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Pandemic Resources for Academic Libraries: ACRL LibGuide

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Pandemic Resources for Academic Libraries: ACRL LibGuide

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Skip to main content

This resource guide was created by ACRL to support the academic and research library community during global public health crises. The guide features resources for distance education and engagement, free professional development resources, best practices, and up-to-date information from public health officials.

ALA Statement on Library Closures

The ALA Executive Board unequivocally stands in support of the safety and well-being of library workers and the communities we serve, To protect library workers and their communities from exposure to COVID-19 in these unprecedented times, we strongly recommend that academic, public and school library leaders and their trustees and governing bodies evaluate closing libraries to the public and only reopening when guidance from public health officials indicates the risk from COVID-19 has significantly subsided.

Read the full statement on the ALA website.

ACRL Statement on Academic Libraries and COVID-19

The ACRL Board of Directors affirms the statement that ALA and the ALA Allied Professional Association (APA) have made regarding library services during the COVID-19 pandemic. The Board strongly urge the closure of in-person services at academic and research libraries. In alignment with ALA and with APA, we also urge libraries to ensure that all library workers receive fully paid leave, including health coverage, while libraries are closed.

Read the full statement on ACRL Insider.

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LibGuides: Pandemic Resources for Academic Libraries: Home

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Skip to main content This resource guide was created by ACRL to support the academic and research library community during global public health crises. The guide features resources for distance education and engagement, free professional development resources, best practices, and up-to-date information from public health officials.

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WEBINAR - The Collaborative Guide to Pandemic Pedagogy: Resources for Library Instruction at a Distance (Jenn Kelley, Ref Librarian at College of DuPage)

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WEBINAR - The Collaborative Guide to Pandemic Pedagogy: Resources for Library Instruction at a Distance (Jenn Kelley, Ref Librarian at College of DuPage)

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Association of College and Research Libraries

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ACRL Presents: “Pandemic Pedagogy: Resources for Library Instruction at a Distance”

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As institutions scale down face-to-face operations to essential personnel only during the pandemic, librarians on some campuses say they're recklessly being put into that group.

Rutgers University's faculty union, affiliated with the American Association of University Professors and the American Federation of Teachers, for instance, demanded Wednesday that campus libraries be shut down and move entirely to online access.

"We have been arguing with Rutgers management for days about closing the libraries, but can no longer wait," Rebecca Givan, associate professor of labor studies and employment relations at the New Brunswick campus and the union's vice president, said in a statement. "By every reasonable interpretation of what is an essential service in this crisis, our libraries do not fit that description and must be shut down immediately, while offering online services and remote access to all who need it."

A Rutgers librarian who did not want to be named, citing fear of retaliation, said librarians are "expected to keep the libraries open and staffed despite the fact that most services can be provided remotely."

Rutgers won't consider mailing physical items where necessary to users' homes "because it would cost too much," the librarian added, recalling internal discussions. Such decisions amount to "forcing staff to risk their lives by having to come to libraries, and forcing the users to do the same," the librarian said, "because that kind of a cost doesn't appear in an annual report."

This week is also spring break, meaning that the university could have closed the libraries and spent what is a quiet week even in typical years "planning optimal remote services for when the students are remote and working next week."

According to a running list of Association of Research Libraries members, 71 institutions have closed their libraries entirely. Some 21 -- including Rutgers -- have moved to restrict library access to university ID card holders only, and 33 have limited their hours. As of Wednesday evening, five member institution libraries were open with no change in hours: Southern Illinois University at Carbondale, the State University of New York at Stony Brook, and the Universities of British Columbia, Chicago and Wisconsin at Madison.

Institutions closing their libraries are handling the transition in various ways. Princeton University, for example, has ceased all in-person services until April 6 but will open its Firestone Library for two hours per day through Friday for students and faculty members who need to retrieve their materials from carrels or study rooms and pick up books on hold. No other access to collections will be allowed.

Rutgers said in a statement that its libraries remain open because they are "essential to educating our students while the university remains open and operating." In particular, libraries are critical to meeting mandates about online instruction, as they provide access to 1,000 computer terminals, the statement said.

"Access to the internet through these computers is essential for students who for economic or other reasons do not have access to the internet in their homes."

Librarians have pushed back on this rationale, however, saying that there are other ways to address computing issues, such as renting laptops. Asking students to travel to campus to use public computers puts them at risk, too, these librarians also say.

The university said its libraries are being operated "in a manner that is consistent with state and federal guidance and in a manner that is safe and does not put our students or the employees at the libraries at any heightened level of risk."

The libraries are now closed to the general public to control crowds, for example, and security personnel will break up gatherings of more than 50 people, though more than 50 people may be in the library at any given time.

Calling the situation "fluid," the university said it asked library leaders to "develop a plan that requires the least amount of staff in the fewest number of libraries that will still allow the university to meet its obligation to our students."

Rutgers' librarians were also given flexible options in terms of telecommuting, according to the university's statement.

Katie Anderson, chair of the library faculty and advocate of closing the libraries, said that "more library staff and faculty have moved to remote working so there are fewer people in the buildings." There are "of course, still concerns for those left for the minimal staffing." In Anderson's location, librarians are still expected to show up in person for their assigned reference desk hours.

Mary Lee Kennedy, executive director of the Association of Research Libraries, said in a statement that research libraries "are and have provided online services for decades." As campuses move online, she added, "research libraries are right there with them." So with "this shift during an unprecedented viral outbreak, ARL members have staff health and safety at the forefront as they respond in ways consistent with their institutions -- including the use of physical spaces."

Kennedy added, "Our members support all library employees, student workers, as well as part-time and non-exempt employees."

The American Library Association and the affiliated Association of College and Research Libraries were even more direct in respective statements.

"We strongly urge the closure of in-person services at academic and research libraries," the ACRL said. It also urged libraries "to ensure that all library workers receive fully paid leave, including health coverage while libraries are closed."

Lisa Janicke Hinchliffe, professor and coordinator for information literature and instruction at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign's University Library, is helping run a separate, self-reported study of library responses to COVID-19, through Ithaka S&R.

A write-up of the study thus far says that libraries are "radically changing their service model or closing altogether, providing for increased social distance and staff and user safety." While many libraries have closed, those that remain open, even if for limited hours, "continue to implement safety and social distancing policies with a sharp rise in the number canceling programs and in-person meetings."

"Somewhat remarkably," however, the study says, "regular communication to staff with updates and guidelines on safety measures" is reported in less than two-thirds of libraries.

Hinchliffe said in an interview that research and academic libraries "have built digital infrastructures, collections and services for the past two decades." Library users have long been "remote," she said, whether they're faculty members working in their offices across campus or students at local coffee shops -- and libraries have adapted over time to serve their needs.

"We have a parallel digital library that we can pivot to as we modify hours and services, or even close," Hinchliffe said. So "we are well positioned to serve the needs of faculty, staff and students who are working remotely and online for the foreseeable future."

Project MUSE, the database of peer-reviewed journals and books, and a number of publishers are helping in that effort, by making online materials free for everyone for the coming weeks. Hinchliffe said these actions make a difference, as they provide clear pathways to research and reduce barriers to entry: think forgotten institutional account logins and other access issues.

"To the degree that publishers are working to support customers who are coming up with suddenly unexpected challenges, I'm just grateful," she said.

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Librarians advocate closing campus libraries during coronavirus pandemic

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As institutions scale down face-to-face operations to essential personnel only during the pandemic, librarians on some campuses say they're recklessly being put into that group. Rutgers University's faculty union, affiliated with the American Association of University Professors and the American Federation of Teachers, for instance, demanded Wednesday that campus libraries be shut down and move entirely to online access.

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How to Embed and Link Web Sources in Padlet

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How to Embed and Link Web Sources in Padlet

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This short video (1 min) will show you how to add sources to this Padlet.
Hover your mouse over the post and click on the elipsis. Use the dropdown menu to select expand post for easiest viewing.

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How to embed and link web sources in Padlet

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From Ithaka S + R

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For the most recent findings see Academic Library Strategies Shift to Closure and Restriction: The Next 48 Hours of Academic Library Response to COVID19
On Wednesday, March 11, at 8:00 pm ET, we deployed the " Academic Library Response to COVID19 " survey in order to gather as-it-happens data from and for the academic library community. Today we are sharing a summary of the responses from the 213 libraries that responded in the first 24 hours.

We asked that people only submit information for their own library, so the unit of reporting and analysis is the institution. In other words, the frame is the status of the library (whether it is a single library or multiple) at a given institution, at a given point in time. While the questions were intentionally designed for response at the institutional level, we recognize that, as a result, the data present an overview and do not capture the details of differences within a given institution. We very much encourage libraries to submit updated survey responses as policies change over time. This summary presents only first-time responses.

Summary of Findings

Institutions have seen a significant shift from in-person to online course delivery. However, overall there is relatively little change in how libraries are serving their users at this point. Libraries are putting a range of prevention and mitigation measures in place, especially increased cleaning by library and custodial staff, providing hand sanitizer for patrons, and canceling public events. Somewhat surprisingly, only 64 percent indicate using the strategy of "regular communication to staff with updates and guidelines on safety measures." The biggest change we found that libraries are making is with respect to remote work policies; 23 percent have expanded who may work remotely.

We are carefully monitoring the incoming results for the entire survey and are particularly looking to see if there is perhaps a time lag effect, with institutions making changes and then libraries instituting changes in the following days. Libraries that submit the survey and then provide updates will be particularly helpful for tracking this. We are grateful for any who are able to take the time to do so. We also anticipate shifting of in-person and patron access to online, phone, and mediated access, particularly if libraries shift to not only allowing but actually mandating remote work. In particular, we are monitoring technology lending, access to facilities, protocols for interacting one-on-one with patrons, and whether in-person meetings continue in libraries. Finally, though we have not analyzed the open-ended text entered with "other" responses, a quick review indicates that libraries are responding to a range of complexities and a great number of uncertainties.

Please have your library fill out the survey if it has not done so. It takes time, but on average respondents are able to complete the form in 5-10 minutes. If your library has filled out the survey and things evolve, please submit an update. We structured the survey to accommodate libraries submitting updates as often as they need to. The link to the survey with all of the questions on a single page is: https://surveys.ithaka.org/jfe/form/SV_8qN8F2274hMBBBz . The link is the same for taking the survey the first time and for submitting an update. You may also view a live results report as surveys are submitted at: https://ql.tc/aAaxhh .

Please note: because the results are updated live, they will not match the data reported here. The data here was extracted on March 12, 2020 at 8:00pm ET.

Status of institution

The majority of institutions within our sample (58 percent) have moved in-person classes to online/remote instruction, while a smaller but still substantial share (25 percent) are still offering all classes in their usual format. Many institutions are still permitting students to stay in residence (46 percent), though roughly a quarter (21 percent) are requiring students to vacate residential facilities (with certain exceptions permitted). Very few institutions (2 percent) are requiring students to vacate residential facilities with no exceptions permitted.

Building access

The majority of libraries are remaining open during usual hours (58 percent). In fact, when institutions are continuing classes in their normal format, all (100 percent) are being reported to remain open as well. When classes have moved entirely online, nearly a majority (43 percent) of libraries are still remaining open during their usual hours. Overall, roughly a quarter (28 percent) have either limited library building hours or closed specific library locations. The vast majority (71 percent) have not changed their policies to restrict general public access to library facilities.

What best describes the status of your library building hours?

Collection + technology access

Access to both technologies and print materials has largely remained unchanged. The vast majority of libraries reported no changes to their existing technology lending programs (80 percent) and access to print materials (85 percent). This is an area that we will be watching closely to examine change over time.

Services access

Likewise, reference services appear to be somewhat unaffected; for the majority of libraries (65 percent), reference services are continuing as usual (in-person, online, and/or via phone). Some (25 percent) are limiting hours available or pivoting to online/phone only. Library instruction has been relatively more affected; while many libraries (34 percent) are continuing to offer instruction in the modality of the course, an equal share (36 percent) are only providing synchronous instruction virtually. This may reflect the impact of campus courses moving online.

Prevention and mitigation measures

Many enhanced cleaning, disinfection, and safety measures are being implemented-in particular, hand sanitizer being provided to patrons (79 percent), increased custodial services (55 percent), cleaning supplies being provided directly to employees (54 percent), and protocols being implemented for at least daily cleaning of keyboards and other equipment (46 percent). While a large share (64 percent) report that regular communications are being shared with staff on updates and guidelines for safety measures, this means that these communications are not taking place at roughly one-third of libraries.

Is your library using any of the following enhanced cleaning, disinfection, or safety measures?

Staff travel is often being restricted both internationally (53 percent) and domestically (39 percent). Public events are frequently being cancelled (56 percent), while few are being converted to an online format (14 percent). Very few have reported that in-person staff meetings are being cancelled (6 percent) or converted to online (16 percent). Likewise, for one-on-one meetings with patrons, very few libraries are providing protocols for physical distancing (12 percent).

Is your library using any of the following social distancing measures?

Personnel

While for the majority of libraries, remote work policies have remained the same (66 percent), it is notable that roughly a quarter have expanded who may work remotely (23 percent). While respondents had an opportunity to expand on these responses in an open-text field to share more about how different employee groups have been impacted by these decisions, we have not yet analyzed these qualitative data.

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Academic Library Response to COVID19 | Ithaka S+R

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For the most recent findings see Academic Library Strategies Shift to Closure and Restriction: The Next 48 Hours of Academic Library Response to COVID19 On Wednesday, March 11, at 8:00 pm ET, we deployed the " Academic Library Response to COVID19 " survey in order to gather as-it-happens data from and for the academic library community.

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RESOURCES DOCUMENT - The Collaborative Guide to Pandemic Pedagogy: Resources for Library Instruction at a Distance (Jenn Kelley, Ref Librarian at College of DuPage)

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RESOURCES DOCUMENT - The Collaborative Guide to Pandemic Pedagogy: Resources for Library Instruction at a Distance (Jenn Kelley, Ref Librarian at College of DuPage)

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Jenn was my facilitator at ACRL Immersion last summer and is awesome!

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The Collaborative Guide to Pandemic Pedagogy

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US Academic Library Response to COVID19 Survey

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US Academic Library Response to COVID19 Survey

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You can see responses from academic libraries across the country.

I've completed the survey twice. They ask that you retake it if/when your library situation changes.

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Twitter stream for #CovidLibrary

You don't need an account to view; click on the pink hashtag above.

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Twitter stream for #closethelibrary

You don't need an account to view; click on the pink hashtag above.

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Updated ALA Statement from Executive Board (03/17/20)

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Updated ALA Statement from Executive Board (03/17/20)

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The American Library Association (ALA) Executive Board released this statement March 17 in support of libraries and library workers during the COVID-19 pandemic:

The ALA Executive Board unequivocally stands in support of the safety and well-being of library workers and the communities we serve. To protect library workers and their communities from exposure to COVID-19 in these unprecedented times, we strongly recommend that academic, public, and school library leaders and their trustees and governing bodies evaluate closing libraries to the public and only reopening when guidance from public health officials indicates the risk from COVID-19 has significantly subsided.

It is very difficult for us to put forward this recommendation. Libraries pride themselves on being there during critical times for our communities. We are often the only institutions to remain open during times of crisis. Service and stewardship to our communities are core to our profession.

We have weighed the situation of our country and what has happened in other countries around the world. The health of our library workers and the communities we serve is of utmost and equal importance. Libraries are by design unable to practice social distancing to the degree recommended by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and other health authorities. Keeping libraries open at this time has the potential to harm communities more than help. We underscore the importance and need to come together in this crisis and commit to ensuring our libraries, which provide so many important services to our communities, do not serve as vectors for a fast-moving pandemic.

Libraries are responding creatively and proactively to this crisis. School libraries in many states have closed along with schools and many have plans to provide online classes to students. Public libraries are making virtual resources available and considering other ways they can help during the crisis. Academic libraries are providing online services and access to resources. All libraries are working with their school administrators, governments, boards, and university administrations to determine critical services and closures following local directives.

Additionally, and in alignment with our companion organization, the ALA-Allied Professional Association (ALA-APA), we encourage libraries to ensure that all library workers receive fully paid leave, including health coverage, while libraries are closed.

Although closing a library is a local decision, we urge library administrators, local boards, and governments to close library facilities until such time as library workers and our communities are no longer at risk of contracting or spreading the COVID-19 coronavirus.

The ALA Executive Board is committed to supporting our library workers, ALA members, and the communities we serve during these challenging and uncertain times.

For more information about ALA resources on COVID-19, visit www.ala.org/tools/atoz/pandemic-preparedness.

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ALA Executive Board Recommends Closing Libraries to Public | American Libraries Magazine

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The ALA Executive Board unequivocally stands in support of the safety and well-being of library workers and the communities we serve. To protect library workers and their communities from exposure to COVID-19 in these unprecedented times, we strongly recommend that academic, public and school library leaders and their trustees and governing bodies evaluate closing libraries to the public and only reopening when guidance from public health officials indicates the risk from COVID-19 has significantly subsided.

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ALA Statement from Executive Director, Tracie Hall (03/16/20)

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ALA Statement from Executive Director, Tracie Hall (03/16/20)

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(It doesn't embed nicely but if you click in the box below you can see it; you don't have to have a Twitter account)

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In response to the many questions we’ve received, our executive director, Tracie Hall, released the following statement. 

You can read the full text statement on our Facebook page here: https://t.co/wXyV3Ls8ex

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In response to the many questions we’ve received, our executive director, Tracie Hall, released the following statement. 

You can read the full text statement on our Facebook page here: https://t.co/wXyV3Ls8ex https://t.co/mY8pFxh60W

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In response to the many questions we’ve received, our executive director, Tracie Hall, released the following statement.

You can read the full text statement on our Facebook page here: https://t.co/wXyV3Ls8ex pic.twitter.com/mY8pFxh60W
— American Library Association (@ALALibrary) March 17, 2020

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In response to the many questions we’ve received, our executive director, Tracie Hall, released the following statement. 

You can read the full text statement on our Facebook page here: https://t.co/wXyV3Ls8ex https://t.co/mY8pFxh60W

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.metadata.attachment_props.original_text
In response to the many questions we’ve received, our executive director, Tracie Hall, released the following statement. 

You can read the full text statement on our Facebook page here: https://t.co/wXyV3Ls8ex https://t.co/mY8pFxh60W

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.metadata.attachment_props.text
In response to the many questions we’ve received, our executive director, Tracie Hall, released the following statement. 

You can read the full text statement on our Facebook page here: https://t.co/wXyV3Ls8ex

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Covid-19 and Academic Libraries (Candise Branum, ACRL-Oregon President)

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Covid-19 and Academic Libraries (Candise Branum, ACRL-Oregon President)

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Posted on by ajabm
The following is a letter from Candise Branum, ACRL-Oregon President
As many of you may already know, the World Health Organization has publicly classified COVID-19 as a pandemic. Across the country, K-12 schools are shuttering, colleges and universities are moving curriculum online, music festivals, conferences, and sporting events are cancelled or are proceeding without fans. When the NBA cancels the rest of the season, you know things are serious. So much has happened in the past few days that I don't even know how to process it all.

One thing that has come up for me, though, is thinking about the academic library's role in continuing education throughout a pandemic. As universities cancel in-person classes and move towards providing online education, libraries continue to remain open to provide services to suddenly displaced students. Some academic libraries are business as usual, while others are operating at reduced hours. There are a select few who are closing facilities altogether but are promoting online library services, like MIT and Pitt.

I was speaking with another library director at a smaller college recently about the decision to remain open or to close in the event that our respective organizations move curriculum online. We are both adamant about protecting our library staff, and she mentioned allowing her employees to work from home and staffing the library at reduced hours by herself. My first thought was, yes, this is absolutely something that I would do as well. And something that I done. As a library director, sometimes you have to work an extra long day or otherwise pick up the slack; that is completely understandable. But then I started to question why I tend to not prioritize my own physical and mental health, and why administrations are not prioritizing the safety of library staff when making decisions to close facilities.

So why do so many colleges come to the conclusion that being on campus and in a classroom is a risk, but justify keeping the library open? It almost feels like the burden has recklessly been displaced onto library staff. Moving curriculum online and leaving libraries to support those changes also makes the assumption that library staff are not high-risk themselves, or that they do not live with immunocompromised or elderly people. And what is the actual goal in keeping the library open? Is it primarily about access to the facilities? Because I think we could all be pretty creative in how we provide access to other library services, including reference, document delivery, and even book delivery.

Why is it so hard to close a library? There is an assumption that libraries will continue to remain open, and of course we don't want to disappoint our communities, but we've also been programmed to believe that it is our responsibility to lay our bodies on the line in order to remain open. Yes, I absolutely signed on to provide library services and to be a leader in difficult times. I am still here and committed to that. But I also pause to remind myself that Librarianship is a primarily female-identified profession, and that as academic librarians, we are seen as both educators and caretakers, and in the time of a crisis, martyrs. I question the extent to which we are expected to put our bodies on the line during this public health crisis. Public librarians (shout out!) are physically and mentally challenged every day, but I also think: where is the line? When do we value our own safety? I don't have an answer to this except to say that this is the conflict I'm currently struggling with - valuing the health and safety of our library staff, and balancing that with our commitment to serving our communities through dangerous times. And understanding that there can be an intrinsic conflict in being both a caretaker and in taking care of yourself.

In times of crisis, libraries have the potential to be places of sanctuary. Sometimes a library provides computing services that allow students to continue their education online when they do not have the technology, space, or quiet that is required to do this from home (and this is all assuming that they have a safe home). Sometimes a library's value can be as simple as providing a safe, warm space for people to rest. But there is no road map for how academic libraries handle a pandemic. Oregon colleges and universities have yet to close down their campuses, but as administrations prepare for what seems to be the inevitable, I encourage everyone working in academic libraries to take a moment to think about your own values and boundaries. Think about how to balance the desire to support our students, but also make the right choice for yourself and your family when it comes to staffing your library during a healthcare crisis.

And continue to take care of yourself and one another.

Candise Branum
ACRL-Oregon President, 2019-2020

Filed under: announcements |

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The following is a letter from Candise Branum, ACRL-Oregon President As many of you may already know, the World Health Organization has publicly classified COVID-19 as a pandemic. Across the country, K-12 schools are shuttering, colleges and universities are moving curriculum online, music festivals, conferences, and sporting events are cancelled or are proceeding without fans....

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Vocational Awe and Librarianship: The Lies We Tell Ourselves (Fobazi Ettarh, Undergraduate Success Librarian at Rutgers)

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Vocational Awe and Librarianship: The Lies We Tell Ourselves (Fobazi Ettarh, Undergraduate Success Librarian at Rutgers)

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In Brief

Vocational awe describes the set of ideas, values, and assumptions librarians have about themselves and the profession that result in notions that libraries as institutions are inherently good, sacred notions, and therefore beyond critique. I argue that the concept of vocational awe directly correlates to problems within librarianship like burnout and low salary. This article aims to describe the phenomenon and its effects on library philosophies and practices so that they may be recognized and deconstructed.

by Fobazi Ettarh
Author's note: I use "librarians" here very broadly. I am not limiting the term to those who have the MLIS because vocational awe affects those who work in libraries at every level. I would argue that it often affects staff more than it does librarians due to the sociodemographics of people in staff level positions as well as the job precarity that many staff positions hold.
Introduction

On its face, it seems natural that libraries and librarians should celebrate these stories. Indeed, these librarians are working to save the democratic values of society as well as going above and beyond to serve the needs of their neighbors and communities. However, when the rhetoric surrounding librarianship borders on vocational and sacred language rather than acknowledging that librarianship is a profession or a discipline, and as an institution, historically and contemporarily flawed, we do ourselves a disservice.

"Vocational awe" refers to the set of ideas, values, and assumptions librarians have about themselves and the profession that result in beliefs that libraries as institutions are inherently good and sacred, and therefore beyond critique. In this article, I would like to dismantle the idea that librarianship is a sacred calling; thus requiring absolute obedience to a prescribed set of rules and behaviors, regardless of any negative effect on librarians' own lives. I will do this by demonstrating the ways vocational awe manifests. First, I will describe the institutional mythologies surrounding libraries and librarians. Second, I will dismantle these mythologies by demonstrating the role libraries play in institutional oppression. Lastly, I will discuss how vocational awe disenfranchises librarians and librarianship. By deconstructing some of these assumptions and values so integrally woven into the field, librarianship can hopefully evolve into a field that supports and advocates for the people who work in libraries as much as it does for physical buildings and resources.

Part One: The Mythos of Libraries and Librarianship

Librarianship as Vocation

The word "vocation" (from the Latin vocatio) is defined as "a call, summons," and stemmed from early Christian tradition, where it was held that the calling required a monastic life under vows of chastity, poverty, and obedience. Indeed, from its earliest biblical instantiations, a vocation refers to the way one lives in response to God's call. Although the word has since become used in more secular contexts, my use of the word "vocation" to describe contemporary views of librarianship skews closer to its original religious context, especially concerning the emphasis on poverty and obedience. Many librarians refer to the field of librarianship as a calling. ,  Their narratives of receiving the "call" to librarianship often fall right in line with Martin Luther's description of vocation as the ways a person serves God and his neighbour through his work in the world. The links between librarianship and religious service are not happenstance. Indeed, the first Western librarians were members of religious orders, serving the dual functions of copying and maintaining book collections.

The Library as a Sacred Place

The physical space of a library, like its work, has also been seen as a sacred space. One could argue that it is treated like a sanctuary, both in its original meaning (keeper of sacred things and people), and in its more contemporary meaning as a shelter or refuge. Again, the original libraries were actual monasteries, with small collections of books stuffed in choir lofts, niches, and roofs. The carrels still prevalent in many libraries today are direct descendants of these religious places. The word "carrel" originally meant "working niche or alcove" and referred to a monastery cloister area where monks would read and write. Reflecting their conjoined history, churches and libraries had similar architectural structures. These buildings were built to inspire awe or grandeur, ,  and their materials meant to be treated with care. Even now the stereotypical library is often portrayed as a grandiose and silent space where people can be guided to find answers. The Bodleian Library, one of the oldest and largest libraries in Europe, still requires those who wish to use the library to swear an oath to protect the library: "I hereby undertake not to remove from the Library, or to mark, deface, or injure in any way, any volume, document, or other object belonging to it or in its custody; not to bring into the Library or kindle therein any fire or flame, and not to smoke in the Library; and I promise to obey all rules of the Library."

Although contemporary architectural designs of libraries may not evoke the same feelings of awe they once did, libraries continue to operate as sanctuaries in the extended definition as a place of safety. Many libraries open their spaces to the disadvantaged and displaced populations in the community such as the homeless or the mentally ill. In the protests and civil unrest following the shooting death of unarmed black teenager Michael Brown in Ferguson, Missouri, the Ferguson Municipal Public Library (FMPL) became a makeshift school for children in the community. When the story went viral, there was an outpouring of books, supplies, and lunches for the children. The hashtag #whatlibrariesdo became a call to action and resulted in a huge spike in PayPal donations to FMPL. In addition, the sign on the library's door stated, "During difficult times, the library is a quiet oasis where we can catch our breath, learn, and think about what to do next." In this way, the library becomes a sanctuary threefold, a place where one can listen to the "still, small, voice," a shelter for displaced populations, and a source of humanitarian aid. Since Ferguson, similar responses have occurred in libraries after major events in other areas such as Charlottesville, Virginia. And, in the current sociopolitical climate, much of the discourse surrounding these libraries center them as "safe spaces."

Librarians as Priests and Saviors

If librarians are priests then their primary job duty is to educate and to save. Biven-Tatums notes that public libraries "began as instruments of enlightenment, hoping to spread knowledge and culture broadly to the people." The assumption within librarianship is that libraries provide the essential function of creating an educated, enlightened populace, which in turn brings about a better society. Using that logic, librarians who do good work are those who provide culture and enlightenment to their communities. Saint Lawrence, the Catholic Church's official saint of librarians and archivists, is revered for being dangled over a charcoal fire rather than surrender the Church archives. Today, librarians continue to venerate contemporary "saints" of librarianship. One example is the "Connecticut Four," four librarians who fought a government gag order when FBI agents demanded library records under the Patriot Act. And now Kowalski joins the ranks as a library "saint" through the literal saving of lives with Naloxone. All of these librarians set the expectation that the fulfillment of job duties requires sacrifice (whether that sacrifice is government intimidation or hot coals), and only through such dramatic sacrifice can librarians accomplish something "bigger than themselves."

Part Two: Locating the Library in Institutional Oppression

It is no accident that librarianship is dominated by white women. Not only were white woman assumed to have the innate characteristics necessary to be effective library workers due to their true womanhood, characteristics which include missionary-mindedness, servility, and altruism and spiritual superiority and piety, but libraries have continually been "complicit in the production and maintenance of white privilege." These white women librarians in public libraries during the turn-of-the-century U.S. participated in selective immigrant assimilation and Americanization programs, projects "whose purpose was to inculcate European ethnics into whiteness" Librarianship, like the criminal justice system and the government, is an institution. And like other institutions, librarianship plays a role in creating and sustaining hegemonic values, as well as contributing to white supremacy culture. James and Okun define white supremacy culture as the ways that organizations and individuals normalize, enact, and reinforce white supremacy. Cultural representations of libraries as places of freedoms (like freedom of access and intellectual freedom), education, and other democratic values do not elide libraries' white supremacy culture with its built-in disparity and oppression. In fact, each value on which librarianship prides itself is inequitably distributed amongst society. Freedom of access is arguably the most core value of librarianship. It runs throughout the entire Library Bill of Rights and is usually defined as the idea that all information resources provided by the library should be distributed equally, and be equitably accessible to all library users.

There have been, however, vast exceptions to this ideal. Quantitatively, the most significant of these exceptions was the exclusion of millions of African Americans from public libraries in the American South during the years before the civil rights movement. White response to desegregation efforts in public libraries varied. While some libraries quietly and voluntarily integrated, other libraries enforced "stand-up integration," removing all of the tables and chairs from the building to minimize the interaction of the races in reading areas, or shut down the branch entirely. The result of these segregationist practices in libraries was a massive form of censorship, and this history demonstrates that access to materials is often implicated in larger societal systems of (in)equality. This should then hold true for other library values as well.

Part Three: Martyrdom is not a long-lasting career

Up until this point, it might seem like I believe librarians should not take pride in their very important work. Or that librarians who love their work and have a passion for library values possess some inherent flaw. This is not my intent. Rather, I challenge the notion that many have taken as axiomatic that libraries are inherently good and democratic, and that librarians, by virtue of working in a library, are responsible for this "good" work. This sets up an expectation that any failure of libraries is largely the fault of individuals failing to live up to the ideals of the profession, rather than understanding that the library as an institution is fundamentally flawed. Below, I mention the primary ways vocational awe negatively impacts librarians.

Awe

We've now uncovered the roots of vocation within librarianship and its allusions to religiosity and the sacred. The vocational metaphor helps us understand cause. However, it is important not to forget awe, which represents the effect. Merriam-Webster defines awe as "an emotion variously combining dread, veneration, and wonder that is inspired by authority or by the sacred." As mentioned earlier, libraries were created with the same architectural design as churches in order to elicit religious awe. Awe is not a comforting feeling, but a fearful and overwhelming one. One of its earliest uses was within the Hindu epic Mahabarata. The God Krishna inspired awe in the protagonist Arjuna and commanded him: "Do works for Me, make Me your highest goal, be loyal-in-love to Me, cut all [other] attachments..." A more modern, secular example of awe is the military doctrine "shock and awe," which is characterized as rapid dominance that relies on the use of overwhelming power and spectacular displays of force to paralyze the enemy's perception of the battlefield and destroy their will to fight. In both cases, awe is used as a method of eliciting obedience from people in the presence of something bigger than themselves.

As part of vocational awe in libraries, awe manifests in response to the library as both a place and an institution. Because the sacred duties of freedom, information, and service are so momentous, the library worker is easily paralyzed. In the face of grand missions of literacy and freedom, advocating for your full lunch break feels petty. And tasked with the responsibility of sustaining democracy and intellectual freedom, taking a mental health day feels shameful. Awe is easily weaponized against the worker, allowing anyone to deploy a vocational purity test in which the worker can be accused of not being devout or passionate enough to serve without complaint.

Burnout

Under-compensation

"One doesn't go into librarianship for the money" is a common refrain amongst library workers, and the lack of compensation for library work is not a recent phenomenon. A 1929 report summarized that "improvement in these conditions has not yet reached a point where librarianship may be said to receive proper recognition and compensation." And in the 2017 Library Journal 's Placements and Salaries survey, graduates overwhelmingly pointed to underemployment issues as a source of unhappiness, including low wages; lack of benefits; having to settle for part-time, temporary, or nonprofessional positions; or having to piece together two or three part-time positions to support themselves. Librarians' salaries continue to remain lower than those for comparable jobs in professions requiring similar qualifications and skills. Statistics like these point to the very secular realities of librarians. Librarianship is a job, often paid hourly. It's not even everyone's primary job. It has sick time, and vacation-or should-and imagining these facts aren't important because of the importance of the library's mission only serves the institution itself.

Through its enforcement of awe through the promotion of dramatic and heroic narratives, the institution gains free, or reduced price, labor. Through vocational mythologies that reinforce themes of sacrifice and struggle, librarianship sustains itself through the labor of librarians who only reap the immaterial benefits of having "done good work."

Job creep

Job creep refers to the "slow and subtle expansion of job duties" which is not recognized by supervisors or the organization. As this article argues, librarians are often expected to place the profession and their job duties before their personal interests. And with such expectations, job creep can become a common phenomenon. The problem with job creep manifests in multiple ways. One, what employees originally did voluntarily is no longer considered "extra" but instead is simply viewed as in-role job performance, which leads to more and more responsibilities and less time in which to accomplish them. Employees who cannot do more than what is in the job description, perhaps for personal or health reasons, are consequently seen as not doing even the minimum, and management may come to believe that workers are not committed to the organization, or its mission, if they don't do extra tasks. Returning to Chera Kowalski and all of the other librarians currently training to administer, and already administering, anti-overdose medication, this expectation has gone so far as to create a precedent for Representative Maloney to introduce the Life-saving Librarians Act. No longer are these trainings voluntary "extra" professional development; it will likely soon become part of the expected responsibilities of librarians across the country.

Adding duties like life-or-death medical interventions to already overstrained job requirements is an extreme but very real example of job creep. And with the upholding of librarianship as purely service-oriented and self-sacrificing, what is a librarian to do who may not feel equipped to intervene as a first responder? Or a librarian who is dedicated to, say, a library value of children's literacy or freedom of information, but because of past traumas, cannot cope with regular exposure to loss of life on the job? Librarianship as a religious calling would answer that such a librarian has failed in her duties and demonstrated a lack of purity required of the truly devout. And without the proper training and institutional support that first responders, social workers, and other clinicians have, librarians, through such job creep, are being asked to do increasingly dangerous emotional and physical labor without the tools and support provided to other professions traditionally tasked with these duties. As newspapers, Clinton, and librarians around the nation celebrate Kowlaski and others like her, we must ask if those voices will chime in to also demand the therapy and medical services typically needed for PTSD and other common ailments of those working in such severe conditions. Do we expect those benefits to manifest, or librarians to again quietly suffer the consequences of their holy calling, saving society at the expense of their own emotional well-being?

Diversity

By the very nature of librarianship being an institution, it privileges those who fall within the status quo. Therefore librarians who do exist outside librarianship's center can often more clearly see the disparities between the espoused values and the reality of library work. But because vocational awe refuses to acknowledge the library as a flawed institution, when people of color and other marginalized librarians speak out, their accounts are often discounted or erased. Recently, Lesley Williams of Evanston, Illinois, made headlines for being fired from her library due to comments (on her personal social media accounts), illustrating the hypocritical actions of her library in regards to the lack of equitable access to information. Although she was advocating for the core library value of equitable access, similar to that of the "Connecticut Four," her actions were regarded as unprofessional.

As I mentioned earlier, vocational awe ties into the phenomena of job creep and undercompensation in librarianship due to the professional norms of service-oriented and self-sacrificing workplaces. But creating professional norms around self-sacrifice and underpay self-selects those who can become librarians. If the expectation built into entry-level library jobs includes experience, often voluntary, in a library, then there are class barriers built into the profession. Those who are unable to work for free due to financial instability are then forced to either take out loans to cover expenses accrued or switch careers entirely. Librarians with a lot of family responsibilities are unable to work long nights and weekends. Librarians with disabilities are unable to make librarianship a whole-self career.

Conclusions

Considering the conjoined history of librarianship and faith, it is not surprising that a lot of the discourse surrounding librarians and their job duties carries a lot of religious undertones. Through the language of vocational awe, libraries have been placed as a higher authority and the work in service of libraries as a sacred duty. Vocational awe has developed along with librarianship from Saint Lawrence to Chera Kowalski. It is so saturated within librarianship that people like Nancy Kalikow Maxwell can write a book, Sacred Stacks: The Higher Purpose of Libraries and Librarianship, not only detailing connections between librarianship and faith, but concluding the book by advising librarians to nurture that religious image conferred upon them. The ideals of librarianship are not ignoble, and having an emotional attachment to the work one does is not negative in itself, and is often a valued goal in most careers. What I have tried to do with this article is illustrate that history and expose the problematic underpinnings. Because vocational awe is so endemic and connected to so many aspects of librarianship, the term gives the field a way to name and expose these things that are so amorphous that they can be explained or guilted away, much like microaggressions. And, through the power of naming, can hopefully provide a shield librarians can use to protect themselves.

The problem with vocational awe is the efficacy of one's work is directly tied to their amount of passion (or lack thereof), rather than fulfillment of core job duties. If the language around being a good librarian is directly tied to struggle, sacrifice, and obedience, then the more one struggles for their work, the "holier" that work (and institution) becomes. Thus, it will become less likely that people will feel empowered, or even able, to fight for a healthier workspace. A healthy workplace is one where working around the clock is not seen as a requirement, and where one is sufficiently compensated for the work done, not a workplace where "the worker [is] taken for granted as a cog in the machinery."

Libraries are just buildings. It is the people who do the work. And we need to treat these people well. You can't eat on passion. You can't pay rent on passion. Passion, devotion, and awe are not sustainable sources of income. The story of Saint Lawrence may be a noble one, but martyrdom is not a long-lasting career. And if all librarians follow in his footsteps, then librarianship will cease to exist. You might save a life when wandering outside for lunch, but you deserve the emotional support you'll no doubt need as a result of that traumatic event. You may impress your supervisor by working late, but will that supervisor come to expect that you continually neglect your own family's needs in the service of library patrons? The library's purpose may be to serve, but is that purpose so holy when it fails to serve those who work within its walls every day? We need to continue asking these questions, demanding answers, and stop using vocational awe as the only way to be a librarian.

Thanks and Acknowledgments

I'm very much indebted to the amazing and knowledgeable editors at In the Library with the Lead Pipe, and in particular to Sofia Leung and nina de jesus for diligently removing all traces of footnote inconsistency, tense changes, and rogue commas, as well as helping me create the best possible version of this article. I would also like to thank Amy Koester for keeping us all on track when necessary, and also being incredibly flexible when life inevitably got in the way. Finally, I would like to thank my partner for providing copious support as she listened to me whine and provided a steady stress writing diet of Salt and Vinegar Pringles and Uncrustables. Any mistakes left in this document are most definitely my own.

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Vocational Awe and Librarianship: The Lies We Tell Ourselves

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Vocational awe describes the set of ideas, values, and assumptions librarians have about themselves and the profession that result in notions that libraries as institutions are inherently good, sacred notions, and therefore beyond critique. I argue that the concept of vocational awe directly correlates to problems within librarianship like burnout and low salary.

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Close the library (Chris Bourg, Director of Libraries at MIT)

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Close the library (Chris Bourg, Director of Libraries at MIT)