Hello, faculty friends,

I wanted to reassure you and remind you that the library and archives staff are working online behind the scenes. We are pulling for you and willing to step in and assist and advise in every single way we can. 

• We continue to create reference guides to online collections, we are able to provide permalinks to resources, we are monitoring Ask a Librarian (responses within 24 hours, seven days a week) and Chat (during business hours) so you and your students get the help you need in real time. Every course in Canvas will now have a Library Resources link, which includes a guide for faculty as well as one for students transitioning to online teaching and learning. We have a growing library of guides and tutorials to help with finding and using the library's print and ebook collections, streaming media, electronic databases, and curated research guides. 

• We are still actively selecting, purchasing, and licensing materials. We are monitoring usage of e-books and and we can increase the number of simultaneous users as necessary. We can assist you in finding online equivalents or subs for face to face teaching materials. Please use the Suggest a Purchase form at https://library.colum.edu/services/suggest-a-purchase to alert us of needed e-books and streaming media. Liaisons are reaching out to you, to help you figure out solutions to any online or offline speed bumps you are encountering.

• Some of our vendors are being (temporarily) generous and offering access to resources we would not ordinarily be able to afford. This will likely end by May or June, but this might help us get over some humps. You can find them at https://libguides.colum.edu/freespring2020.

• College Archives & Special Collections (CASPC) continues to function; staff are available to answer research questions and update research guides with new content. CASPC is the client for two oral history courses this semester, so we also are assisting in developing alternate projects. Contact us at archives@colum.edu with your requests involving CASPC or the Center for Black Music Research Collections.

• Amnesty! What a beautiful word. All overdue materials will be forgiven. Our physical collection is locked down at the moment, but we are coloring outside of the lines as best we can. Select course reserve textbooks are available for scanning (because Jen took the scanner home and grabbed hard copies of the most used textbooks). You can still request article chapters through Interlibrary Loan.

• We are shifting programming to the virtual sphere and will address the roles of artists and creatives during times of uncertainty. If you were looking forward to participating in our spring Aesthetics of Research workshops focused on "Future Tense: Imagined Worlds From the Margins," stay tuned. How could we not try, especially as we are in the midst of self isolation. 

• Finally, before our current situation, the library was in the process of revising an open position and recruiting for--are you ready for this--an Instruction and Online Learning Librarian. We are pushing forward with that hire, and will be Zoom interviewing this month. These are extraordinary times, with some unexpected and sometimes unusual measures, and I hope this is some bit of bright news for you.