The Department of Library Services (DLS

SCU continued during lockdown through e-counselling or tele-counselling using WhatsApp audio or video calling. In a normal month, the unit averages 100 sessions a day, a figure that persisted during the first part of lockdown but increased later.

The SCU was a beneficiary of the Michael and Susan Dell Foundation grant to support students during the pandemic lockdown. As part of the application to the MSDF, the SCU applied for funding to increase the number of counsellors, develop a counselling chatbot, support students with disabilities with a reading programme and employ a sessional psychiatrist. All of the outcomes were achieved. The unit was able to increase its counselling services and serve more students.

Self-help material was placed on the SCU website, as were links to external sites with information on mental health and well-being. Students could access counsellors and content

The UP community has access to the online collections and virtual information support services of the DLS, which expanded because of the pandemic. A total of 295 218 additional e-books were added to the library’s collection in 2020 to ensure that students and researchers could access the resources they required to complete the academic year successfully.

Meanwhile, a demand for book chapters and parts of books resulted in the library’s Digitisation Unit allowing users to request sections of a book online, which the DLS staff would digitise (adhering to copyright regulations) and email to the user. The Digitisation Unit helped ensure that teaching The DLS also negotiated with publishers to buy commonly used textbooks (such as those prescribed for undergraduate students and housed in the reserved collection) in electronic format. Although publishers usually do not sell textbooks in digital format to libraries, the DLS managed to negotiate with several publishers, some of whom have even made additional sources freely available during the pandemic. These resources were listed on the library’s webpage for easy access and retrieval.

After the level 1 lockdown had been lifted, the DLS initiated a phased re-opening of all campus libraries, limiting the number of staff providing services physically while most library staff continued to work remotely in line with the University’s guidelines.

The new reality in the library at Hatfield wearing face masks