In 1918, when the pandemic hit the United States, many libraries temporarily closed. Some libraries had existing policies for dealing with materials and quarantined patrons after smaller outbreaks, but few were prepared for a disease outbreak at a large scale. At the Cedar Rapids, Iowa Public Library, for instance, ill patrons were still allowed to browse and borrow prior to 1918, a policy that was quickly reversed and never re-adopted.
International health guidelines from 1921, drafted in the wake of the Influenza virus, explicitly note the importance of social distancing and closing public gathering spaces. During the pandemic itself masks were mandated in public spaces, including libraries. Libraries quickly shifted focus to protect public health, limiting programing while still getting materials to readers, who demanded books in ever greater numbers while stuck at home.
Despite precautions, some staff still fell ill, and financial as well as personal strain on staff and libraries led to job cuts and resignations. Cedar Rapids librarian E. Joanna Hagey recalled the strain the public health crisis put on librarians:
Never before did we run with such a short staff. The circulation is larger than last December’s. All but the most pressing business had to be left undone, but when there are not people enough to cover all duties the less important must be dropped. For a time Miss Taylor, Miss Wolfe and I were the only full time people here. All members of the staff have shared the extra duties and have worked with a will. Let us hope that such a succession of resignations and absences on account of sickness will never recur.
At the time, medical research held that paper materials, including the books and newspapers at libraries, would harbor contagions from anyone who touched them, and local health officials (not librarians) determined whether or not materials would be destroyed. Librarians and library records lamented the physical loss of books, which were destroyed after being returned from influenza-afflicted homes. E. Joanna Hagey mourned her collection, saying in her minutes: “Many times the books have done good service before destruction overtakes them, at other times it is the new books which are the victims.”
Librarians’ concerns sparked waves of changes to collection policies, as older theories about the spread of infection through library materials and postage stamps gave way to more nuanced understanding. In 1918, library books were seen as fomites (or objects likely to harbor infectious microbes); today we know that paper and books are not reliable conductors of viral agents, for the most part.