As museums make the transition to reopening, many organizations are looking for guidance on what this process will look like, what policies they should enact to ensure the safety of their staff and visitors, and how to facilitate a gradual reopening.
Whether you’re an art or history museum, children’s museum, science center, aquarium, zoo, botanical garden, or nature center will affect what specific policies and guidelines you follow, since every organization is facing different challenges. Some organizations may already be in the process of reopening, while others may be planning for a “soft reopening” months from now.
Although there is no one-size-fits-all approach to reopening, the following guidelines offer up some of the best practices for museums and cultural organizations as they begin to plan and execute smooth and safe transitions into reopening.
Work with All Levels of Government to Facilitate a Smooth Transition
Across the United States, “stay at home” orders are beginning to be lifted and replaced with new policies that will allow businesses to safely re-welcome patrons. Among these, states are releasing guidelines on what protocols should be enacted in museums upon reopening.
The American Alliance of Museums has released a resource guide in which they recommend that museums should follow CDC and OSHA/HHS guidance as well as orders and recommendations from federal, state, and local governments and health agencies. This is important to keep in mind, as major metropolitan areas are likely to keep more stringent safety regulations in place for longer, even as governors allow states to reopen.
As outlined in the AAM guide, providing personal protective equipment (PPE) including facemasks and using protective panels to maintain a safe distance between staff and visitors is highly recommended. It is also suggested that museums take measures to practice social distancing, provide hand sanitizers for staff, and install hand sanitizing stations throughout museums.
One method that many organizations are using, including the Discovery Park of America, is setting up a task force which is made up of managers from various departments to ensure employees understand and follow the guidelines. Their task force have also recently released new guidelines for guests which can be found on their website.
It is likely that some of the first organizations to reopen will be botanical gardens (which in places like Santa Barbara, have been recently declared “essential businesses”), zoos, outdoor historic sites (in Texas, historic sites opened on May 1), and nature centers. Because these sites will be early to reopen, they will be some of the first to develop and test plans and procedures around reopening. Museums should look to these organizations for guidance and examples on what worked, what didn’t, and newly emerging best practices around reopening to ensure they are better equipped to reopen themselves in the coming weeks and months.
Take Measures to Ensure the Safety of Your Staff and Visitors
As museums develop plans to reopen, one of the top concerns is ensuring the safety of all staff and visitors. Indeed, visitors may be nervous to return, staff may be afraid of bringing COVID-19 home to their families (especially if they live with older relatives), and your institution may be liable if someone gets sick. As a result, during this time, it is essential that museums take the necessary precautions to make everyone feel they are being protected.
As visitors may be apprehensive to re-enter your institution, communicating what you are currently doing to provide a safe and clean environment can go a long way in building trust in visitors wishing to return to your facility. The Long Island Children’s Museum is among many institutions that is providing this information directly on their homepage. They clearly communicate their daily staff cleaning practices, professional cleaning procedures, and information about hand sanitizers located in the building. It is equally important that you relay and enforce the necessity of safety precautions like wearing face masks, using hand sanitizer, and keeping six feet apart from fellow patrons.
Upon reopening, it is also essential to bring all staff up to speed on the CDC recommendations for cleaning and disinfecting facilities. As there will be increased costs associated with implementing these new recommendations, AAM recommends adjusting your budgets to allocate resources for cleaning products and professional cleaning services.
When it comes to keeping staff safe, there are a number of options. You may consider allowing any staff members who can do so to continue to work from home. Alternatively, you may consider developing a rotating schedule of staff who come into the office and staff who stay home, to ensure that social distancing can be maintained at work.
In preparation for reopening, many institutions across the nation are making these kinds of strides to provide a safe environment for their visitors and staff. In an effort to get a jump start on the new policies, the Patriots Point Naval & Maritime Museum has used the closures to install ultraviolet (UV) air purifiers in all of the air conditioning units aboard the aircraft carrier USS Yorktown in preparation of a tentative reopening on Friday, May 15. The UV light will serve to deactivate airborne or surface contaminants like mold, bacteria, and viruses. Many museums are also making enhanced efforts to disinfect all high touch surfaces including door handles, push bars, light switches, elevator buttons, and stairway handrails. Through all of these elevated sanitation protocols it is important to continuously inform your staff of new procedures and provide a checklist to ensure each requirement is met.
Implement a Phased or Gradual Transition, and Develop Contingency Plans
Due to safety concerns and government guidelines, most organizations will be unable to re-welcome all of their visitors at once. Instead, many museums are looking towards a phased approach to reopening their institutions.
As part of this phased approach, many organizations will only be able to host a fraction of the patrons they may have been zoned for prior to the COVID-19 crisis. Because of limited capacity, museums should consider encouraging visitors to purchase their tickets online to promote a contactless approach to ticketing. Additionally, museums and organizations, including the Cincinnati Zoo, are considering options like virtual queueing and timed ticketing to thin out crowds.
To aid in social distancing once visitors are on-site, many museums are offering special hours for members, seniors and families. The Cheekwood Estate & Gardens is one such institution which plans to open on Mondays for members only and to seniors from 8 am to 9 am. Similarly, the Cincinnati Nature Center has reopened to members only.
Importantly, museums are also creating contingency plans around the possibility of another round of closures due to a second wave of coronavirus. In a recent Membership Mondays webinar, Aidan Vega, Director of Membership at the Philadelphia Museum of Art, noted that her institution was moving forward with all planning but keeping in mind that circumstances could change at any given time.
Continue to Offer Digital Experiences
As museums’ capacity will be severely limited upon reopening, digital will remain of continued importance for museums of all kinds. After cultural organizations initially closed their doors to visitors, many ramped up their digital engagement efforts and developed creative digital programs, events, tours, and more. These sorts of offerings will be of continued importance, even as organizations welcome a portion of their visitors back to their physical sites.
For example, many states have issued school closures for the remainder of the school year and institutions are looking to aid teachers and parents by continuing their new digital educational programs. Virtual field trips and Zoom classrooms tours are some examples that will continue to provide opportunities for students to learn online. Some institutions, like The Museum of Children's Art, are moving forward with in-person summer camp plans, but are putting contingency language in their registration, reserving the right to move the camp to an online offering in the event of another government order. Many other states, counties, and cities, are not permitting in-person summer camps. This means that online engagement activities for children will be of renewed interest as the summer months approach and children do not have teachers or classmates to convene with virtually.
Offering limited seated seminars that are also streamed online are also a method to continue to reach audiences who may not be able to attend in person. The Dali Museum along with many other institutions have taken curator-led talks online and on May 6th will host their Coffee with a Curator talk live on YouTube. A benefit of live-streaming events is the ability to feature a recording of the event on your website or app so that future audiences can have continued access to the material.
Finally, it is important to consider older audiences. Many museums patrons, including high-level members and donors, may be older than sixty-five, putting them in a high-risk category. They may need to continue to socially distance for months to come. For these older audiences, it is essential to continue digital offerings to make them feel included.
In short, even if your museums can welcome back some visitors in-person, the need for engaging digital content will still be high. As a result, moving forward, you may consider making digital a more permanent fixture of your organization’s offerings.
Keep a Clear Line of Communication Open with Your Staff & Members
Even as some organizations are cleared for a soft reopening, guidelines, best practices, and government regulations are still in flux. Bearing this in mind, museums should not be concerned about over-communicating during this time, especially as information changes.
As visitors look towards your institution to understand what limitations and protocols will be in place upon reopening, remember to keep the lines of communication open by providing updates on social distancing protocols, capacity restrictions, digital offerings, and online ticketing options.
AAM’s guidelines for reopening also suggest you display visible signage throughout your institution, explaining your policies. To aid in the clear communication of COVID-19 best practices, the CDC has released a series of printable posters that can act as an informative and educational resource for your visitors and staff.
Along with communicating with your visitors, it is also important to keep your staff informed. It is recommended that you update and share your workplace policies to ensure your employees are up to date on your policies for employee leave, work-from-home options, and compensation.
Many organizations have spent the last several months developing new communication protocols with staff, members, and audiences - these practices will be of continued relevance on the road to reopening.
The upcoming weeks will be a learning experience for all institutions. First and foremost, it is important to prioritize the safety of your staff and visitors as you plan for reopening. There will be new challenges in crowd limitation and cleaning protocols, but if you plan ahead and continue to adapt to the standards put forth by your local and state officials, the return to the “new normal” can be successful.
Many cultural organizations are adapting to the COVID era by launching Digital Membership Cards. Download our Guide: How to Launch & Succeed with Digital Membership Cards to get started!
Further Reading:
American Alliance of Museums : COVID-19 Resources & Information for the Museum Field
Membership Mondays: Planning for Reopening After Coronavirus
How Museums Are Leveraging Their Mobile Apps During Covid-19
How Museums Are Leveraging Digital Membership During Coronavirus
Tips For Choosing a Webinar Platform For Your Museum or Organization