Hello Everyone! This whole situation is daunting and unprecedented. I don't know how you're feeling but I'm ready to shift the conversation. Our profession wants to be seen as essential and innovative. In a world where millions of people work from home, I want to talk about that! Yesterday we sent out a survey monkey to staff which included the following questions: What are your tasks that can only be done at the library? What tasks could you do from home given the appropriate resources? What resources would you need in order to work from home? (WiFi hotspot, laptop, specific software, logins, passwords) Supervisors were asked to call anyone on staff that might not have internet access in order to fill it out for them, so we have everyone's input. This afternoon I have scheduled a Zoom meeting with our department heads to brainstorm about the following: Given a shelter in place situation, what CAN we do? Can we forward phones so staff can still help our patrons? Can we offer email or Skype reference to help troubleshoot our online services? What can we do in our ILS to assure our patrons don't inadvertently lose access to our online services due to expired cards, etc.? How can we still be a lifeline to people when they are stuck at home? Perhaps your library is doing some or all of these things. If you are, please help us! Share what you do and how you do it. Thank you in advance - this listserv is always a wealth of information and so inspiring! Be well! Julie [Julie - Signature with phone #]
