Westport Library Announces Reopening on February 6th
Photo taken as the Westport Library evacuated the building on March 10th - closing the Library for what would be several months as the pandemic began in Westport. Photo by Jaime Bairaktaris for WestportNow.com
Press Release
Westport, CT – The Westport Library is pleased to announce that it is resuming operations that were in place prior to scaling back in mid-December due to the rising number of Covid-19 cases.
Effective Monday, February 8th, appointments will no longer be required for patrons wishing to browse the adult collection, speak with a librarian, or utilize an Express computer. Patrons who would like to visit the Children’s Library, Makerspace, Media Studios, and Store must still make an appointment. The Library building will be open Monday through Friday between 10:00 am and 6:00 pm and on Saturday between 10:00 am to 5:00 pm. The Library will remain closed on Sunday.
Appointments to visit the Children’s Library can be made by going to https://westportlibrary.libguides.com/childrensappointment
Cart-side pick-up service will continue Monday through Saturday during operating hours.
Patrons will be required to wear a mask in the Library, as will the staff. There will continue to be a single-entry point on the Main Level in the Upper Parking Lot and a single exit through the Library’s café. Materials will still need to be dropped off in the white trailer on the upper level so proper quarantining can continue.
Conference and meeting rooms will remain closed.
Late fees will continue to be waived.
The Library will continue to offer exceptional virtual programs and digital resources. We are very grateful for your patience.
Westport Teachers: Full-in Return is “extremely unwise”; Paediatrican, Parent:“prioritize your job, which is to teach.”
Last week’s Board of Education meeting garnered 63 public comments on the Superintendent’s choice to re-open elementary and middle schools full-time on February 1st, just days before the Governor announced vaccines for educators are delayed until March. Comments can be found here.
With so many public comments - many several paragraphs long - the Board elected to stop reading them, with the promise to post them publicly and read at a later time, in order to attend to their full meeting agenda. Even with the time saving measure, the meeting was pushed until after midnight on Wednesday morning. It’s unknown how late tonight’s meeting will go, or if the Board of Education will comment on staff or family concerns.
The letters were mainly written by Westport educators, some of whom said they were “overwhelmed, stressed, scared, disconnected, anxious, uncertain, nervous, lonely, worried, exhausted, tense, drained, and uneasy.” according to one group-authored letter. Others described their love for the district and their jobs, but their feeling “undervalued and underappreciated through actions of the Board.”
Some parents brought up concerns for the students who elect to remain virtual, specifically referring to a change in specials scheduling, saying “Distance Learners depend on zoom specials to stay connected to their schools, classmates, and beloved specials teachers. What you have presented is not equitable.”
However not all unread letters criticized the decision to return. One high school parent/paediatrician told the Board of Education “I respect teachers as much as I do physicians so with all due respect I ask that you prioritize your job which is to teach. Leave the job of health and safety to those of us that have spent lifetimes studying it. Listen to the CDC, AAP, and National Academy of Sciences, who have all stated that at this point in the pandemic returning children to school will not change the outcome that you’re imagining.” The parent continued to request that high school seniors are allowed to finish their high school career in-person.
In addition to the Health Report and transition discussions, tonight’s meeting will include a review of the superintendent’s budget - which administrators were told to cut by nearly 1% in order to keep an increase of around 3% instead of the proposed 3.98%. High school class sizes will be looked at in particular, followed by conversations about capital expenses.
Moon Rise Through the Trees
Last night’s moon rose over Westport, seen through the trees in this photograph.