LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WDRB) -- Six-year-old Brooklynn and her mother, Davisha Finn, have to come to rely on the computers and books at Louisville's libraries.
"I have four kids, and we come here regularly," Finn said Thursday evening, as she stood outside the location nearest her home, the Main Branch.
But, right now, Finn says taking advantage of services offered by the Louisville Free Public Library (LFPL) system is a bit of a balancing act.
Books and media can be picked up curbside, and appointments generally must be made to use the computers inside.
That's the reason Councilman Anthony Piagentini, R-19, says the libraries need to reopen in a greater capacity.
"I can't tell you how many senior citizens that I have in my community that the library is the only access they have to internet — to books," he said. "This is continuing to hold back our city, and this is continuing to disadvantage the most needy citizens in this community.”
The main branch of LFPL (WDRB Photo).
As other businesses and services reopen with COVID-19 protocols in place, LFPL locations have remained closed.
After research, Piagentini says that sets Louisville apart from some of its neighbors.
"We're on an island all by ourselves," he said. "Every county that surrounds us — Bullitt, Shelby, Oldham — they all have some levels of hours and capacity where you can walk in and walk out of your library."
State data current as of Feb. 25 (Source: Team Kentucky).
Even though the official state COVID-19 dashboard shows Louisville is no longer in the critical "red" category of daily COVID cases, the city dashboard differs and concludes that the daily case count in Louisville is still critical.
Jean Porter, a spokesperson for Mayor Greg Fischer, says that's part of the reason why the libraries remain closed.
"According to the state guidance, opening to more patrons would require the COVID positivity rate here to no longer be in the Critical zone," she wrote, in part. "We are not there yet, but we have a plan for reopening further when that level is reached and state and local officials notify us that we are safe to do so."
She adds that some of Louisville's peer cities — like Nashville, St. Louis and Lexington — are operating in similar fashions.
Additionally, AFSCME Local 3425, the union that represents non-managerial LFPL workers, also has hesitations with reopening the libraries. Librarians and other staffers have yet to be vaccinated.
"If our services are not essential enough to warrant priority vaccination, then we are not essential enough to be offering in-person services when our county is a COVID-19 “red zone,'" the former president, Ashley Sims, wrote in a Jan. 26 post.
Councilman Anthony Piagentini stands outside the Middletown branch. (WDRB Photo)
Piagentini, meanwhile, disagrees with the assessment offered by the mayor's office.
"I am for safety, and I'm for doing this the right way, but (Gov. Andy Beshear and Dr. Steven Stack) have had guidance released since very early on in this process allowing libraries to open," he said, referencing the state's guidelines for reopening libraries and other similar facilities.
Given the size of some of the city's libraries, Piagentini believes there is a way to safely reopen at least some of them by using a plan that includes face masks, limited capacities and social distancing.
The mayor's office says it does have a plan to reopen libraries when "state and local officials notify us that we are safe to do so."
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