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Weekly News Digest

January 25, 2022 — In addition to this week's NewsBreaks article and the monthly NewsLink Spotlight, Information Today, Inc. (ITI) offers Weekly News Digests that feature recent product news and company announcements. Watch for additional coverage to appear in the next print issue of Information Today. CLICK HERE to view more Weekly News Digest items.

OCLC's 'New Model Library: Plan for Positive Change in the Midst of Challenges'

When we did the research for the New Model Library: Pandemic Effects and Library Directions briefing, a term that came up often was ‘normal’ (Is this change part of a new normal? When will this activity get back to normal?). While interesting, these questions don’t acknowledge that libraries are incredibly diverse in terms of culture, size, type, goals, and locations. And the term ‘normal’ isn’t really helpful without additional context. At the same time, the COVID-19 pandemic is a singular, global upheaval that affects everyone who works at and uses libraries.

So how do we discuss the impact this global upheaval is having on a set of very different institutions and individuals and their plans for the future?

That was the major challenge we faced when considering how to best collect and analyze data about the effects of the pandemic on libraries. …

While many of the ‘not normal’ things you’ve been doing are new, challenging, or overwhelming, some are strengthening your library in ways you want to maintain and others are truly temporary. …

Conversations with stakeholders in your library and community about what you’ve collectively experienced through the pandemic will no doubt help develop the shared context needed to find common ground and identify new ideas and possible directions. We’ve developed a learner guide with this objective in mind.

For more information, read the blog post.