Since the beginning, Springshare's mission has been to help libraries help others, and we're here to support you wherever possible during this difficult time. As communities start to reopen and libraries around the world are figuring out how to protect the safety of their patrons and staff while still providing needed services, there are what feels like a million unanswered questions and different implementation options.
To that end, we've brainstormed specific ways our tools can help you stay flexible, manage your reopening plans, and gather library activity data - so you can track your efforts and streamline processes where possible. We hope one (or more) of these features allows you to check off one of the many things on your to-do list. :)
When libraries closed their physical doors, services and events moved online wherever they could. Now that things are starting to reopen, libraries need a way to slowly transition services again - while still staying flexible enough to respond in the event of an unfortunate community outbreak. LibCal allows you to manage both in-person and online library activities from one tool, so you can implement a long term plan to provide online, a mix of online and in-person, and eventually in-person activities within one platform.
The pandemic has created new challenges for staff who are collecting information they can track and report. Gone are the days of the reference question tracker sheet that everyone adds tallies to throughout the day and the library incident report binder at the desk. Not only will you need contactless ways of reporting library statistics, but you'll also need to record new types of patron and staff interactions and library activities.
Furthermore, the economic outlook is grim, and libraries are all too familiar with being included in the first round of budget cuts while still being expected to provide a high level of service. Gathering the right kind of data that's organized and easily retrievable will be an important part of getting ahead of the curve. Then, when it's time to review your budget, you're in a good position to share the story of how your department, branch, and / or library stepped up to provide a needed service.
Example of an updated reference Custom dataset