Book Takeout and User-Docused Delivery
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I gave this presentation at the NEFLIN Conference in June 2021. They asked me to talk about the University of York Library's response to the pandemic.
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Book Takeout and User-Docused Delivery
- 2. Libraries CAN be the heart of the community, but just saying it doesn’t make it true….
- 5. University of York 1960s University, 17,000 students, ranked in the UK top 20.
- 6. The Library In normal times, the main buildings get around 3,000 visits a day and are open 24hrs. They house around a million print items.
- 7. There are also sites in King’s Manor in the centre of York, and at York Minster.
- 9. In mid-March, our buildings were shut and the UK locked down.
- 10. After the initial ‘what happens now’ one of the first things we did is move pieces around so we could focus more on communication.
- 11. Prioritise communication. Give it time, resource, and full input from senior staff.
- 13. We sourced as many eBooks as possible, and in total were able to provide electronic access to 89% of books on the Summer Term Reading Lists, working with academics to identify suitable electronically available alternatives to the remaining print items. By the end of May over 100,000 new electronic items had been added to the library catalogue, allowing students and staff to access them around the world.
- 14. During this period we all transitioned to home working. We had Zoom meetings, but we also had Zoom coffee breaks. We broke our re- opening process down into chunks and then achieved it through sprints. Staff well-being was paramount, and everyone was given time – and managers encouraged people to make sure they used their annual leave rather than work without resting…
- 15. It is – genuinely – possible to deliver an amazing standard of service whilst prioritising staff well-being
- 16. Our Help Desks moved online (primarily through Chat and email), as did our one- to-one appointments and teaching: in total we delivered over 400 sessions on every aspect of Digital Literacy, reaching not only 3019 students but also 2067 staff in Departments across the University.
- 18. Where you say Take Out… I say Take Away…
- 21. Next came a period where we could get into our buildings but needed time to make them safe for our users. First of all staff cleared a backlog of 5673 items, all re-shelved within 3 days. We launched our Book Takeaway Service with Click and Collect before the shelves were open for browsing 1,000 items were clicked and collected during this 4 week period.
- 22. Students and staff who couldn’t visit the library could also get items sent out to them (for free, with free returns) via our Postal Loans
- 23. We also Scan & Send book chapters via email
- 24. Book Takeaway has proved incredibly popular and has continued into the 2020/21 academic year. Since its launch it has provided: 7,336 Postal Loans 3,897 digitised documents for Scan & Send, Reading Lists, and Accessible format requests 13,844 books additionally purchased books - 9,391 eBooks and 4,493 print items
- 25. In short, the user can find what they need then decide how they want to get it. The service and the marketing went hand in hand, making Word of Mouth easy to achieve.
- 27. Plan services and marketing at the same time. If the two feed into each other they become more effective.
- 29. Before reopening to the University, all our staff were surveyed about their situations and feelings. The minimum number possible returned to site.
- 30. Finding out how everything worked was potentially intimidating for our students: we made ad-hoc videos (just using our phones, and PowerPoint) with the Student Unions to SHOW people the reality.
- 31. The Study Space Booking System (LibCal) which had previously just been used for Study Room bookings, was expanded to include every socially distanced seat in the library. 3,514 bookings were made in the first two months.
- 33. Everything was in such a state of flux, we’d been putting boxes at the top of the webpages to say ‘this out of date now – see our FAQs instead.’ At this point we started updating key webpages to be accurate – then continually re-updating them as time went on…
- 34. We experimented with providing video updates on all the changes happening in the library. These proved really popular and continued on a regular basis.
- 37. Video played an important part in welcoming new students
- 38. Existing library users seemed to really appreciate the fact we catered for them too.
- 39. Book Takeaway expanded to include Campus Delivery for self-isolating students – we’ll bring the books to your door
- 40. We were also tweaking the study space provision as we went along in response to student feedback. We changed the timings, allowing for 164 bookings per day, and added Video Call Rooms
- 41. Rapid Prototyping really does work! In a time of crisis especially, just get a service running as soon as possible. Then don’t be afraid to listen, learn, and adjust.
- 44. We introduced Library Home From Home for those who couldn’t visit us in person. Images, an online feedback wall, and Sounds of the Library….
- 48. We stayed open, but by this time the biggest issue was behavioural comms. Everyone was sick of wearing face-coverings – how do you tell people to keep them on in a way which makes any kind of impression? Our solution was a local celebrity…
- 49. We wanted to jolt people into hearing our message again, so a person wearing a mask wouldn’t cut it… York has a couple of lakes on its campus, and the most famous resident of them is a duck called LongBoi.
- 51. Staff on the ground expressed worries, so we canned the campaign.
- 53. We tried to do a live version of Home From Home with Zoom study rooms – sadly it just didn’t quite work…
- 55. We finally went back to 24 hour opening
- 56. We now took on responsibility for Study Space Bookings as more seats were added across the entire University. In total 235,764 bookings have been made in our system, from the end of July 2020 to the start of June 2021.
- 58. THE eBOOK THREAD
- 59. Users will listen if you explain how things work. Sometimes if the sausage is really important, it’s worth telling people how it is made…
- 60. 1. Prioritise communication 2. It’s possible to deliver an amazing standard of service whilst prioritising staff well-being 3. Plan services and marketing at the same time 4. Rapid Prototyping really works 5. Users will listen if you explain how things work. Apply what we’ve learned in a more normal environment as the pandemic starts to recede. Keep Book Takeaway going. Keep adapting. Keep listening.