Kuddos During Covid

What a world we live in! We have had riots, fires, hurricanes, a pandemic, and one or two county fairs canceled. Still libraries have made it through. Some better than others. Over the next several posts, I would like to share some of my thoughts on libraries that have thrived during Covid  and what has made a library successful during Covid-19.

1: Made a meaningful connection to their community or kept it going. 

Some libraries you can tell have stayed connected with their communities through COVID. You can see that in their social media responses. This is old hat for their patrons. Flu shots at the library? Duh! We know! Movie reviews? Yeap, we've seen those all along. From day one these libraries were "on the air." They might not have had it perfect but they learned.  Some libraries have successfully started a connection with their community. You can see that is the responses as well. You get the sense people are responding to something new with surprise and that's fine. Storytime online?, never seen it, but I'm down! Author talks in Zoom, let's roll. These are libraries that took a few weeks to get things sorted out and were still able to catch the waves. 

Work done now, is going to pay off in the end. Sadly, many libraries have tried and for a variety of reasons have failed. My previous library failed utterly! Part of it was because it was only me responding. I asked staff for help and got nothing in response. Some failed because their patrons didn't respond. Still others have failed for simply not trying at all. To that I say, you only fail if you don't try at all. If you look, these libraries are still not doing much on social media or their websites. 

2: Looked for ways to thrive

I follow a library on social media in Northeast Louisiana, that absolutely kicks ass! Period! Full Stop! 

They have not only a pandemic on their hands, they've dealt with a hurricane...or two. And they're doing river clean ups! Union Parish is damn lucky in that their library didn't miss a beat, and they've looked for ways to grow. Need arose for a food distribution center, the library stepped up. Their bookmobile stepped up and was out doing social distanced events as soon as "lockdown" ended. Taking advantage of a situation is key! You have to see opportunities and take them. Or respond positively when they come to you. "No" can't be in the vocabulary. 

3: Made light of this mess

2020 has sucked. From start to finish its a gigantic shit show. We don't need our library reminding us of that. Libraries are out there making funny t-shirts for fund raisers. They're hosting wine and designs online so stuck at homes parents have something to do after their kids have gone to bed. One library makes lists of books and movies you SHOULDN'T WATCH DURING A PANDEMIC. Far more helpful then stats and the daily grind of gossip. 

*If you want to see a successful library on Facebook UNION PARISH PUBLIC LIBRARY