Keeping Library Staff Safe: Using Zoom TVs to Bridge the Gap Between In-Person and Virtual Service Consultations During COVID-19

Abstract

In August 2020, the library physically reopened to students, staff, and faculty with reduced hours for the Fall 2020 Semester. In the Fall 2020 Semester, library staff sat near the front of the library to answer in-person questions. Traffic was significantly reduced from pre-COVID operational hours because all classes were online, and, as a result, face-to-face questions from the College community were lower. However, maintaining a socially safe distance between staff and patrons when questions were asked in-person was challenging to enforce. As a result of the library staff’s experiences, we set up a Zoom TV in the front of the library at the beginning of the Spring 2021 Semester to keep library staff safe during COVID-19. Additionally, in this column, we share how academic libraries have used video conferencing software pre- and post-pandemic, how we provided socially distanced virtual research consultations via a Zoom TV, promoted in-person support via the Zoom TVs, setting up the Zoom TV, Zoom TV tips, results from using Zoom TV during the Spring 2021 Semester, and finally our next steps.

Keywords:

• Video reference
• staff safety
• staff well-being
• academic library
• virtual service consultation
• Zoom TV
• COVID-19 pandemic
• quality of work life