Libraries are all about sharing! We share our space, our collections, and our love of research. While we can share our research expertise without requiring an in-person visit, sharing any physical space or materials is a challenge right now due to the pandemic. This page provides information so that you know what to expect and so that you can decide if you are comfortable using our physical space and collections during this time.

How you can help

We expect that you will help us keep our space safe by:

wearing a mask that covers your nose and mouth
practicing social distancing (6 feet between people)

Both are requirements for students, visitors, and employees on the COS campus.

When you arrive:

Stop at the service desk as you enter the Library. Instead of the usual self-serve sign-in kiosk, library staff will sign you in instead. It helps if you know your student number (S#).
Let us know when you are done using a computer, other equipment (like the photocopier or scanner), or a table so that we can sanitize between uses.
If you are browsing the new book area or in the main collection, please put any books you pick up but decide not to check out on a nearby red cart. There is a small red cart in the new book area, as well as at the end of some shelving rows in the main collection.

Other safety measures

Library staff is here to help! That said, social distancing practices may make helping you awkward at times. Thank you in advance for your patience while we figure this out.

We have added more ways for you to contact us for help so that you don't have to come to the Library in person (unless you want to!). You can reach us by text, phone, email, postal mail, and Zoom. Please see our Research Assistance & Online Services page or web site home page for complete contact info.

Non-reserve books are being quarantined for at least 72 hours before being reshelved. Magazines and newspapers are now being kept at the service desk so that we can sanitize and/or space out usage. We are basing these practices on the still-emerging results of the REALM Project. Book checkout and delivery methods have also changed.

Note: The bulk of our collection is actually online through our ebook collections and article databases. You can access them through our OneSearch library catalog (on our home page) or our Articles & Databases page. (The exception to this is the Mt. Shasta Collection; local history researchers should visit our Mt. Shasta Collection page for more info.)

Reserve materials such as textbooks and DVDs are not being quarantined: if we enforced a 72-hour wait period, you might miss your homework deadline! We are sanitizing book covers whenever possible but we cannot sanitize the inside pages. We will try to have multiple copies of popular textbooks so that we can quarantine them between uses. Most textbooks are not available to libraries as ebooks but we have purchased ebook copies of titles whenever possible (see our Textbook page for more info).

The COS Maintenance Team sanitizes our space after each open day. Library staff does light sanitizing periodically throughout the day, focusing on computers, shared equipment (such as the photocopier, staplers, 3-hole punch, etc.), and tables.

Hand sanitizer is available in the LRC lobby (wall-mounted units near the outside doors) and in the Library. The LRC restrooms, of course, have sinks, soap, and paper towels for handwashing.