Frontline Testimonies: Lessons Learned from Post-COVID Staff Narratives (Poster 15)

After academic libraries re-opened their doors in Fall 2020 to support students in need of materials, study space, and other services after operations were suspended due to COVID-19 in the Spring, frontline employees returned to in-person staffing while remote work remained standard for others. These staff assumed the unprecedented burden of shouldering staffing-level deficits, onsite isolation, the responsibility of enforcing health protocols, short-tempered patrons due to ongoing changes, and unprecedented workplace stress.

At one public research university, staff who continued to serve the library mission on-site throughout the pandemic still feel the effects of this crucible. Libraries continue to assess our altered landscape as we work to meet the needs and expectations of our patron populations, but equally important is for leadership to reflect on the experience of vulnerable staff whose physical and mental well-being has suffered over the last three years.  

This poster presents the results of a series of facilitated discussions with frontline staff from Fall 2023. The narratives will be presented through a visual representation of key themes, quotes, and survey data directly from the staff (often people of underrepresented groups) who speak to the challenges of navigating the crisis. The presenters will discuss how leadership can do more to provide essential employees with support during and post-crisis, to protect them from burnout, aggressive and unreasonable patrons, and the stress of being asked to do more with less.