Weathering the Storm: Continuing Essential Services at an Academic Library During a Global Pandemic by Andrew See (Head, User Services and Experience, Cline Library, Northern Arizona University) <Andrew.See@nau.edu>
Abstract This case study represents a large academic library’s operation which remained open during the Spring 2020 semester, at which time the world faced a global pandemic brought on by the SARS-CoV-2 virus. An essential service to Northern Arizona University (NAU), Cline Library modified services, hybridized staffing models, and scaled access in an effort to support student success while recognizing public health concerns. Usage data collected throughout the semester suggests that students across disciplines relied on the library building as a place of research and discovery and corroborated the importance of the library in their academic success.
Background Cline Library serves Northern Arizona University (NAU) located in Flagstaff, Arizona. NAU is a public university offering classes on campus and online to over 30,000 undergraduate and graduate students. Student success is a core value of the institution as well as the Cline Library. With a full-time staff of sixty-two and an additional forty-six student staff, the library’s mission states: We engage our users in the design of discovery, research and learning experiences that advance NAU’s mission and strengthen our diverse community. Our expertise, collections, services and spaces elevate learning, scholarship, creativity and innovation in Arizona and beyond. Recent studies show a correlation between library use and student success. Croxton and Moore (2020) report that “engagement in library, co-curricular, and extracurricular activities has a positive relationship to student success” (p.414). Through the efforts of five departments: Content, Discovery, and Delivery (CDDS), The Office of the Dean, Special Collections and Archives (SCA), Teaching, Learning, and Research Services (TLRS), and User Services and Experience (USX), Cline Library drives student engagement and meets the academic needs of the NAU community. Combined, all departments make up the larger whole of the library’s support for student success; however, this case study 24 Against the Grain / September 2020
largely represents the operationalizing of frontline access and information services provided by User Services & Experience (USX) under the library’s Continuity of Operations program to continue to provide essential functions. In late 2019, the world faced a new (novel) coronavirus known as severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The resultant disease known as COVID-19 quickly grew to a global pandemic in March 2020. As a result, many institutions including NAU moved all academic courses online. The shift to online classes was rapid and though many students either remained or moved off campus after Spring Break to complete their academic year online, the institution still housed several thousand residential students who required campus services (including the library). Due to significant travel restrictions, international students made up a large percentage of the students remaining on campus. In a recent study, Anderson (2020) reports these students have a higher usage of their library resources and feel that the library “contributes ‘very much’ to their academic success” (p.469). Though many NAU departments shifted to virtual services only, access to the library’s spaces and resources remained an integral part of the student experience and essential to the campus community. Institutional leadership determined it was critical to keep the building open. As will be demonstrated, the library remained open by leveraging strategies affecting services, staffing, and access.
User Services & Experience User Services and Experience (USX) is an access and information services unit which oversees a majority of the library’s frontline services including the Ask Us! program, the MakerLab (offering 3D print & design), The Learning Studio (an advanced technology classroom), the Cline Library Assembly Hall (a 400 seat auditorium), The Studios (multi-media production and exploration spaces), as well as the management of 57 individual, group, graduate, and faculty rooms. The unit facilitates all front-line research support including chat, text, email, desk, and phone assistance. USX also maintains the library’s 150 open hours each week
in a 24/5 environment and, as its highest priority, strives to ensure services and spaces are user centered with a high-quality standard. Operationally centered at the Ask Us! Desk, USX offers a multitude of services. This multi-purpose service point conducts circulation activities, equipment/ laptop lending, research support, access to document delivery and course reserve materials, and delivers general triage for the various campus partners throughout the building (The Student Technology Center, the University Writing Commons, Faculty Professional Development, Scholars’ Corner Cafe). Because of the complexity of responsibilities required to oversee daily/hourly operations, desk activities are overseen by one full time staff member and one to three student employees for every hour the building is open. Operationally, 80% of transactions are handled by student employees, while full-time staff are responsible for higher level support services including research, challenging transactions such as fine disputes, and incidents involving violations to the library’s code of conduct.
Operations and Staffing During Covid-19 Considered an essential service on the NAU campus, Cline Library is a place for focused research, explorative collaborations, experiential learning, and serves as an access point for essential technologies and physical collections. Indeed, a recent study at the University of Northern Colorado found four major themes related to library use and student success: “space, people, places, and resources and services” (Mayer, 2020, p.394). Being an essential service necessitated a scalable compromise between maintaining operations and providing a safe working and learning environment for staff and end-users alike. Within these parameters, decisions were made that allowed the library to continue providing critical services while mitigating the number of staff in the building. To achieve this balance, all employees (including student employees) discussed work from home options and opportunities with their supervisors. Where possible, units shifted in-person services to virtual services. Examples include TLRS moving all research continued on page 25
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