Amazon, Starbucks, and Costco

Post-Covid-19: The “6 Feet” Office

Our offices will never be the same after COVID-19. Here’s what they could look like

Goodbye to open office spaces? How experts are rethinking the workplace.

The workplace you return to won’t be the one you left — five experts describe what post-pandemic offices, shops and restaurants will look like

CLIR Report: “Reconfiguring a Library Service Model to Reduce Exposure”

IMLS, OCLC and Battelle Launch COVID-19 Research Partnership, New Collaboration Will Inform Safe Handling of Collections, Reopening Practices for Libraries, Museums

IMLS, CDC Offer Guidance for Disinfecting Returned Library Books

Post-Quarantine Precautions: How to properly clean your keyboard without damaging it, whether it’s wired, wireless, or built into a laptop

For re-opening:  The complete guide to cleaning your headphones during a pandemic

IMLS: Mitigating COVID-19 When Managing Paper-Based, Circulating, and Other Types of Collections

How to Sanitize Collections in a Pandemic

Reopening buildings face another risk: Legionnaires’ disease [Clear those pipes and run your water!]

Humble Suggestion for Post-COVID-19 Collections and Displays

BookNet Canada: The impact of COVID-19 on reading, part 1 & 2

The Impact of COVID-19 on the Book Reading, Borrowing, and Buying in Canada, New Survey Findings From BookNet Canada

CFLA: FAIR DEALING (COPYRIGHT) GUIDANCE FOR CANADIAN LIBRARIES DURING THE TIME OF COVID-19

Google Meet premium video meetings—free for everyone

Video: How to Use Zoom – Free Video Conferencing & Virtual Meetings

5 Free Zoom Alternatives for Video Conferencing and Online Meetings

More Zoom Security Advice

How to lock down Zoom to improve your privacy and security

‘Where does Zoom save recordings?’: How to find your Zoom meeting recordings in 2 ways

How to Make Video Conferencing From Home Less Terrible

OK, Zoomer! How to Become a Videoconferencing Power User

5 essential Zoom hacks to improve your virtual hangouts

Skype vs. Zoom: Which Will Serve You Best in Lockdown

FREE ON-DEMAND PLA WEBINARS:  Public Libraries Respond to COVID-19Management & Human Resources:

Required Public Library Leadership Reading: Guide to the Occupational Health and Safety Act: Right to refuse or to stop work where health and safety in danger

Public Library Employees and the Employment Standards Amendment Act (Infectious Disease Emergencies)

Ministry of Labour, Training and Skills Development released New workplace and safety guidelines to prevent COVID-19

MUNICIPAL WORLD PODCAST: Managing health & safety for a work-from-home workforce

Municipal World: Masks and public safety: Local governments can lead in protecting public health

Consider eliminating library fines at your library Resource: website endlibraryfines.info

How to help employees learn new skills amid a crisis

Canadian Urban Institute Examines Role of Libraries in Light of COVID-19

Social Stigma associated with COVID-19: A guide to preventing and addressing social stigma

Now and Next: What a Post-COVID World May Bring for Libraries

What is a library? In a post-COVID world, how will they change?

How to Organize a CCC: Community COVID Choir

Who is the Employer in Public Libraries? Municipality or Library Board?

9 Tips for Board Decision Making During COVID-19

How to plan a comprehensive grant strategy in a COVID-19 environment: Fundingportal

A Virtual Fundraising Workshop For Board Members, Staff & Volunteers From Charities, Non-Profits & Community Organizations

HBR: Nonprofit Fundraising in the Age of Coronavirus

These links are less than half of the postings to the FOPL.ca blog/website.  You’ll find more on our activities with Counsel Public Affairs / OLA and CFLA as we lobby for our sector’s interests during and beyond the COVID-19 emergency.

There are also useful links to thought pieces, marketing advice, and much more.

Most importantly, it will be great to see people in person again!:

You can’t do everything at once. Plan, delegate and think.  Stay calm and have fun too.

• Set priorities for you, your staff, and your library.
• Be well.  Keep balanced.
• Lead.
• Focus on your community’s needs.
• Keep the staff, library members, and your partners safe and healthy.
• Remember that we don’t know everyone’s personal life challenges so let’s set our dials to empathy and sympathy and caring.  We’re good at that and folks will need it as we emerge from our fox holes!