By Jahlil Howard/Delta Staff Writer

The global Covid-19 pandemic has affected college students, college life, and even the ability to study in the library. At Missouri Valley College, Murrell Library has made some major changes to its policies due to Covid.

Murrell Library Director Dr. Bryan Carson said the policy changes were made with safety in mind.

“We’re doing our absolute best to protect people from cross contamination when someone looks at a book and puts it right back on the shelf,” Carson said. “When books are returned, they are put aside for three days. We’re doing what we have to do, not what we want to do.”

As students enter and exit the library, there have been new regulations in place to keep everyone safe and healthy, especially with cases increasing on campus.

“Like everywhere else, we have mask requirements as anywhere else on campus,” Carson said. “We also had to rearrange furniture and had to deal with people pulling chairs to other tables. We also made the stairs going one way only.”

The library has made major restriction on how it should be going forward through the fall and spring semester, not knowing if that will be the new permanent policy with new health guidelines in place in how the library should be treated.

“I think it depends on what happens on how dangerous Covid gets from here,” Carson said.

Where in the past there might be big study sessions going in the library, due to Covid, the practice has had to be changed.

“The biggest affect is the people who want to study together when we are still having to keep people socially distant,” Carson said. “We want to make sure everyone’s health is protected along with the flu season coming around.”