Article Note: A Bit More on Librarian Sabbaticals

This article was cited in the previous article I read about factors that contribute to librarian turnover. Sabbaticals were discussed a bit in that article. I was able to get a hold of this article, so I figured I would read it too. I will disclose up front that librarians in my small college do qualify for sabbaticals, though there are issues with that I will mention as I comment on this article. 

This article looks at academic librarian participation in sabbaticals. The research was based mainly on a survey sent to library directors that included some open-ended questions; answers to those open-ended questions are discussed in the article. A significant part of the argument for librarians taking sabbatical if they are able is that the experience can provide some respite and refreshing for the librarians. To be honest, for me at least, besides not being able to take a sabbatical (a full one that is), a sabbatical would not be the respite and/or break from the daily grind writes like the author make it out to be. It would just be taking time off to do more work, different work, but still a lot of work, then write reports about it when I get back while catching up on the work I was not able to do while I was gone on said sabbatical. That is not less stress. That sounds like more stress, and I can do without that. 

 

Some takeaways from the article: 

• A 2001 study by Gaskell and Morril, which this article's author relies on quite a bit, found that a bit over half of the academic institutions the researchers surveyed offered sabbatical to academic librarians; however, only the most "avid" librarians applied for the programs (153). 
• I can't imagine why more librarians would not apply. I will disclose also that prior to my current job, I never had sabbaticals as an option, so personally I fail to see the big deal. 
• Author points out that literature related to sabbaticals in academia is small, even smaller when it deals with academic librarians. This literature tends to be either personal narratives or descriptive and informative review articles. In other words, the kind of LIS articles that may get written because someone needs to get tenure, but are not persuasive to administrators. In fact, the author mentions this: "Regrettably, this kind of writing is simply not likely to convince those college administrators, 'who really have not plans or expectations for the library except the hope that it will stay withing the allocated budget and that the faculty and the students...will not complain too strenuously about it'" (154). 
• Then there are administrators who would love to cut the library budget even more (or entirely if they could get away with it), but that is another story. 
• The author discloses: "It is now time to acknowledge that this author is one of the fortunate few within the library profession to currently be enjoying a year-long sabbatical. Yet, my own experience also demonstrates that such 'acceptance into full faculty collegiality is not generally extended'" (154). 
• Must be nice and duh! Further, the author describes their institution: "Our leadership is strong and the staff highly skilled and service-oriented. We work with an exceptional teaching faculty, a reasonably engaged student body and the librarians at my institution look forward to lengthy, fulfilling careers" (154). To be honest, the author's description of their institution does have echoes of Lake Wobegon.
  
• Author goes on to write after that disclosure about a colleague who had a sabbatical project rejected, a project that was related to the library and its work (I guess it was not deemed academic enough). Not exactly a supportive administration there, but not surprising. For me, that is another reason I do not bother applying for sabbatical: I honestly do not think based on local conditions that I can get the upper ups to approve anything I would care enough about to work on during a sabbatical. 
• Adding to my comment above, this finding from the article is not encouraging: "The following respondent's comment was representative, 'there is no specific prohibition against it, but it is unclear if a request for a sabbatical would be approved by the faculty committee or college administration.' Other participants noted that sabbatical leaves could be provided 'on (the) whim' or 'at the discretion' of administrative personnel outside of the library" (155).
   
• Key question from the article author: "...librarians do suffer job-dissatisfaction and burnout. Shouldn't we be making a more determined effort to get out a bit more?" (154). 
• Yes, and it's called taking a vacation, not a sabbatical. 
• Barely 50% of respondents said that sabbatical offerings from librarians were equivalent to what "real" faculty get. The article goes on to state that "a number of respondents report that librarians at their institutions receive sabbaticals that are significantly shorter in duration than those of their teaching faculty colleagues" (158). This also brings up an issue of equity.
  
• I can assure you we would be one of those places where the sabbatical offering for librarians is not equivalent to what the "real" faculty get. Our situation here is very much like situations reported in the article where "another person who also noted that at his/her institution librarian leaves needed to 'coincide with summer, whereas faculty can go for half or full years. . .'" (158). 
• "And yet, the issues described by survey participants in this study are hardly new or earth-shattering" (160).
• And yet this article got written and published. 

 

Citation for the article: 

Molly R. Flaspohler, "Librarian Sabbatical Leaves: Do We Need to Get Out More?" The Journal of Academic Librarianship 35.2 (March 2009): 152-161.  

Article Note: On Factors That Contribute to Academic Librarian Turnover

As I started to read this article, I recalled my days in library school. Early on in the program one of the assignments in a library management class I was taking was to interview a library manager/supervisor. So I went back to my previous graduate school and interviewed their head of the reference department at the time. They told me, among various insights, that turnover in her unit was part of the trade as other librarians would move up to promotions elsewhere. She tried to make an environment to make sure her librarians and workers did well at their job so they could succeed wherever they ended up. I admit that at the time, and even now, I have some mixed feelings about that. 

This article looks at reasons librarians gave for leaving one academic institution for another within a five-year period. I will mention upfront that I would've fallen within the changing jobs in 5 to 7 years, though for me it was not just in libraries. But that is another story. 

Some takeaways from the article, with a bit of my commentary: 

• "Library managers and their supervisors do not benefit from new librarians every two years as much as they benefit from librarians that believe in their institution and stay with it" (Cottrell, qtd. in 579).
• And yet, more often than not library managers are on the lookout for the next library messiahs and young librarians versed in the latest "flash." See also the phenomenon of "new-hire messianism" identified by the Library Loon back in 2011. Some things have not changed over time. By the way, finding that 2011 link took some doing on the search engine. Part of it I am sure is because as library blogs age, and are mostly forgotten except by a few of us, content like the Library Loon's gets buried deeper in the web.
  
• Purpose of the article is to "examine the contributing factors to academic librarian turnover and begin a conversation about retaining 21st century library professionals" (580). 
• The study defined academic librarians as "any professional holding a Master's degree in Library Science and currently working in an academic setting" (582). To be included in the survey, "participants had to be currently employed as an academic librarian within the United States and have voluntarily left an academic librarian position within the last five years" (582). 
• The survey ended up with 275 participants who completed the survey and met the criteria to be included. 
• Note that most of the participants worked and/or work at large public universities of 20K+ students.
  
• A study by M. Becher, quoted in the article, found that "among librarians with faculty status, tenured librarians have the highest levels of job satisfaction. Meanwhile, non-tenured librarians reported lower overall job satisfaction, particularly among those not on the tenure-track but who work alongside tenure track librarians" (qtd. in 581). 
• I would buck this trend given my low regard for tenure and librarianship. A couple of my colleagues here would likely buck the trend as well, but I will note no one was asking me. 
• "In recent years, the concept of job burnout has become more prevalent in the library literature. One of the primary causes of burnout is work overload" (581). 
• Gee, can't imagine why. 
• "Quantitative data showed that participants were most dissatisfied with the morale in the library" (585). Again, I can't imagine why. Keep in mind this article came out in 2020, which means the research was done in 2019 or so, i.e. mostly before the COVID-19 pandemic hit. If morale in libraries was low then, it took another major hit during the pandemic. Issues that respondents identified related to morale included ineffective library management (things like micromanaging, poor decisions, unethical behavior), campus administration issues (such as poor leadership), and lack of growth opportunities (585). 
• Toxic and dysfunctional library culture and environment was also identified as a morale issue, though to be honest, it did not score as high as I would have expected. Still, I would say the old adage is applicable: people don't quit jobs. They quite bad managers and supervisors. Turns out a bit later in the article, the authors mention this too: "Results from the study indicate that employees are not fleeing their positions, they are fleeing work environments they feel are toxic" (591). Way I see it this kind of finding should be an indictment of how some libraries are run and the shameful fact that a good amount of toxic library supervisors and directors are not only tolerated but even rewarded. But do not take my word for it. Read on.
  
• "Low morale (M=3.17, SD- 1.01) was the area of highest dissatisfaction and was often tied to library leadership and culture within the open-ended responses. Direct supervisors were a frequently cited source of conflict due to bullying, neglect, or biased behavior. These behaviors were exhibited by the supervisors themselves, but also between colleagues and departments" (591). Good thing they did not ask me because I could have shared a horror story or two about workplace bullying and spineless administrators.
  
• An interesting to me finding: "This means that academic librarians who previously worked at smaller institutions (in terms of enrollment) were more dissatisfied with aspects related to their job duties and compensation and benefits than academic librarians who worked at larger institutions" (590). 
• In my experience, and I emphasize it is my experience, I have been more satisfied working in a smaller campus. There are reasons for that, and I probably should write about that some day. 
• Another interesting to me finding: "In the open-ended portion of the survey, participants reported that being classified as staff meant having less conference and travel funding and feeling less respected by colleagues within the university" (592). 
• To which I ask if they feel more respected if they have tenure. Because from experience in more than one campus I have worked in, I can safely tell you that "real" faculty don't give a shit about us librarians being "faculty" too. We are not "real" to them. 
• And speaking of messianism and librarianship, "other librarians reported that newly hired librarians in instruction or technical services were offered lower salaries than new librarians that worked in digital fields" (593). As if overall inequity issues were not bad enough. 
• A possible solution in hiring: "honestly during the recruitment phase about the surrounding area in order for candidates to make informed decisions about whether it will be a good fit" (594).
• Yea, right. On a very anecdotal side notes, some hiring committees locally have reported that "the surrounding area" (i.e. the state) has created some difficulties in attracting quality candidates to come work here. Catch is that much like libraries can't control local weather (and yes, in some cases, unhappiness with weather was a reason for a departure), they can't really control if their locale is less than desirable (for whatever reasons, including the political climate for instance). 
• "As reflected in burnout literature, librarians exceed what is considered a typical work week to fit in their service and scholarship elements on top of their work tasks" (594). 
• And with little to no appreciation (let alone compensation) I will add. On a positive for me, I am glad I am not on a tenure line, which means I do not have to worry about "scholarship" requirements that would be more of a distraction to me doing my actual work. 
• And yet another of those gee I wonder why findings: The authors mention that "while about half of academic librarians are eligible for sabbatical, less than a third take advantage of the privilege" (594). 
• Where do I even start with that one. One reason may be the workloads we often have combined with an inability to realistically take time off. I happen to have the so-called privilege of sabbatical, but when it came up for me I did not take it. One of the reasons is that, although I get it, I cannot take it in the way a "real" faculty would be able to take it (six months to a year straight through). My duties pretty much prevent this. I am one of the primary library instructors and my duties in a regular semester are quite heavy. This would mean a disruption to the library. Not to mention likelihood of getting a sabbatical replacement for me is fairly low (again, unlike "real" faculty who can likely count on that). Here, the one or two colleagues who took a sabbatical had to split it, and not even a fair split. It was basically two summers (because again, we have to work during the year), so they do not even get a full sabbatical (two summers is not even six months). I am sure there are other reasons those librarians choose not to take their sabbaticals if they even get them. To be honest, from what I gather, an academic librarian getting sabbaticals as a job privilege is rare. I may need to check on that at some point. Having said that, I will note that before I came to my current job, I never had sabbatical as an academic librarian so to be honest to the so-called privilege does not really impress me. 
• "Retaining employees is especially important because while waves of new employees can bring with them waves of new ideas, longtime employees identify more closely with and have more loyalty to their institution's mission" (Cottrell qtd. in 594). 
• This becomes a question of hoe much administrators value loyalty to the institution and workplace or not If all they care about is the latest messiah and flash, then turnover might not be as big an issue. It can be the price of doing business, get a nice project going and as long as someone who remains behind can maintain it the originator can leave (or the project falls apart, but by then the next new person brings along the next new thing, and repeat the cycle). 
• "Retention strategies should begin at the start of a librarian's time at an institution, not when they are already thinking about leaving" (595). 
• Duh. I can assure you that no one really thought of this in places I was hired previously, and if we are being honest, I do not think they gave it that much thought at my current workplace. 
• "Recruiting and retaining librarians of color is particularly problematic in environments that do not protect employees from racial microaggressions, isolation, invalidations and microinsults..." (596).
• Again, duh. See also the previous point here about employers being honest or not about ground conditions when they are doing hiring. 
• The authors note that the study did not consider librarians who left the profession entirely, and that can be a subject for further study.

 

Citation for the article: 

 Christina Heady, et.al., "Contributory Factors to Academic Librarian Turnover: a Mixed-Methods Study." Journal of Library Administration 60.6 (2020): 579-599.  

Article Note: Looking at the Immersive Media and Books 2020 Report

This article looks at and summarizes findings from the Immersive Media and Books 2020 report done by Panorama Project. You can find the full report here. At the link you can download the full report to read, and they also offer a webinar on it you can watch. The big takeaway from the report is that books are not in a vacuum; they exist within a connected media ecosystem that can include television, the Internet, games, etc. The report looks at consumer behavior related to books and that media ecosystem before and during the COVID-19 pandemic (the pandemic that as of this writing is still ongoing). I am writing down some of the key ideas from the article and adding a bit of my commentary here or there. 

• Definition of book engagement: "...buying, borrowing, subscribing to, reading or gifting a printed book, an ebook, or audiobook in part or in whole" (228). In the survey, participants were then asked how many books they engaged with rather than how many books they read (which is what other surveys such as Pew Research does). This can account for more than just people who read books or buy books. This can account for people who do things like check books out of the library that they may or not read. I am sure some readers out there who use libraries have done that, check out a book they returned unread. No shame in that. It also accounts for other behaviors such as buying books as gifts. 
• Survey sample size was 4,314. Data was collected from September to November 2020.
• Word of mouth discovery is a highlight of the report. This includes learning about books via family, friends, and social media. Not one form of discovery predominates; they are widely distributed. 
• Report found people may not be very aware of the role of algorithms in book discovery, for example in social media spaces (based on how people curate their social media) and in places like Amazon where the algorithm is used to target ads and sale suggestions (and this is something people cannot opt out). For me, a lot of my social media is curated in terms of books and reading, especially Twitter and my RSS reader where I follow authors, book publishers, and other reader's advisory resources.
  
• Author brand plays a role in book discovery and purchasing. People cite favorite authors and author events as ways of discovering new books. I'll say that may not be as much for me. While I have some favorite authors, I do not always try to read everything a favorite author puts out. I tend to like a bit more variety, so I wander around in seeking out new books to read. Personally, I don't really fit this because I mostly discover new things to read via social media, as I noted above. I also discover new books to read via tools and sites like NetGalley and Edelweiss Plus, plus I am a strong library user, both my local public library and the academic library I work at. Being a professional librarian means I also have access to things like publisher catalogs. So I am very aware that I am a bit different than the average survey participants. 
• Definition of avid book engagers from the report: "...respondents who 'engaged' with 4 or more books per month (in any format: ebook, audiobook, or print book)" (231).
• Why diversity matters and publishers need to pay more attention: "Young ethnically diverse respondents (especially Black and LatinX millennials) are avidly buying, borrowing, and subscribing to books. The book industry has long underestimated Black, LatinX and millennial book engagers as desirable target audiences. These are consumers to watch going forward" (232-233). I'd say the publishing industry still underestimates them. 
• Yes, libraries DO drive book sales (no matter what grouchy and greedy book publishers would have you believe): "35.9% of respondents bough a book online that they found in a library. 31.1% of respondents bought a book in a bookstore that they first found in a library" (234). 
• The concept of cross-media discovery: "Cross-media discovery (discovering books through video games or TV/movies and vice versa) is high amongst survey respondents, suggesting that audiences are already accustomed to traversing media to pursue stories and worlds they enjoy; there is likely more opportunity for cross-media collaboration" (235). I would say I do not discover much to read via video games, since I play so little video games if ever. I may discover something to read from television or movies, but that is pretty rare too. One way I discover books to read from television is via documentaries and similar programs. If the program on a topic I am interested in features an expert, and that expert has written a book, I am likely to search out the book and decide if I want to read it down the road or not. 
• Piracy may be a problem, but it is also a matter for publishers to demonstrate value of buying their products. "Musicians have adapted to the reality of piracy by putting more of a premium on things that are harder to pirate, such as fan merchandise and live concerts. The public's demand for printed books suggests that authors won't have to shift their revenue streams as extremely as did musicians. But publishers will have to make sure the value proposition of buying a printed book more evident to young people habituated to leasing access to entertainment" (236). 
• However, for all the griping certain segments make about online pirates, the issue is not black and white as those certain segments would have you believe: "book pirates are not only thieves but also customers, library patrons, fanfiction readers/writers, and more. Compared to the general survey population, a higher percentage of book pirates during COVID are buying more books (38.7%), audiobooks (27.1%) and print books (33.7%). . ." (236). 
• "The data show that book pirates are avid readers who will buy books when the value proposition is clear to them; for example, pirates are much more likely than the general survey population to buy books in multiple formats (41.5%)" (236). 
• "This disrupts the usual absolute perspective-- pirate or not pirate-- with a more nuanced understanding and spectrum of piracy behavior" (236). This is a bit of why I am not too critical of pirates as some other folks out there are. Also if you make things harder in terms of ability to purchase a book (or another item), from what I have seen, the more likely said items will be pirated. 
• Key finding about libraries: "The most important finding is that library borrowing encourages book sales. Immersive Media & Books 2020 finds that libraries, bookstores, and online channels mutually reinforce each other, leading to engagement and sales in other channels" (237, emphasis in original). We need to say this louder for the greedy asshat publisher moguls in the back who keep making things difficult for libraries to acquire books, especially ebooks, for their communities. 
• Furthermore, "the report found that library borrowing does not preclude or discourage respondents from buying books; on the contrary, a greater percentage of library card holders said they were buying more books during COVID than the general survey population, in every format" (237). 

 

Citation for the article: 

Rachel Noorda and Kathi Inman Berens, "Immersive Media and Books 2020: New Insights About Book Pirates, Libraries and Discovery, Millennials, and Cross-Media Engagement: Before and During COVID." Publishing Research Quarterly 37 (2021): 227-240.  

Article Note: On the experience of uniqueness and difference for librarians of color

The article argues that due to lack of diversity in the profession, the experiences of librarians of color are often ignored by the white majority. The white majority may be unaware of the challenges their colleagues of color face. Personally, I think at times the majority is fully aware, but they just ignore it, minimize, or make it worse, but the article is much more charitable overall (that is another story for another time). 

Once again, I want to jot down some takeaways from the article I want to remember with some comments of my own. 

• "The lack of diversity in librarianship is a well-known and well-documented problem" (285). And yet, here we are again with another article discussing that lack of diversity in the profession that is so well-known and well-documented. The article goes to point out further that progress has been slow and that we need more than statistics and calls for action. Again, nothing new here. 
• What the article aims to do: ". . .articulate with rich detail how a group of librarians of color experience uniqueness and difference in a predominantly white profession" (286). Does it succeed? I would say not quite. Once you get past the literature review and the method, there is just not that much to consider in the discussion. Actual descriptions of what the librarians of color experience are pretty brief. 
• On participants for the study: "The eight participants included four women and four men who self-identified as African American, Asian, and LatinX, with some multiple identities also offered. Participants were employed in a number of environments including academic research libraries, community college libraries, public libraries, and school libraries. A challenge to the study was some participants' concern that their anonymity would not be protected if demographic detail was provided, due to the small number of librarians of color in the profession" (287-288). So basically they had a sample so small that participants could be easily identifiable, so the authors need to keep things very vague. This is a common concern for librarians of color, including me. It is a big reason I never participate in any campus survey that asks for my demographic information. Once they know my gender, ethnicity, and department, there is NO anonymity for me no matter what they claim. 
• Big themes to emerge from this limited study is the experience of uniqueness and difference among librarians of color. Another theme they found is that intersectionality can play a role as well, where there are layers of diversity, for example being a librarian of color and male (in a female dominated profession). 
• Some librarians of color would argue, and I would probably agree, that times our presence contributes to making things inclusive. We do the work just by being there, showing up, doing our work. 
• Participants felt that being a librarian of color allowed them to better related to library patrons of color. Part of it due to shared experience. I can related to that. 
• Participants also felt that there are burdens to being a librarian of color such as the expectation of serving in every diversity committee, service job, initiative, etc. a campus creates. I can relate to that too, though I have done my best personally to distance myself from some of that. For good or ill, there are always new faculty on my campus willing to do that to get their service requirements for their tenure line. Note that while I have "faculty" status, I am not "real" faculty nor am I on a tenure track. While I do get roped into committee work now and then, it is not a strict requirement, so when it comes to DEI, I tend to avoid it because, well, I do not wish nor need to be the token guy (but that is another story). Bottom line here, as the article points out, is that the work of librarians of color is often very different than the work of the white colleagues in terms of having to do things like the diversity committee, collection development in some area based on race and/or ethnicity (oh, you are LatinX, and you speak Spanish? you are the new Spanish liaison, for example).
  
• "The microaggressions and discrimination experienced by participants reinforce the need for diversity policies, as well as a creation of a culture of support and inclusion" (294). Gee, you think? One thing the article does not consider, and it is probably something for another article, is what happens when one member of a color group does the microaggressions and discrimination towards another member of another color group, say a black person discriminating against an Asian. And yes, that can happen (but so far not something I have seen in the literature. I suppose folks of color have enough problems as is from outside to check on the problems in their houses, but again, that is another story). 
• From the conclusion: "Some findings of this study may sound all too familiar to librarians of color" (295). Again, you think? 
• Also from the conclusion: "There is frustration with seeing endless papers about diversity issues and racism in information professions that raise problems but offer little in way of solutions" (295). Kind of like this paper. To be honest, as I mentioned, actual accounts from the librarians of color are very brief and minimal. It does not feel like enough. As for the findings, a lot of this is not really new. 

 Citation for the article: 

Amy VanScoy and Kawanna Bright, "Articulating the Experience of Uniqueness and Difference for Librarians of Color." The Library Quarterly 89.4 (2019): 285-297.

Article Note: On top trends in academic libraries for 2022

The article summarizes and discusses trends in academic librarianship for the previous two years, going back to 2020. This report from Association of College and Research Libraries (ACRL) seeks to provide a snapshot of what has been going on. I read through this, and I am jotting down a few takeaways and comments from my reading. Keep in mind this is an ACRL report, which means it is mostly looking at R-1 universities and other really big schools. My college would not be on their radar, but I still find some things in the article can be applicable here.

 

• COVID-19 pretty much dominated the time period. It forced libraries to adapt and offer new online services and/or expand the online services they had already. Locally, we had to significantly expand our online services.* Like other libraries, we did have a lockdown period. 
• Like many other workplaces and the rest of society, the pandemic exposed the many inequity issues in library employment. The authors write that "inequities between librarians and other library staff were heightened" (244). Locally, well, this would include the already existing inequity issues between the "real" faculty and the "library faculty. 
• In addition, the authors also write that "low morale continues to be an area of concern in librarianship, particularly for librarians of color, nonlibrarian staff, and members of underrepresented groups" (244). Add other life pressures, and librarians who happen to be on tenure lines are seriously suffering. Personally, I am glad I am not on a tenure line. There are issues that cause me stress, but publish or perish is not one of them.
• Yes, the pandemic also made us more aware of space and its utilization. Signage, enforcing masking rules (which have been relaxed by now), social distancing, so on, were and are issues. 
• A side note from the space issue. An investigation the authors cite looked at "pre-COVID, how collaboration spaces are used and found that furniture or spaces intended for multiple people are frequently being used by single individuals" (245). We certainly jumped on the collaboration spaces bandwagon here. I would say we need to investigate here how exactly are collaborative spaces used, to verify if use is consistent with the investigation mentioned or not. 
• Sharing collections more and more emphasis on open access.  On open access, the authors point out that while there is a lot of talk about OA, librarians being typically in favor, it has not translated into any substantial OA policies. 
• Apparently artificial intelligence (AI) is a growing trend in academic libraries, but to be honest, that is not something that has appeared on our radar at this point, and as of this writing, it would not be a priority to any degree. For us, it would be a very low concern if at all at this point in time. 
• Data and data management. At times, administrators speak about it, but so far no one really has presented any ideas or paths to execute or make it meaningful. 
• Why this can be significant for libraries, including for libraries like ours? "Libraries are taking a greater interest in data visualization as they seek to tell their own story, including assessment, value of the library, collection analysis, and internal capacity building" (249). 
• Critical librarianship continues to be a trend. 
• Defined: "For instance, critical librarianship argues that libraries are not neutral and challenges librarians to take steps towards antiracist and aintioppressive practices for the benefit of users but also for the benefit of the profession itself" (249). 
• This is an area that I admit we need to work on and explore further here. 
• A key area of this is critical information literacy (CIL). "CIL literature discusses why and how information professionals should ask questions about power dynamics within academia, equal access to information, and the economic incentives around how information and data are created, stored, and used" (249). While we do some of that in our information literacy sessions, it is nowhere near being systematic or consistent. Clearly an area we need to explore. Given where I work, this kind of labor makes sense as well as would go with the overall institutional mission. As I said, needs further investigation at this time. 

On a final note, I did find copies of some items from the article's references list, which I will read and make notes here as I get to them.  

Citation for the article: 2021-2022 ACRL Research Planning and Review Committee, "Top Trends in Academic Libraries: a Review of Trends and Issues." C&RL News, June 2022: 243-256.

* Here is our webpage for COVID-19 online services we set up in 2020 shortly after the initial lockdown. The website has been updated as changes happened over time.