When in doubt, go to the library. – J.K. Rowling

Every year, National Library Week is a time to celebrate libraries of all shapes and sizes and take the time to recognize the important impact of libraries and librarians on the community, research and learning. 

The 2020 National Library Week theme is Find Your Place at the Library. Libraries across the country are constantly working to include diverse perspectives and ensure equity of access for everyone.

In the midst of COVID-19 across the world, librarians are going above and beyond their usual responsibilities to help their patrons through these uncertain times. Even during a period when students, researchers, and faculty are temporarily unable to visit the physical buildings, they always have a place at the library. Here are some of the efforts libraries across the country have made to support their communities during this pandemic.

Supporting the Switch to Online Resources

As library buildings and their supporting institutions closed their physical doors, students, faculty and researchers were told to continue their learning and teaching from home. The switch to virtual classes and the use of online resources to complete coursework and research assignments needed to be implemented quickly and extensively.  

Many libraries immediately updated their websites with quick links to available online resources, easy borrowing access options and regular COVID-19 updates. Villanova University, for example, has been regularly updating its Falvey Memorial Library COVID-19 Updates and Resources page. 

Additionally, several institutional libraries, like the University of Utah, the University of Illinois at Chicago and the University of Wisconsin, Madison, have dedicated guides to inform end-users about temporary online resources freely available to them, and, importantly, when this access is expected to end.

Waiving Late Fees and Fines

In the face of such an unprecedented public health emergency, organizations of all types across the country have joined a movement of understanding and general loosening of the normal “rules”. 

Institutions like New York University, Rutgers University and Yale University announced early on that all due dates for library materials, borrows and interlibrary loans were extended, and late fees were waived. These announcements and implementations were among the first COVID-19 responses in libraries nationally, and they offered relief to students and researchers who were unable to return to the physical library due to quarantine or anxiety.

Fighting Xenophobia and Fake News

With the fear and uncertainty around COVID-19 come other issues that libraries are tackling on a national scale. Racial fears and anxieties have been a common frame in which people evaluate concerns around COVID-19. Additionally, an infodemic, defined by the World Health Organization as “an overabundance of information – some accurate and some not – that makes it hard for people to find trustworthy sources and reliable guidance when they need it,” is also occurring. 

Libraries are interrupting the spread of false information even more than they do on a usual basis. Fake news has been spreading in the form of incorrect and sometimes dangerous “cures” and treatments, and libraries are providing both veritable sources of COVID-19 information as well as resources to help those who may be impacted by xenophobia. 

The University of Virginia has published a LibGuide on misinformation and xenophobia that includes a section of specific resources in multiple languages, in addition to reminders about community care, diversity and inclusion. Similarly, the University of Nevada, Las Vegas has also included a Racism & Xenophobia section to its COVID-19 LibGuide, which includes counseling contact information, relevant articles and CDC factsheets to help combat fear and racism. 

Boosting Morale

Libraries have always offered a sense of community and togetherness to their patrons, and librarians can be pros at fun activities, creative ideas and thinking outside of the box. During this crisis, libraries have stepped up to boost morale and promote positivity online. 

Check out some of these online examples for a smile! Duke University posted a parody library blog post about a virtual “Scratch-n-Sniff” button for e-books so that borrowers can still enjoy that “old book smell.” The library Twitter account for the University of California, Los Angeles tweeted a link to a list of library images for video-conference users to use as their backgrounds, and the library Instagram account for Boston University that regularly posts stories related to horoscopes posted about different zodiac signs of students as Zoom users. 

The only thing that you absolutely have to know, is the location of the library. – Albert Einstein

As the COVID-19 pandemic has turned our world upside down and so many aspects of normal life have been suspended, libraries have seamlessly continued to provide clear information and helpful resources for students, researchers and community members across the country. 

As we celebrate National Library Week 2020, let’s all take a moment to thank those librarians and library staff members who continue to provide the answers we need when we need them, even when “the location of the library” happens to be online.