Within a matter of weeks the structure of many of our lives has changed. Communal spaces, schools and universities have closed, jobs may have been furloughed or lost, social interaction is more restricted and there are strict guidelines on how and where we work around the globe. Many students’ exams have been postponed or cancelled and their futures in many cases are uncertain. What does this mean for institutional libraries and their patrons?

We asked our Specialist Librarian panel how their institution has adapted to meet the needs of their students and staff during the COVID-19 pandemic.  

Changing spaces

In the UK, government guidelines forced the closure of Universities. Prior to closing, a library in the South East of England took the following steps to support their staff and students:

• Increased the number of materials an individual could borrow
• Extended due dates, lifted renewal restrictions and waived fines
• Removed half of the seats in the library to encourage social distancing

These short-term strategies enabled the institution to phase in the transition of becoming essentially a virtual library. Another UK-institution that already had distance learning strategies embedded into their daily practice still found the challenges of the current situation “a headache for [their] IT department.”

“Email, texting and live webinars are our lifeblood.”

Working from home

Professional work environments have been substituted for make-shift home offices, driving a need to develop a strong online community for the well-being of staff: “We have Skype for Business and Microsoft Teams with “casual” breaks scheduled for lunch and casual conversation. Team leaders check in with their teams everyday using IM. Our associate lecturers, who already work remotely, have been sharing tips. Several of my colleagues are self-isolating, or have childcare problems, so part-time/very flexible hours are accepted as the new norm.”

This story resonates around the world as an institution in the USA noted that “email, texting and live webinars are our lifeblood.”

“Every effort is made to follow social distancing guidelines, but life goes on at our university”

Expanding resources and improving discoverability

In Canada, an institutional library shipped relevant print materials to student’s homes as well as offered them laptops to finish their semester from home.

Digital support for students has included highlighting e-resources that have been made freely available by publishers across the world, as well as existing Open Access content in the hope of continuing their education in these unprecedented conditions.

Strategies in Asia have included splitting the librarians and wider members of staff at the institutions into teams. To have one team working in the office and another working from home, so the two teams never meet in person. There are still restrictions for the team on site with no face to face meetings, all services being offered online and no people on campus in groups larger than ten. Alcohol wipes are also provided inside the library if operation equipment inside and campus transport is wiped down after every trip.

“Our lives are challenged in many ways but within a crisis springs new knowledge and opportunity.”

Without a doubt this is the biggest challenge that librarians, staff and students at universities have faced, but as a library in Australia stated: “There is also opportunity in these uncertain times. We will be launching a new staff development program that will include weekly sessions by staff in the library and also external training. These activities will improve the knowledge of all and create a stronger team by sharing information and building on our strengths.

“These are very concerning times and it is not likely to be over quickly. We are looking at the new processes we create to learn how we can deliver better in the post COVID 19 world. But I think the most important issue for us is how we can support our team, grow and learn how better to support the university in its mission.”

Share your experiences with us at @cambridgeuplib or reach out to discover what support we can offer you at library.marketing@cambridge.org

Interested in being part of our online Specialist Librarian community? Apply here – https://thecambridgepanel.recollective.com/librarianpanel/join?key=WmFC