My priority for this in-service has been to arrange CPR/AED training for staff. It is typically recommended that we do this training every two years. It has been four years for us. In the past, the fire department has always done it for us at a minimal cost. Last year, I went around and around with them before having them back out at the last minute. So we put it off for another year. This year, I reached out a couple of times and never got a response. This clearly seems to be something that they aren’t interested in doing for us.
So I reached out to some private companies that provide the same training. The company that I settled on is a firefighter-owned business that a few other libraries have used and been happy with. Their rate is the lowest that I was able to find. The catch is that they are not available on our previously set in-service date of February 7th. After going back and forth with them about what they might be able to do for us on the 7th or perhaps spread out across a few other days, I landed on moving the whole session to the 21st as the most viable option.
The 21st is also a Friday, which is our lowest traffic day of the week. We have no programs scheduled on that day, so there are no conflicts to resolve. And with a month’s notice to the public and for staff scheduling, there is enough time to let our stakeholders know about this change. If approved, we would be open for normal business on Friday the 7th.
Recommendation: I recommend that you approve the library closure for Friday, February 21st for staff in-service day.