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.

2. Libraries CAN be the
heart of the community,
but just saying it doesn’t
make it true….

3. Be truly empathetic

4. Get
people
where
they
need
to go

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.

8. March
April
May
June
July
August
September
2021

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.

12. March
April
May
June
July
August
September
2021

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.

17. March
April
May
June
July
August
September
2021

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.

28. March
April
May
June
July
August
September
2021

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.

35. March
April
May
June
July
August
September
2021
2021
October

36. June
July
August
September
2021
October
November
December
January

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.

42. June
July
August
September
2021
October
November
December
January

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….

46. June
July
August
September
2021
October
November
December
January

47. er
November
December
January
February
March
April
May
June

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.

52. er
November
December
January
February
March
April
May
June

53. We tried to do a live
version of Home
From Home with
Zoom study rooms
– sadly it just didn’t
quite work…

54. er
November
December
January
February
March
April
May
June

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.

57. er
November
December
January
February
March
April
May
June

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.

61. Our
favourite
piece of
pandemic
feedback…

63. @UOYLIBRARY
@ned_potter