In Santa Fe, N.Mex., Collected Works Bookstore & Coffeehouse was closed to in-store shopping for a total of 15 months, from March 23, 2020, to June 1, 2021. During the closure, owner Dorothy Massey reported, the store survived from "curbside and shipping only," while events curator Cecile Lipworth lined up virtual events that saw more than 250 authors and poets participate.
When the store reopened in June, Massey continued, masks were mandatory for everyone entering the store. At the time, which was before the start of the current Delta variant surge, asking customers to wear masks inside "could produce some aggressive, unpleasant reactions." Now, however, as the surge continues, "most people are delighted to fish around in their purse or pocket for a mask or accept one of ours." She added that on a typical day the store hands out between 50 and 100 masks.
Asked how the Delta surge has affected the store's event plans, Lipworth noted that Collected Works held back from doing any in-person events in June and July and started doing some hybrid events just this month. For in-person events, everyone has to wear a mask, except for the author while on stage, and seats are blocked off to allow for social distancing. Because authors "don't want people breathing over them," there is limited live book signing; most titles are pre-signed.
Covid precautions have led to changes for an upcoming event with author James McGrath Morris, who is scheduled to launch his new book, Tony Hillerman: A Life, at Collected Works. With 150-200 people expected, Lipworth and the bookstore team have decided to split the launch into two sessions, one at 5 p.m. and the other at 7 p.m., to accommodate the crowd without having to turn anyone away.
Looking ahead to the end of summer and early fall, Lipworth said the store is trying to remain as flexible as possible, and she's expressed to every scheduled author that "things could change on a dime and we could go straight back to Zoom."
Massey said her outlook for the next few months is optimistic, but she pointed out that there's no knowing what will happen with the Delta surge and that the team is "not going to put our customers or our colleagues in danger."
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Tom Lowenburg, co-owner with Judith Lafitte of Octavia Books in New Orleans, La., said it feels normal at the store, in the sense that things are busy, people are buying books and the store is hosting events. At the same time, the Delta surge has led to a city-wide mask mandate and the necessity to check for proof of vaccination for in-person events, and so "in that sense it's not really normal."
Lowenburg noted that at around 64% vaccinated, New Orleans has fared a bit better than the rest of the state, and case numbers in the city have started to decline while in some other parts of Louisiana, numbers remain "appallingly high."
He added that he hasn't encountered any resistance from customers since the mask mandate was issued, and checking vaccination proof at events has not been difficult. The store held an event not long after the order was issued and attendees knew about the requirements beforehand and were accommodating.
On the subject of future events, Lowenburg said that a publisher had recently requested that an upcoming in-store event be made virtual-only. He was unsure if that will become increasingly common, but he does expect the "ratio of local author events" to be a little bit higher going into the late summer and early fall.
"We're carrying on," Lowenburg said. "We're not blind to what's going on around us and we're doing what we need to do to conduct business safely." --Alex Mutter