Providing Connection: The Role of Public Libraries During the COVID-19 Crisis

As part of the regular School of Information Studies SICS Radio broadcast on 2MCE, this month’s episode originally broadcast on 25 March 2020, focuses on the findings of a research project undertaken by some members of the Libraries Research Group that studied the role and importance of public libraries during the COVID-19 crisis. From March 2020, Australian public libraries were ordered to close their doors to the public as part of the National COVID-19 lockdowns. During this time, public libraries chose to continue to provide services and resources to their communities, despite the lack of physical access to their buildings. In this broadcast members of the research team discuss how public libraries played a role in keeping communities connected, along with the challenges libraries and their staff faced, and the changes to how public libraries operate that have endured beyond the closures of their buildings.