ployment. As services return to normal, there will be ongoing need to rebuild teams and develop new ways of working. Services that are retaining home work- ing or hybrid working models will need to have policies in place to help virtual teams to work effectively – including on-board- ing any new starters who may never have met colleagues in person.
Even as shops and services begin to re-open fully, there may issues around user confidence and public libraries will be keen to ensure they offer a safe, trusted and welcoming space for users. There has already been a lot of work to make spaces ready, but there will need to be continued assessment to see how well things are working. Legislation and official advice is being updated and that could also impact on how services are run as we move forward.
Longer term
opportunity to invest in libraries to help every member of society to ‘build back better’
Physical access to buildings and resources has been one of the first hurdles to overcome and the Covid-19 Safer Spaces provides practical tips on delivering safe spaces for both staff and users. Architects IF_DO worked with CILIP and Libraries Connected to de- velop the resource, which is available at
www.covid19saferspaces.org. It lists six key elements to ease re-opening – Ensur- ing Staff are safe and feel empowered; Providing well ventilated spaces for staff and customers; Creating a clear and safe return and borrowing strategy; Opening up the library by removing soft seating; Sustaining a welcoming environment; Extending library services off-site and into larger spaces.
Beyond the physical
While much of recent focus has been on re-instating access to buildings, there will be other areas that need to be con- sidered in order to ensure longer-term sustainability. From staff to resources, there are likely to be new requirements and systems to help maintain service levels.
The digital switch happened quickly when lockdowns were first introduced. Libraries were able to offer their users alternatives to physical loans and many people made use of these digital services in ways they had not before. However, it is becoming increasingly clear that some of these digital resources,
April-May 2021
and the licenses that are attached to them, do not always meet the needs of users or the budgets of libraries. CILIP is sup- porting the #ebookSOS Campaign (https://
academicebookinvestigation.org), which is calling for changes to academic publish- ing practices and to create a sustainable model that works for academic libraries and publishers.
CILIP wrote to the Competition and Markets Authority in support of the campaign’s aims, highlighting a number of concerns including the price differen- tial between ebooks and physical books, the nature of licensing arrangements that means libraries do not own the content they have paid for; constraints on teach- ing, learning and research; and an unfair market place with a culture of confidenti- ality around pricing.
Johanna Anderson, Founder of the academic ebook campaign, said: “It is testament to the seriousness of the situ- ation that CILIP have seen fit to formally put the case to CMA and are supporting us in our efforts to secure a full, fair and transparent investigation of the current academic ebook market.” CILIP has also been working with stakeholders to help find ways to deliver sustainable ebook lending in public librar- ies, through its Let Libraries Lend Ebooks campaign (
https://bit.ly/3tqvGjN).
Rebuilding confidence
Staff will have had different experiences throughout the lockdown period – wheth- er that means working in their core role, furlough, working from home, or rede-
There have undoubtedly been some dra- matic shifts in how services were offered during extended periods of lockdown. Libraries have not closed, but buildings may not have been open. This saw a swift and unprecedented shift to digital and e-resources. Users largely embraced the changes, with library services reporting huge increases in the numbers of digital loans.
However there remains a digital divide, with a significant minority of people un- able or unwilling to join a digital revolu- tion. This could be down to affordability, skills or simply preference. Services will have to look at how these digital wins can be sustained long-term, while also con- sidering how they can be sure no one is left behind. Again it is about striking the right balance and assessing what elements of lockdown services need to be retained, what elements need to be adapted and what elements are no longer needed at all. Teams will be assessing re-opening over the coming months and CILIP’s Service Recovery Hub will continue to offer a range of links to advice, guidance, legislation and emerging best practice from across the library, information and knowledge management sectors.
Share your knowledge
Teams and individuals can contribute to the service hub by sharing
l Links to useful sector-specific guidance (i.e. service recovery guidance that is specific to your sector)
l Links to general service recovery guidance, such as information on buildings, services, stock and materials handling
l Links to helpful information about supporting staff and leadership through service recovery
l Example documents such as sample risk assessments or policies that can be shared.
l
www.cilip.org.uk/servicerecoveryhub. IP INFORMATION PROFESSIONAL 31
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