A Quandary in Quarantine

Chapter Thirteen

It was a very good thing that I had worked so hard to get our virtual reference services going as quickly as I had. It seemed we would be using it for the foreseeable future, at least. It was the Monday after our first full week of working from home. The state’s Stay At Home Order was scheduled to go into effect on Wednesday. Our town published a paraphrased versions of Governor Evers’ executive order on the town’s website:

All individuals present within the State of Wisconsin are ordered to stay at home or at their place of residence, with the following exceptions:

1. Essential activities including those related to personal health and safety, obtaining necessary supplies and services.

2. To operate Essential Businesses such as any businesses on the CISA list, grocery stores, pharmacies, those that provide child care, critical trades, etc.

3. Essential Travel as defined as travel related to the provision of or access to Essential Activities, travel to care for the elderly, minors, dependents, persons with disabilities or other vulnerable persons, and/or travel required for non-residents to return to their place of residence outside Wisconsin.

Please note: No groups larger than ten people are to gather at this time for funerals, weddings, etc. There are some special situations where the Stay At Home Order would also not apply, if you have specific questions please refer to the most current CDC and WHO recommendations, or reach out to the Town Offices for assistance.

The order would basically prohibited nonessential travel and officially limited the number of people that could meet together. The schools shifted to virtual learning at least through the end of the current school year, and we would stay closed to the public for now. So, this was our new normal.

Whatever that meant.

*****

It was Tuesday. Usually our staff meetings would occur in the break room-come- conference room we used for nearly everything in the library. The space was also a prime location for many of our programs, especially those that could get messy (I.e. nearly all the children’s programs that Luce put on.)

But, of course, due to the library being effectively closed, and all of us working from home for the foreseeable future, our one-on-ones had all morphed into phone calls, and our large group meetings had also moved online. The town had a contract with a teleconferencing platform, and we had all been given access through our work email accounts. I thought the platform was pretty easy to use, but of course with all new technology comes a bit of a learning curve - no matter the comfort level of the users. This teleconferencing platform was no different.

Our first all staff meeting went something like this. First, even though everyone had been emailed a calendar invite that had included all the pertinent login information, and everyone had accepted that invite, Carson could not find the link. So, about five minutes before the meeting started, he texted me on my cell phone asking me what the meeting ID number was. I sent him a quick text back with that info. Next once we were all logged in, it was apparent that Maggie couldn’t find the button that would unmute her microphone, so that we could hear her. She had started talking right at the top of the hour, we could see her moving and gesturing, but there was no sound.

I quickly unmuted my own computer’s microphone and said, “Maggie, you’re still muted!” She paused, and stared into the camera for a moment… I could tell she was searching for the unmute button on her screen, so, unmuting myself again, I said, “Look in the toolbar along the bottom of the meeting window. There should be a button that looks like a microphone, it will be colored in red because you’re muted right now. If you click it, it will turn green, and we’ll be able to hear you!”

I knew she was frustrated but luckily, as the newscasters kept reminding us, we were all in this together - there was defiantly space for everyone to mess up a few times as we moved into this new virtual world. And, none of the other library staff would ever hold something like this against someone. We were like a family.

“There we go!” Maggie said into the camera, with smile on her face. “Thank you for your help, Libby. Okay, now! There’s my Library Brady Bunch! How are we all doing today?”

There was a moment of two of silence as Luce, Carson, the few part time employees that were available for the call and I all unmuted ourselves, and chimed in with variations of “Fine,” and “Great!” And one “Everything’s just peachy keen, jelly bean!” That last one was most likely from Luce’s corner of the screen. Always the optimist, even in the face of these crazy times - I was so happy she was not only my coworker, but also my friend.

The meeting ran mostly as it usually did, with Maggie first giving a State-of-the-Library address. We called it that as a bit of a joke, it sounded so much like the presidential addresses, but that comparison was becoming a bit worn, since we’d been hearing the same thing for so long from both local and country-wide leaders, because of the Coronavirus that was still gripping the county.

“Not much to report, here,” Maggie started. “Of course there was no real business conducted at our last Library Board meeting,” here she paused, reflexively and the sting of Irene’s absence was clearly felt, “and the budget is on track. I do not anticipate any layoffs at this time.” There was a collective sigh of relief from the part time staff at this, which was understandable. I had seen in discussions in online library groups on social media, this was not a given in other areas.

Maggie continued, “Everything is going as well as could be expected. Our patrons and the library board have all responded well to the new virtual version of the story times Luce is doing. Luce, would you like to talk about your programming a bit?”

Luce nodded, and switched back on her microphone. “In case you didn’t know, I have opted to split the format - performing the reading, songs and finger play “live” on our social media channels at the regular program time. This also helped us get around those pesky performance copyright situations we were facing. I found out that if you record the reading, we would have to have permission from the author and the publisher. But, if we read the book live, then we didn’t need to worry about asking permission.”

“Thanks, Luce! That is a great work around.”

Luce smiled, and continued. “I also have started recording and posting the craft demos separately, and sharing the link via YouTube, so families could do the crafts at their own pace. And, if you’re okay with it Maggie, I would like to propose recording short five minute videos with some early literacy tips, study tips for older children, and things like that. The children’s department YouTube channel could become a one-stop shop for many of the parents in the community who have suddenly found themselves not only working from home, but also acting as their children’s only resource for homework help as well. It would replicate some of the help we might provide on-the-fly to our younger patrons and their families if they were physically in our spaces. We can do it proactively online and then point people to those recorded resources.”

“That’s a great idea, Luce. Let’s try it and see how it goes, okay?"

As a group, we moved into a discussion about other possible programs that would lend themselves well to the virtual format.

“I would like to bring back my regular monthly book discussions, using the virtual teleconferencing platform we use for these meetings to replicate the in-person discussions,” said Carson. “I also have some ideas for some cross over events that Luce and I could work on together, and bring back to our next meeting?”

Carson’s face in his square on my screen looked like he might be looking to Luce for confirmation, Luce nodded and gave a thumbs-up sign.

Maggie was on board with the change in format to Carson’s book discussions, and also encouraged the collaboration between his Adult Programming team and Luce, in Children’s. They both indicated they’d work together to get those new events on our calendar as soon as possible.

Finally, Maggie said, “And, now, I’ll address the issue weighing most on everyone’s mind n- what news we might have from the Elsewhere Police Department. I spoke with Deputy James this morning, and he assures me that the evidence points to this being an isolated event; Irene was defiantly the only target of this tragedy. None of us should in any way feel that we are in danger.”

Well, I mean - that was good news, but that still didn’t exactly make me any less worried. Even with the huge nudge I’d given Steph, it was still an unsolved case, and because it had been a member of the library staff, it was person to each and every one of us, regardless of what the police deputy had told Maggie. That feeling was likely plastered all over my face, because I could see Maggie’s eyes focus on my square.

This was one thing I hated about having our meetings over a video chat platform - there was no way to hide your reactions, with your camera turned on. At the end of the meeting, Maggie asked me to stay on the line after everyone else rang off.

“Libby, I know you feel especially connected to the case, because of your close professional relationship with Irene. I understand that you might also have felt a bit targeted by Deputy Drew’s initial line of questioning; I know he made you feel like you were a suspect just due to the fact that she was your department head.

After our All Staff Check-in in via Zoom, Luce and I met over the back yard fence.

“We desperately need to find out what had happened to Irene,” I said to her. “It is clear to me that the Elsewhere Police Department is not making enough headway, and now they have their attentions divided further with the whole pandemic. I wonder if the crime lab techs have finished analyzing the residue from the glass tube they found on my desk.”

“Have you talked to Deputy Drew? I think you should share your thoughts about it being juice from those baneberries directly with him. They might not have thought to test for local plant substances before you suggested it. I’m sure they’re thinking of more traditional things - like arsenic or strychnine or hemlock… or something like that.”

Luce was onto something. I agreed to give Deputy Drew a call. I was worried he would still be holding my little transgression over my head, but what choice did I have? If Irene’s murder was going to be solved, it was clear it was up to me. Maybe providing some useful information to the police would help to clear my own name, too.