Our lives still change from the way that we were- And now I'll tell you something I think you should know.

 The spring semester starts in a few weeks and the omicron is surging. Ugh.

The school's courses are still mostly online, so I think that we will open regular. Most of the library's hours are in-person. 

Some people on our campus don't really get that the library (as space) is what students want/need. The last two weeks of the fall semester we were packed with folks. For the most part, all wore masks and respected personal space. What students are looking for are spaces to participate in live zoom classes and a quiet warm study space. There were students who would arrive around the time we opened and stayed all day. Last semester we were only open one evening and in spring we have updated it to three, I think it won't be that busy, but the students that will utilize it will be familiar faces. 

This past week we have been getting the space ready and it feels good. I love the library I work in and it makes me happy that people like to use it. 

Being flexible is key these days and put your head down and make it work. However you can.

We have some electronic badge system that was kind of rolled out (our campus already requires vaccines), but really it is the honor system with an app, for making sure everyone on campus is vaccinated and symptom free. We will see. I am not changing what I do (wearing a mask, making sure patrons are also masked) and neither is the library.

I think that this semester will be another weird one.

Who can it be knocking at my door? Make no sound, tip-toe across the floor If he hears, he'll knock all day. I'll be trapped and here I'll have to stay I've done no harm, I keep to myself. There's nothing wrong with my state of mental health.

 Getting ready to open the library for fall semester.

For over a year now I have sat and looked at an empty library. With the likelihood that we will be open for some of the days during summer session, we have to get the library ready for students. During this time I have ripped down old signage (and dumped it at the reference desk), removed old flyers and school marketing stuff (and dumped it at the reference desk) and put the old display materials at the reference desk. Yeah, it is pretty messy at the reference desk. Or it WAS we are getting a new reference desk that is still in the box as I type this blog.

We had a soft summer semester open of the library and it was pretty successful.

I also went to my first in-person professional development workshop in over a year, it was nice. I missed few things just trying to hear. Mask speaking is totally a thing. I find that I sometimes over enunciate. I hope that doesn't come off as jerky.  I usually do it when I am having issues hearing them.

I am nervous about opening and think it is necessary that we are open for students. 

It seems like I have been on 100 calls about opening whether it has to do with my work or my kid's school and some questions that are asked just can't be answered and there can not be 100% guarantees about anything.

There are variants. Personal comfort levels. And of course county, campus, district and state mandates, suggestions, and whatevers to deal with...it is exhausting. 

The library is open. We are doing the best we can to keep everyone safe and to provide a place for student's to study.

Who gets to say? Who gets the work and who gets to play? I was always told at school- everybody should get the same.

 So we are a year into the pandemic and it looks like the library I work at is going for a soft opening over the summer. 

Currently, we have limited in-person services, I mean really limited. 

There are funds to get PPE, barriers, and hopefully some additional staffing. All of our student workers and hourly folks were let go sometime last year, so our entire permanent staff equals 5 people. So we can't be open for more than a couple of hours. 

So many things to consider. 

Capacity.

Cleaning Protocol.

How much can students do in the library? Browsing? Printing? Viewing films?

Plus, we need to be flexible. If there is a surge we will have to shut down. If we are allowed to really open up then we have to adjust on a dime. 

I think that the isolation of working from your couch, bed, or kitchen table has taken a toll on people in so many different ways...

Media- I know that I look at news sites a lot more than I used to since the pandemic. The specu-news really gets to be a lot too. Then of course there are social media platforms and news reporting about social media and insurrection, hate crimes against black, brown, and Asian people. So. Much. Hate.

Distrust in everything. EVERYTHING.  

The dialogue we have in our library has been constant. I think us being together has helped. We are out of house and psyche doing what we do. Helping students, faculty and staff. 

In the summer we will work out some kinks, see what everyone is comfortable with and how much extra support we need outside the library. We are very small staff (our hourly folks are gone because of the pandemic) so the expectation can't be that we can handle everything. I think assessing at the end of the summer and tweaking plans will help.

The fall semester is going to be a wild ride, I think. 

The library will be ready.

#BlackLivesMatter - Say it loud

Remote learning. Distance learning. Online learning. Whatever you want to call, when students are not on campus for classes has been trying for students, faculty, and staff at educational institutions.
I really feel for departments like EOPS, tutoring, and counseling. In-person is just so much better to keep track of and support a student. Also, I can't say enough good things about the school I work for in adapting to this new reality. I also can't express my annoyance with lack of leadership from our district. But this post is not about that...it is about making displays during COVID.
On June 9th CCC did a caravan/protest for racial justice. https://www.contracosta.edu/2020/06/09/ccc-leads-hundreds-in-racial-justice-caravan/

There were a lot of great signs that people made and taking a page out of the archivist playbook, asked participants to donate the signs for a display and to be part of an archive I am putting together as part of the school's history. A colleague who works at a sister college is managing an oral history of life at their school during the Coronavirus. Another great idea.

Stay safe and Black Lives Matter.

Warm leatherette, See the breaking glass, Beneath the underpass.

Online summer semester.
The seat-of-your-pants protocols that were put together for the shelter-in-spring semester have to be permanent for summer and probably fall.

At the school I work at the laptop loaner program is pretty successful (which lives in the library).

The reserves are a tough one though.

The textbook publishers are not really down with libraries wanting to purchase copies and though our research has just started I imagine it is going to be pretty darn pricey.
What to do?
Reserves have big circulation numbers and we want to support the students. School admins throw out OER. But I have realized that people kind of know what it is, but don't understand that it takes time to figure out what is out there and once the new material has been decided to change it on the syllabus.
There are some big database companies that have or are creating OER packages. They are pretty new and I have only seen one and they are cool, but still in the beginning phases.
Also, the pre-vetted searchable databases are probably pretty pricey.
And I am sure that schools, which are really nervous about enrollment want to throw money at the library on something that will take years to see a return on.

Yes. Sarcasm.

There is, of course, the copyright question. Frankly, I am not too concerned about it. Obviously, there should be considerations when copying items for LMS shells and such, but really if it something that needs to be scanned for a class and you can't get it any other way, I say go for it. I have been thinking about what could be offered to be scanned for faculty and students going forward from our course reserves.
Not sure how to go about it and I am sure that would require multiple ZOOM meetings.

ZOOM meetings. They completely exhaust me. I live in a small place and the separate workspaces for me and the hus are in close quarters so I have to wear a headset for 90% of my meetings. I have the same busy hat (that is what I call a headset) since I was in grad school, which was 10 years ago. Also, being a grad student I probably spent a whole 12 dollars on it. They are kind of pitiful.

I work at least 5-10 more hours a week now that I am at home. I don't see it letting up either.
The one plus side is that I can wear yoga pants all the time.

And I'll be gone 500 miles when the day is done.

As an academic librarian at an institution that serves a population with technology inequity, food uncertainty, and home insecurity the “remote” instruction model is going to be very trying for many. Trying to decide what to do for the students to help them the best we can was a group effort.

At first glance, we have already established library chat (24/7 QuestionPoint). During our regular reference librarian hours, the same librarian will be there to assist students. A colleague suggested Google Voice and I set that up and I am already a fan. On Thursday of last week, I blasted out a text message to students who were set to get Chromebook loaners. Even though I sent a much more thoughtful email, 14 out of the 17 students I sent a text to responded back to me within minutes. 

We have a gaggle (rafter, murder, colony, caravan- I am into the names of groups of animals) of part-timers who have off-desk hours and so a librarian put together a list of our disciplines and assigned librarians to reach out to all the faculty. Grouping them by area of study, another librarian (adjunct) created an email template, which we used (tweaking a bit, of course, to be more personal) to send to the faculty.

A lot of streaming services, databases, and ebook providers are offering free materials to students and faculty- this is great. I think it is too much for many faculty to weed through to find what they are looking for, so one of our librarians (another adjunct of course) pulled our course reserve list of physical books and we will check these services (Redshelf, VitalSource) to see if it is available and let the instructor(s) know. 

The librarian who created the spreadsheet of disciplines and assigned librarians to those instructors also created a rad libguide, which has been sent to the faculty, staff, and is multiple places for students to view. Here is the link https://libguides.contracosta.edu/site/COVID19

Last week, I was on nine Zoom meetings and I was only working from home for three days. I am still fairly new in this position and up until the middle of last week didn't know some of the major players on campus except by name. On Friday, as I waited to check out Chromebooks to students, I was with my dean for most of the day. It occurred to me that we are all doing what we can with wherever we are mentally and emotionally during this crisis. I understand procedures are important, but I think in times like these if you are accountable, it is fine to "shoot from the hip," and if you can justify why you helped a student this way or that or waived this fee or whatever it is cool beans.

A colleague used the (Simpsons) term crisistunity. I think that the rally and general rad-ness of our library are showing that as a branch of our institution we are doing our best to make lemonade. 

Lately, I have been really interested in changing the narrative with academic librarianship in that I don't want to be right, I want to create and cultivate a connection, which students/staff/faculty come to me (us-library) for support. We have no agenda. We are just here to help.

Now a side note- I think I am going to start posting to Medium. Not trying to get all Hollywood on y'all. This blog won't be going away. I think I am going to change platforms for awhile.
My personal blog SuperAwesome will still be on Blogger.
Stay safe.

Jack Frost nipping at your nose...

It is that time again...making a display that is holiday-e and inclusive. It is tough. In the past I have had some bang up displays in December. Star Wars themed (Planet Hoth), book snowman, and  Krampus just to name a few. It was easy when I worked at the art school. The student workers were motivated to not do library work and make elaborate displays for me. At the public library, the teen advisory board made a display (with my help) and covered all the bases we could think of for December holidays.
At the college I am at now, I was inspired by a "Season's Readings" post I saw on Pintrest.
I used snowflakes I had from my holiday decorations box, got blue poster board from Michael's, and my daughter painted a sign for me.
Some of the other librarians cut out snowflakes (out of scratch paper) and we made a green book "tree" from some discarded books. The seasonal reading materials featured are graphic novels and some books from the kid's section. Always the DIY'r, I wanted it to cost nothing, but I had to buy the poster paper, so it cost $6.50.
Is it amazing? No. But it filled up the display case so it won't sit empty for the next week and half.
Here are some photos of the current and previous December holiday library displays.

Current Display

Art School Displays

I couldn't find the Star Wars holiday display photos. Here is a link to my Instagram. I put one there. 

https://www.instagram.com/p/-y5_W1GT-y22uC_5BrjHz6g_-4KsvXC46GheI0/