Copley Library Annual Report 2021-2022

Working in Access Services at Copley Library during the Covid-19 pandemic required our staff to be flexible and collaborative. Access Services personnel’s’ nimbleness allowed us to maintain services and successfully transition to unveiling our renovated spaces on August 8, 2021. The staff’s adaptability helped ensure service continuity throughout the pandemic. Not just in their willingness to revise workflows and daily routines for a hybrid environment but in their eagerness to adjust their schedules to operate Copley. We implemented a temporary team-based schedule to align with campus safety protocols that guaranteed we could run the library even if multiple staff members became sick. We had no onsite service interruptions from the time we implemented our team approach in the fall of 2020 through August of 2021 when we reopened the building. Access Services staff worked some days remotely and some onsite and always stood ready to pivot to meet service needs throughout the pandemic. They never wavered in their commitment to keeping the library open. FLEXIBILITY AND COLLABORATION Ensure Access Services Success During Global Pandemic

Covid deprived us of this outcome. Nevertheless, the building is bustling with students this fall after two years. The Covid no-eating and drinking policy and mask mandates are gone. The plexiglass barriers at service desks have been removed, and our new group study spaces have been transformed from

Collaboration was key to our success. We teamed up with our colleagues in Collections, Access, and Discovery to: • create quarantine procedures for returning library materials; • develop a curbside book pick-up process; and • redesign workflows to provide access to streaming media. Additionally, the Access Services staff partnered with Campus Mail Services to deliver books to confined students; assisted Associated Student Government in providing free, temporary access to e-textbooks; and worked with USD’s Facilities Management staff to reconfigure library spaces and furniture to meet Covid distancing guidelines. As pandemic restrictions slowly eased throughout 2021 and early 2022, hybrid learning environments and campus-wide mask mandates limited how patrons used Copley’s physical spaces. Our new spaces are designed for high student usage, but

individual study rooms to group study rooms, as the library renovation plan envisioned. With no restrictions, it is amazing to see how happy students are in the library.

Access Services staff worked some days remotely and some onsite and always stood ready to pivot to meet service needs throughout the pandemic.

Access Services staff have used lessons from the pandemic to improve library services for the university community.

10 COPLEY LIBRARY