Oct. 1 was supposed to be the first day on the job for a new manager at the Friends of the V.I. National Park Bookstore at the Cruz Bay Visitor Center on St. John. Then came the nationwide federal shutdown.
However, some quick thinking and swift action by Friends’ leadership allowed bookstore manager Amir Sprauve to perform his first day’s work. Sprauve, along with three others, makes up a team of young staffers working at the bookstore.
A directive issued by the U.S. Department of the Interior in September cited guidance provided by the Office of Management and Budget, stating that all park personnel who are not exempt or granted an exemption are on furlough during the shutdown. Volunteers who work with furloughed park personnel are told not to report for work.
At least they were not to report to the shuttered visitor center, said Friends Executive Director Tonia Lovejoy. “When they got wind of the shutdown, the four store employees were concerned about their jobs,” she said.
So was the staff at the St. John nonprofit. The night before the shutdown took effect, Lovejoy said, they went to the visitor center and moved some of the bookstore merchandise. They reached out to the manager at nearby Mongoose Junction Shopping Center and asked if there was any retail space available.
The manager put them in touch with shopping center owner Glen Speer and a merchant who offered space for a pop-up store.
Towards one of the center’s entryways, a former information desk was draped with a Friends of the Park banner and decorated with stuffed animals. Several days after the shutdown began, a smiling Ethan Popo sat there, welcoming guests.
Popo, along with Sprauve, Kevanna Matthews, and Raisa Curry, worked together on the Friends’ youth trail maintenance crew. Popo said he also worked with the University of the Virgin Islands Mangrove Restoration Project. He directed a visitor towards the pop-up bookstore, but said it would only be staffed on days when trail duties weren’t on the schedule.
The director said there was enough work to make up for the team’s lost hours, and if the shutdown stayed in place for a while, she would look around to see what other Friends projects needed attention.
Lovejoy said the group was glad to have the new bookstore manager on the job, despite the interruption. “To have him as part of our team, to have someone knowledgeable about the park’s operation and his interest in business is super,” she said.
Proceeds from the sale of books and souvenirs help fund natural and cultural preservation projects supported by Friends of the Park.
St. Croix Source
Local news, St. John TW
