COVID Update - Keep Those Masks On!

All City of Columbia pandemic restrictions ended on Wednesday, but we at Skylark are still wearing masks, and we are still requiring all but our smallest customers to wear masks as well when they come into the shop. We wanted to explain why.

From the earliest days of the pandemic, we have gone above and beyond the requirements imposed by CDC guidelines and the various ordinances passed by the city. Our decisions about how to navigate the various phases of the pandemic have been based on our own reading of the science and consulting with our staff. 

Our primary responsibility is to keep our community safe. Not all of our team are yet fully vaccinated, and so of course we will not do anything to expose them to risk. But even when everyone on staff is vaccinated, we won’t know the status of our customers (except, of course, for all the children who visit us – who won’t be vaccinated.) So, for the time being, we’re going to continue to ask you to wear a mask and to sanitize when you step inside the shop – even if you have been vaccinated. (Because vaccinated folks might still carry the virus and infect others.)

We are as eager as any one for things to get back to normal. We love to see you in the shop and can’t wait to start holding in-person author events again (remember those?) But we believe that the best and quickest way of achieving that goal is to maintain the cautious approach that we have taken to date. 

We understand that this approach may be frustrating to some, but we ask that you respect our decision. We’d be more than happy to mail books or deliver curbside if you don’t wish to wear your mask in the shop.

Thanks for your understanding. And keep reading!