A Message from ABA CEO Allison Hill

​Dear Booksellers,
 
Many states are beginning to open back up. Stores may find themselves in the challenging position of figuring out if, how, or when to open to their staff and/or their customers. ABA is researching information to assist stores in this process. Although this list is still in progress, we’re sharing the information we have so far to assist both those who need it immediately and those who are starting to look toward the next steps. 
 
ABA recommends that stores not only adhere to legal guidelines about reopening, but also keep in mind CDC guidelines and your best judgement and instincts about what’s best for your store, your staff, and your customers. These are challenging decisions in challenging times, and each store needs to make their own very personal decisions around reopening. May we continue to support one another through the next phase. In the meantime, here are some best practices and guidelines, gathered from multiple sources, to consider for reopening, partially or fully, depending on your circumstances:  

• Communication:
  • Help customers feel safe: Communicate your store’s policies through emails, your website, social media, and signage.
  • Help staff feel safe: Communicate with them about safety policies and procedures through email, signage, and a store meeting (online if necessary); ask them what their concerns are; share with them what you’re doing to make the store as safe as possible.

• Hand-washing:
  • All employees and customers are required to wash their hands for 20 seconds with soap and hot water after using the restroom. Post signage to this effect in the bathroom.
  • Employees must wash their hands for 20 seconds with soap and hot water after working on a cash register. Post signage to this effect by the time clock. Consider having one dedicated employee operating the register.
  • Employees must wash their hands for 20 seconds with soap and hot water before/after meal breaks. Post signage to that effect in the break room.
  • Post all hand-washing rules and guidelines where other government labor signage is posted as well.
  • Set up a schedule to monitor hand-washing areas throughout the day to ensure that soap and paper towels are full.
  • Be aware of cross-contamination and face-touching.

• Social Distancing:
  • Reconfigure desks, office spaces, work stations, and meeting areas to adhere to the six-feet-apart recommendation. Remove desks and chairs as needed.
  • Where space doesn’t allow for six-foot distances, spread staff out over split shifts.
  • Reconfigure or eliminate gathering spaces in the store to allow for six feet of social distancing. 
  • Widen aisles to allow for six feet of social distancing, or limit access to aisles to one or two people who are socially distancing.
  • Limit the number of customers who are shopping at one time. Smaller shops can use signage and open their door when more customers can enter. Larger shops may want to consider a reservation system.
  • Post signage asking customers to stay six feet apart when browsing the aisles. Ask staff to monitor.
  • Consider installing plexiglass sneeze guards at information and register areas.
  • Use tape on the sales floor, as needed, to show what six-foot distancing looks like.
  • Post signage on elevators asking customers to ride the elevator one at a time.
  • Schedule appointments to limit the number of people in your store.
  • Consider implementing special hours for at-risk customers.
  • Make store aisles one-way; use tape to make arrows on the floor.
  • Allow employees whose jobs can be done remotely to work from home.
  • Stagger shifts for employees.
  • Ask staff to meet via online video, even within the store, if multiple people need to attend.

• Gloves, Masks, and Hand Sanitizer:
  • Provide gloves and masks and require staff to use them.
  • Make hand sanitizer available to staff at each workstation.
  • Provide commercial hand sanitizer at the entrances for customers.
  • Establish a regular sanitizing schedule, including wiping down phones, keyboards, door handles, and bathrooms throughout the day.
  • Here are some great illustrations to demonstrate social distancing. It’s in German but still helpful.

• Policies:
  • No handshaking.
  • Require employees who are sick to stay home.
  • Change attendance policy accordingly.
  • Require employees to wear masks and gloves at all times. 
  • Require employees to wash hands on every break, whenever they use the bathroom, and after handling cash.
  • Require social distancing for staff and customers.
  • Require customers to wear masks.
  • No shared use of store equipment: one cashier per register, for example.

• Payments:
  • Suspend the use of PIN pads.
  • Make wipes available to sanitize credit card reader styluses between customers.
  • Enable contactless tender, like Apple Pay.

• Materials:
  • Gloves
  • Hand sanitizer
  • Masks
  • Plexiglass sneeze guards
  • Stanchions
  • Tape
  • Signage
  • Additional cleaning supplies

• Sourcing of Materials:
  • ABA is researching resources for members.
  • Partner with other local businesses to share sources for materials and coordinate discounts.

• Legal Issues:
  • Here’s what you should know about COVID-19 as it relates to labor laws, hiring, the Americans With Disabilities Act, and more.
  • See OSHA’s dedicated page on COVID-19 control and prevention.

• Contingency Plans:
  • Find a COVID-19 cleaning vendor in case you need it.
  • Talk to staff about what to do if a customer won’t comply with your store’s safety policies.
  • Crosstrain staff on key functions.

• Other Considerations:
  • Taking employee and customer temperatures, testing employees for antibodies, requiring customers to sign in for contact tracing purposes — these are all controversial initiatives discussed right now as possible options for businesses to consider as they reopen. There are legal concerns, serious privacy and free expression concerns, and other concerns to consider with these initiatives, all of which ABA is researching to provide members with more information in the coming weeks.

 
ABA is here for you. Please reach out if there is anything we can help with. We are an incredibly creative, resilient, supportive industry. We’ll get through this, together.
 
Best,
Allison