Prepared by Liliana Serra, Marsha Winter, and Jonna Paden

1. Lessons Learned by Different Libraries During the
COVID-19 Pandemic
Jonna Paden1; Liliana Giusti Serra, PhD2; Marsha Winter3
1Indian Pueblo Cultural Center Library; 2ILS SophiA Library; 3The Alma Jordan Library
Marsha Winter
Alma Jordan Library
Email: marsha.winter@sta.uwi.edu
Contact
1. https://libraries.sta.uwi.edu/ajl/
2. https://indianpueblo.org/library-archives/
3. https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC85p882Jt7xQJ6EXNjk9-aQ
Websites
The COVID-19 pandemic changed the whole world and
made people discover and learn how to live remotely. It
was a challenge for all, including libraries, archives, and
museums. We had to improve and reinvent our services
and resources to provide information to patrons.
Libraries were accustomed to providing access to digital
content before the pandemic but needed to adjust
activities to keep working and helping patrons during
this hard time, even with funding limits.
Abstract
The Director-General of the World Health Organization
declared the COVID-19 outbreak a pandemic on March
11, 2020. Governments all over the globe responded to
this announcement by closing their borders and locking
down cities ,which led to the closure of GLAMs
(Galleries, Libraries, Archives, and Museums). Many of
these types had to pivot in the face of the global health
crisis. This poster highlights the experiences from three
perspectives before and during COVID: an academic
library, the Alma Jordan Library, of The University of the
West Indies, St. Augustine Campus (UWI STA), Trinidad
and Tobago; a special library, the Indian Pueblo Cultural
Center Library & Archives (IPCC), in Albuquerque (New
Mexico, USA); and, a library vendor, ILS Sophia Library in
Brazil.
Introduction
• Libraries and related organizations are resilient and
during COVID many found creative ways to adjust to
the new normal, even with funding restrictions.
• Patrons were kept engaged through social media
platforms, blogs, and virtual services.
• The libraries found ways to get resources to the
patrons through online repositories and subscribed
databases.
• Though IPCC couldn’t share digital resources with
their patrons, they ensured staff was accessible to
patrons to respond to online and phone queries.
• ILS Sophia Library found ways to support customers
in Brazil to meet their needs by offering affordable
cloud computing services and promoting open
lectures to any librarian.
• The understanding of staying connected with
patrons and the need for constant investments in
resources to support remote services.
Lessons Learned
Libraries and related organizations are happy with the
ease of restrictions and the ability to return to pre-
COVID time. The pandemic forced GLAMs to discover
different ways to stay in contact and serve their patrons
and can offer their services to regular and virtual
patrons worldwide. Libraries expanded the ways they
connect to patrons, which has helped to increase
services, accessibility, and visibility. The increased
modes of services are ones that will remain into the
future.
Conclusions
The Alma Jordan Library
Pre COVID
• The AJL is part of a network of libraries at The UWI
STA, on the twin-island republic of Trinidad and
Tobago. The University is supported by the local
government as well as contributions from
governments in the English-speaking Caribbean. The
AJL is the largest library on The UWI STA campus.
• Serves approximately 16,000 students and has a
staff of around 3000.
• Library has over 400,000 monographs, over 200
subscribed databases, over 65,000 e-books as well as
microfilms, maps, and photographs and other special
collections.
During COVID
•Library closed and staff worked remotely. A pick-up
service was established for the collection of print
materials.
•Re-organized the library webpage to offer quick
access to key updates. Library staff prepared guides
and videos to acquaint themselves with online
resources.
•Communicated through social media channels, i.e.,
Facebook.
•Offered orientation, information literacy sessions,
and consultations with librarians were offered virtual
via platforms such as Blackboard Collaborate, Google
Meet, and Zoom.
•Established a virtual chat service (Ask US) manned by
staff was launched, as well as an online payment
system to facilitate the payment of fines and fees for
photocopying, scanning, and other services.
•Collated Open Educational Resources (OER) to
support teaching and learning.
Pre COVID
• A library management system used in more than
3,200 libraries in Brazil, Latin America, and Spain.
• The system provides analogical and digital
collection management and works with open
access and licensed content.
• It also develops solutions for institutional
repositories, using its own repository tool, or
working integrated with DSpace repository.
• Few libraries worked remotely or had the
databases available on cloud computing or
external services. Most customers worked on-
premises.
During COVID
• Increased the offer of cloud computing data
centers for customers who did not use this service
prior to COVID.
• A WhatsApp group was formed by to engage the
librarians, share experiences, and stay in contact
with the library developer.
• Some libraries licensed digital content with library
providers or put open access content in the OPAC.
• Automation was developed to put returned
materials under quarantine.
• Some lectures offered for librarians: RDA,
quarantine protocols, and digital content
management.
• Some SophiA Library customers focused their
work on internal activities, such as cleaning
authority entries or reviewing bibliographic
records.
The ILS SophiA Library
Figure 2. Indian Pueblo Cultural Center Library, Albuquerque, New
Mexico, USA. (Photo courtesy of IPCC )
Figure 1. Alma Jordan Library, The University of the West Indies,
St. Augustine Campus, Trinidad (Photo courtesy of 103FM).
Indian Pueblo Cultural Center Library
Pre COVID
• Library has about 6,000 books, a photo and
postcard collection, maps, a women’s oral history
project, 170,000 newspaper clippings and vertical
files, small archive collection, including Center
history.
• One librarian and two paraprofessional staff.
• Serves over 80,000 people.
• Few resources available online: LibGuides, New
Mexico Digital Collections, online reference
services and catalog TinyCat.
• The library experiences funding and technology
limitations
During COVID
• To highlight the library and connect patrons to
resources, a monthly library blog was started:
“Indigenous Connections & Collections”
(https://indianpueblo.org/category/indigenous-
connections/).
• IPCC relied heavily on social media to promote the
library resources through Facebook and Instagram
posts, and through events calendar listings and a
listserv to subscribers.
• Women’s Oral History project, “Journeys and
Pathways: Contemporary Pueblo Women in
Leadership, Service, and the Arts” and some
archives information and resources placed online.
• The library was not able to digitize resources
during the lockdown due to funding, and limited
staff and technological resources for the types of
materials held by the library.
Jonna Paden
Indian Pueblo Cultural Center Library
Email: jpaden@indianpueblo.org
Liliana Giusti Serra
SophiA Library ILS
Email: liliana.serra@prima.com.br
Figure 3. ILS SophiA Library logo