Brad Warren
Associate Dean of Library Services
University of Cincinnati
Lori Harris
Interim Director of the Health Sciences Library and Director of the Henry R. Winkler Center
University of Cincinnati
Our collective behavior over the past 7 months has contributed to saving thousands of lives during the COVID-19 pandemic. Our ability to have the fortitude and vision to build upon the paradigm shifts of how we work, interact with each other and our communities, and wise and intentional use of technology in the next few years has the potential to save millions of lives with even greater threats such as climate change and other global challenges. During the COVID-19 pandemic, the University of Cincinnati libraries (UCL) looked at ways to define, pivot, and thrive within the significant challenges of COVID-19. By first focusing on how we could work collaboratively with UCL faculty and staff, UCL was able to develop a comprehensive plan that ensured that we continued to provide excellent service that our faculty, students, staff, and community members came to rely upon during the pandemic while placing the health and safety of our library and broader university community as the top priority. Simultaneously, UCL developed strategies by which we could respond to real-time challenges and concerns while operating in an environment fraught with both uncertainty and opportunity. This strategy was focused towards the future and building a solid foundation of agile and collaborative decision-making not possible before March 2020. While all libraries have been facing the same threat with the same lack of models to draw upon, UCL approached this response practically, collaboratively, and with wide open eyes to how we could identify and build upon the opportunities so necessary in order to face greater challenges we will certainly face in our lifetimes. We will discuss how libraries can apply our shared COVID response experiences to survive, thrive, and move forward to face the certain threats of imminent enrollment decline, significant budget cuts, and more challenging issues such as climate change.
