These are unprecedented times in academic and research libraries. The COVID-19 pandemic has had an overwhelming effect on our workplaces and our lives, upending daily life and causing widespread fear and uncertainty. We are all affected by this crisis, both personally and professionally and we hope that this finds you healthy and successfully coping with the many challenges.
We recognize the stress, challenge, and difficulty of this situation. At the same time, both as ACRL Board of Directors members and within our own institutions, we are heartened by the creative and resourceful responses of ACRL members and of the library community overall. Even in this most trying time, we see library workers reaching out to support each other, sharing information, enacting equity and fairness, and finding new ways to collaborate for the common good.
ACRL will continue to strive to provide useful resources for you during the COVID-19 pandemic, such as our recent free webinars on online instruction and copyright. You can find webinar archives and information on upcoming offerings on ACRL’s new Pandemic Resources for Academic Libraries LibGuide. ACRL Insider will also note upcoming webinars. If there are topics or resources you would like us to offer in future, please don’t hesitate to reach out to us at acrl@ala.org.
While our current focus must be on this crisis, the Board has not lost sight of the projects and priorities that we will return to once this situation is resolved. In the near term, we will stay engaged with ALA’s work to develop a coordinated program of virtual offerings in place of a face-to-face Annual Conference. In the longer term, we will continue to monitor the progress of SCOE’s Forward Together and work with ALA to understand the association’s financial situation along with any potential impact on our division. In all of this, we will communicate clearly and openly with you.
ACRL’s mission is to support all of its members, in good times and bad. As ACRL Board members and librarians, we understand that the current situation is daunting. We look forward to working with you and the ACRL staff to find ways to overcome it together. And we offer our best wishes and thoughts to you and yours as we confront this unprecedented health crisis.
The ACRL Board of Directors