Many thanks to all who participated in our second virtual roundtable on Monday, April 20.
Elizabeth Edwards (University of Chicago) and Lisa O'Keefe (Galter Health Sciences Library, Northwestern University) facilitated a discussion about supporting our colleagues and our library organizations. Staff needs One institution established several teams to manage different aspects of this crisis, including remote work, employee wellness, and continuity of service. Others have umbrella groups managing continuity of service along with all other aspects of organizational response. Several institutions have used surveys to explore staff needs during this time. These instruments have tried to strike a balance between giving people room to express concerns with gathering actionable feedback. Surveys have included questions about:
Responses to these surveys seem to indicate that despite its limitations and tech challenges, folks have generally settled into their new reality. Many of the outstanding questions have no good answers:
Ongoing work This crisis has clearly demonstrated the need for programmatic assessment to support decision-making. One institution has seen a strong response rate to a brief and highly targeted campus survey exploring how the library was meeting the needs of instructors, researchers, and learners. Others are looking to existing data to inform decisions about interim and future library services. For example, understanding space allocation and typical patterns of use by patrons and employees will be critical as libraries think about how to safely reopen their physical buildings. Since patrons and employees naturally cluster around entries and service points, extra care will need to be taken to ensure appropriate social distancing - or alternate strategies, like the removal of furniture or the creation of a "drive thru" - until the spread of the virus is less of a concern. In closing, a participant shared a three-zone model that can be useful in thinking about where individuals and organizations are right now: the comfort zone, the learning zone, and the chaos zone. We are collectively moving through the chaos zone, so we should approach our work, our colleagues, and ourselves with empathy and sensitivity. |
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