Staff members at the Laman Public Library System are making changes to their facilities during the covid-19 pandemic, library officials said.
The library system in North Little Rock has been closed since March. But Crystal Gates, president of the Arkansas Library Association and executive director of the Laman Public Library System, said the system has used the time to make much-needed repairs to the facilities.
"We have been able to do some things on stuff that we wouldn't have been able to do otherwise with patrons inside the facility," Gates told the library board Thursday.
Library board members held their meeting using the videoconferencing application Zoom to adhere to social-distancing recommendations related to the pandemic.
Gates said the library system has painted and sealed windows at the Argenta branch and repaired water damage inside the staircase and the railings at the main branch for a total of $5,000. She said she also wants to get a big project done while nobody is inside the facilities, after extra funds became available.
The library board accepted a low bid of $48,587 by River City Mechanical Inc. to replace a cooling tower. The bid was significantly lower than the $90,000 the board had set aside for repairs, and Gates said she wanted to use the extra funds to fix the main library's auditorium floor.
"The significant savings on the cooling tower allows us to use the money for two purposes instead of one," she said.
Three contractors have gone to the library to examine the floor in the auditorium, said Richard Theiling, the system's associate director.
"I told them we wanted something that was easily cleanable, so hopefully that pulls us away from carpet," he said in the meeting. "I think it will be a reasonable price because they need the business right now."
Gates said she also wanted to replace ceiling tiles at the main branch that had sustained water damage.
"We have tried to get them replaced before, but people turned it down because of the risk," she said. "We can now get the big ladders in and are hoping to get it done."
Board member Vicki Matthews said she was concerned about doing too many repairs because of the uncertain economy during the pandemic.
"We haven't seen any financials since March. Maybe we will make some decisions about that later," she said. "I think we should maybe be prudent with spending money right now."
Gates said the city is anticipating a sales tax hit, but the library system is funded by the property tax.
"If a lot of businesses close, then we will see it in 2020," she said.
Matthews said she was still concerned.
"All I know is that all these organizations are telling people to reserve their capital. Maybe as a library we need to reserve ours as well," she said.
Gates agreed, saying she doesn't know how mortgage companies will handle the pandemic.
"If people don't pay their house notes, then I don't know what will happen," she said. "This isn't going away in a day or two. This is the new normal.
"There will be a lot of unknowns for the next couple of years."
Metro on 04/27/2020