While masks are now optional in most public places, the Chilmark library’s stricter Covid-19 policies are posing obstacles for children who have no school library of their own, principal Susan Stevens told the up-Island regional district school committee Monday night.

Ms. Stevens said library director Ebba Hierta has imposed a string of rules on Chilmark School classes who use the library during the school day.

“She has nine protocols we have to follow,” Ms. Stevens said. “Everybody has to wear a mask, and if anybody has any kind of a sneeze or anything, they can’t come, and if anybody in a class has been sick that week, the class can’t come,” Ms. Stevens said.

Ms. Hierta did not attend the meeting.  But contacted by telephone Wednesday, she disputed the characterization. “It’s 100 per cent untrue. No student has been turned away,” Ms. Hierta said.

She said that during the recent Omicron surge, all the Island libraries had suspended in person group visits, but once they resumed, scheduled visits from the school classes resumed as well.

“We continue to serve these students,” Ms. Hierta said. “As soon as things started looking better at the beginning of February, I contacted the school principal and said let’s get this going. The children have resumed their visits and we are delighted to have them.”

Ms. Hierta said there are protocols — the library does still require masking for all patrons —but she said the protocols are being followed without problems.

“We are working with the school nurse and it seems to be working just fine,” the library director said.

At the meeting Ms. Stevens also said the library director is asking that the school build its own library.

“She would like to meet with district leadership ‘to discuss the pressing need for the Chilmark School to have a library of its own,’” the principal said, reading from a note she said she received from Ms. Hierta this week.

“‘You need your own library and I’m prepared to assist in that regard,’” the note continued, according to Ms. Stevens.

“She seems to think that the school committee can build a library,” Ms. Stevens said. She said she had brought her concerns about Ms. Hierta’s position to Warren Doty of the Chilmark select board.

“Warren’s feeling is that they built the school on purpose without a library, so that the school would be part of a campus and they would be using the public library and using the community center,” Ms. Stevens said.

Long-serving school committee member Roxanne Ackerman confirmed that the town intended students to use the Chilmark library and, for indoor play, the Chilmark Community Center, when it designed the school without a library or a gymnasium more than 20 years ago.

“It was talked long and hard, and that was their philosophy,” Ms. Ackerman said. “Chilmark made that choice.”

The school committee and library trustees are both elected bodies with independent jurisdiction over what takes place in their buildings.

Ms. Hierta said the topic of a school library has been discussed on and off for years, but she downplayed any pressing need to address the matter.

“For the time being we are happy they can come over with the library teacher and use our space,” she said. She concluded:

“The principal seems unhappy that we have different protocols than they do. We are a public facility. I asked her to sit down with me . . . I wasn’t invited to this meeting and I was blindsided by it.

“This creates an unnecessary amount of drama for everybody.”

At the meeting committee members agreed to ask school superintendent Dr. Matthew D’Andrea to raise the issue with the Chilmark select board.

“It needs to be dealt with rapidly, as well as thoroughly,” said committee member Kate DeVane.

Updated from an earlier version to include comments from the library director, who did not attend the meeting but provided a fuller account of the issue from her perspective.