Title:

Breaking out During an Outbreak: Engaging Students with Outreach and Instruction Amidst a Pandemic

Authors:

Lynn D. Lampert; Coleen Martin

Institution:

California State University Northridge (CSUN)

Keywords:

Outreach, instruction, engagement

Abstract:

CSUN, one of 23 campuses in the largest four-year public university system in the United States, closed its Library in March 2020 due to COVID19. Since our physical closure, Library faculty and staff have strengthened and streamlined virtual services to students and faculty underscoring the Library’s consistent and ongoing commitment to providing reference, instruction, and outreach programming via virtual methods. This case study will present how the Library has utilized tools and strategies to engage, educate, and inform via its online course learning management system, Canvas; online catalog OneSearch; social media presence; Library website and blogs; and distinct outreach programming events and offerings. Since our CSU Chancellor decided that our university system, which serves approximately 500,000 students, would move completely online with instruction through fall 2020 (the first in the Unites States), we have continued to adapt programming to support students and faculty during this pandemic.

Mission: Our mission is to share tools and strategies with other library personnel who are working to sustain and grow their academic library services and programming during the global COVID19 pandemic crisis.

Method: This presentation will employ a case study approach offering examples of how our academic library, that serves 40,000 students, adapted to the COVID 19 situation by providing creative and practical ways to sustain its services to students and faculty.

Findings: It is possible to both sustain and develop virtual public services that must completely supplant physical offerings due to a pandemic which forced the closure of a brick and mortar library.

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