‘Steady Ships’ in the COVID-19 Crisis: Australian Public Library Responses to the Pandemic

The management of public libraries during COVID-19 pandemic: a systematic literature review through PRISMA method

“…Moreover, specialized and targeted public health information strategies are adopted, in a context of inclusive, global approach to society (whole-of-society) and health for all. A wide range of fascinating roles for the PL is suggested in the literature for the post-COVID-19 era: PL as vital community hubs (Guernsey et al, 2021), "steady ships" (Garner et al, 2021), cultural exchange centers, attractive recreation areas, "edu-tourism centers" (Reindrawati et al, 2021), centers of educational justice and societal participation (Thiele and Klagge, 2021), "places to be," with an active role within social contexts (Solis and Kear, 2020) etc. Libraries are called to guarantee users' essential rights, such as health, education and authoritative information (Tammaro, 2021).Overall, Public Libraries are, once again, called to promote collective actions towards inclusion and impartiality (Ossom-Williamson et al, 2021).…”

‘The challenge now is for us to remain relevant’: Australian public libraries and the COVID-19 crisis

“…The authors' current research on Australian public libraries' response to the COVID-19 crisis included an initial questionnaire, which was sent out to public library authorities across Australia. Their first article (Garner et al, 2021) focused on the quantitative data included in the survey responses, and the specific (and different) ways in which public libraries adapted. Some of the findings reported in Garner et al's (2021) article align with those reported by researchers in other countries, including those cited above.…”

“…To this end, in June 2020, the authors undertook a nationwide survey of managers at all Australian public library authorities with the aim of understanding what resources and services they had offered during their period of closure, how they perceived their responses to the crisis, and what they felt they had learned about the current and future role of public libraries. The quantitative results of this survey relating to library offerings, and the ways in which public libraries adapted to the crisis, have been reported elsewhere (Garner et al, 2021). However, the library managers were also asked open-ended questions relating to the challenges, successes, plans for evaluation and lessons learned from the closures.…”

Supporting Social Connectedness of Older Adults during the COVID-19 Pandemic: The Role of Small and Rural Public Libraries

“…The advent of the pandemic required most public libraries to recalibrate how they operated and served their varying constituencies (Alajmi and Albudaiwi 2020;Goddard 2020), with many turning, at least initially, to the use of digital technologies as a primary means of staying connected with communities (Chase 2021). While there have been numerous studies on the role of public libraries during the pandemic (Garner et al 2021), few if any have examined how public libraries helped maintain social connectedness for older adults during the pandemic. This gap must be addressed because it has implications for the future importance of public libraries in an aging society (Lenstra, Oguz, and Duvall 2020).…”