Meredith Farkas has pulled together a series of her thoughts about the impact of COVID-19 on libraries. This statement made me feel particularly seen:

“While my commitment to my place of work feels deeply broken, my commitment to the people I work with is stronger than ever. And I’m struggling with the conflicted feelings all of that brings up.”

“Thoughts on work, well-being, solidarity, and advocacy in our current… situation” by Meredith Farkas

And this one:

“Also related to the “can’t pay people who can’t do their jobs online” argument: If you aren’t thinking of new ways that you can support your community during this difficult time and are only moving existing services online, you are suffering from a failure of imagination. Any manager that isn’t trying to find work their staff can do during a closure is failing at their job.”

“Thoughts on work, well-being, solidarity, and advocacy in our current… situation” by Meredith Farkas

Personally, I am in this moment stuck between what could be a wellspring of creativity and collaboration, on one side, and complete immobility on the other. I can feel myself moving out of a calcified state (caused by two solid weeks of crisis communications mode) and toward something new. Just think: if we were to assume our current working-remotely situation becomes status quo for the foreseeable future, together we could create some remarkable platforms and experiences for our students and faculty.