Welcome & Introductions Announcements Call for future agenda items / moderators Let us know if you’d like to present or facilitate a conversation METRO event write-ups can be found at https://metro.org/news/ Upcoming METRO events It Takes a Village: A Community Call for Support and Self-Care during COVID-19 Wednesday, May 6 at 2:00pm Libraries and the Employment Crisis Tuesday, May 12 at 4:00pm How Libraries Are Updating their Complete Count Efforts During a Pandemic Monday, May 18 at 4:00pm Social Media Accessibility with Carli Spina Tuesday, May 19 at 4:00pm Sharing Memories: Oral History Projects During COVID-19 Wednesday, May 20 at 4:00pm Check-in Featured speakers / guided discussions Nate Hill and Anne Karle-Zenith on METRO’s work with IMLS's COVID-19 Research Partnership to Inform Safe Handling of Collections, Reopening Practices for Libraries, Museums Links https://www.imls.gov/news/covid-19-research-partnership-inform-safe-handling-collections-reopening-practices-libraries RAILS curbside guidelines: https://www.railslibraries.info/sites/default/files/Curbside%20Delivery%20and%20%20Reopening%20Considerations_2.pdf Vermont Libraries Curbside guidelines: https://libraries.vermont.gov/sites/libraries/files/Misc/Covid/VTLibCurbsideServiceGuidelinesApril2020.pdf Reach out to Nate at nhill@metro.org Lauren Bradley on keeping your readers’ advisory skills sharp Community Qs: What are your biggest pain points right now? What has made you laugh this past week? Any tips for reducing screen time?

The following is a summary of the event by Traci Mark, Program Manager - Equity, Archives, and Media Preservation, METRO, published on May 19, 2020. The epidemic revealed what many of us have been working against for decades: the most vulnerable among us are disproportionately impacted by inequitable access to information. This online panel discussion centered those in our communities who were disproportionately suffering due to the spread of the novel coronavirus. We discussed the challenges of providing services to marginalized communities in this crisis and shared ways in which we could help. This webinar was moderated by Davis Erin Anderson, the Assistant Director for Programs and Partnerships at METRO Library Council. The panelists include Leanne Ellis, New York City’s Department of Education- Office of Library Services, Kate Adler, Director of Library Services at the Metropolitan College of New York, Rhonda Evans, Assistant Chief Librarian at Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture and Sharell Walker, Student Outreach, Reference and Instruction Librarian at the Borough of Manhattan Community College.  New York City has become one of the epicenters of the Covid-19 pandemic. As of this webinar, more than 180,000 cases have been confirmed. We’ve suffered more than 12,000 losses, with most cases coming from lower income communities in the Bronx and Queens. Preliminary data reveals racial disparity; death rates in Black communities are more than double the rates in predominantly white communities. Similar disparities emerge regarding essential workers: Black, Asian, and Hispanic people make up more than 70% of the city’s essential workers.  These statistics are a stark realization of who’s being hit the hardest during this pandemic. And, sadly, inequality on this level is already in place across the city. These issues come to bear in our library systems.   One of Leanne Ellis’ tasks in her role at NYC’s Department of Education Office of Library Services is to provide support to librarians in all NYC schools. Eighteen hundred schools serve 1.1 million students, yet fewer than half have a school librarian or teacher assigned to library duties for students younger than grade seven. Many students lack a connection to the library, access to books, informational instruction, digital resources, and research skills. The DOE Office of Library Services trains teachers to provide library services for the schools. The inequities reach beyond the student body and affect access to library spaces, instruction, staffing, and professional development for both teachers and librarians. “In the Borough of Manhattan Community College, inequity has always been one of the issues that have been faced,” Sherrell Walker says. In a population of roughly 26,000 students,  over half of the student body have reported food insecurity. Over 70% of students come from families that are making either less than $30,000 or living below the poverty line. “There’s always been an issue of making sure our students get the best quality of schools and life as they possibly can” Walker says.  The Metropolitan College of New York faces a similar situation to BMCC, Kate Adler shared,  many students are home and food insecure. Social programs that help with food, financial assistance, and emergency funds are meant to offset this.  In Rhonda Evans’ experience, patrons working at the Schomburg may need access to the Internet, computers, free courses and different services. Schomburg’s librarians and the Corrections Services Team also provide reference services to incarcerated people in New York City. In-person services have stopped since the pandemic. Each panelist has experienced the way in which the effects of Covid-19 have revealed the large gap within the level of access to information available to New York City’s communities. Libraries as a community space has been an important topic that has been highlighted during these times. The library is the only peaceful or stable place available to some. Students’ home lives are not always easy. Walker emphasizes that it’s important to have grace, compassion, and patience during this time. Access to technology is closely intertwined with this issue. In-person instruction erases the divide between those who can afford their own devices and internet connection and those who cannot. In addition, library staff has traditionally provided direct assistance to those who need it. Moving library services online eliminates these supports and requires a baseline technical skill set that patrons and students may not have. Information inequity extends from the online environment into the physical. Textbooks are expensive; students may not be able to afford them. Pre-Covid, students often photocopied what they needed from a textbook in the library for free. Without access to physical resources, many students are facing challenges with meeting course requirements. To add to this, many textbooks that are required for classes are not accessible online or come with copyright  restrictions.  If Covid-19 has taught us anything, it’s the need for institutions to develop contingency plans in case of long-term closure. This unprecedented time offers us an opportunity to face these issues head on. We have an opportunity to be mindful of our practices in the future and envision how we improve the systems at play, for all of our students and patrons. Many thanks to our presenters for sharing their work with us. Please join us at one of our future events; a full listing can be found at https://metro.org/events.

As libraries moved to remote service provisions during the pandemic, online accessibility became even more important to ensure that the library is offering inclusive services and reaching all patrons. In an online workshop, Carli Spina, Associate Professor-Librarian, Head of Research and Instructional Services at Fashion Institute of Technology, went over best practices for accessible web design and free tools for evaluating the accessibility of your web presence and third party resources. To view a recording of this presentation, please click on the link below.

Thursday, April 23, 2:00pm - 3:00pm Meeting Items Welcome & Introductions Announcements Upcoming METRO events Write-ups of past events Call for future agenda items / moderators Check-in Featured speakers / Guided discussions Maureen Weichner (St. John's University) on: Electronic resources: Early takeaways or trends as we transition to institution-wide online instruction Rethinking collection development in times of financial and social uncertainty Traci Mark (METRO) on tools and technology we’ve implemented lately Closing

The following is a summary of the event by Davis Erin Anderson, Assistant Director for Programs and Partnerships, METRO, published on April 27, 2020. For the first time in human history, we lived through a worldwide catastrophe as a networked society. METRO hosted a webinar with presentations and a discussion on how web archiving can be employed to help us collectively remember the unprecedented and unique moment. We were honored to hear from four web archiving experts on a webinar on Tuesday, April 21, 2020. Traci Mark, Studio Manager at METRO, moderated a discussion on documenting the present moment with Mark Graham from Internet Archive, Nicole Greenhouse from New York University Libraries, Alex Thurman from Columbia University, and Gary Price from Library Journal. Each panelist presented the work they are doing in the context of the present Covid-19 crisis. Gary Price, Co-Founder and Editor, Library Journal’s infoDOCKET, led with an explanation of why this work matters: information changes rapidly in a complex and evolving crisis. Web pages are prone to disappearing. Even those that are relatively stable are subject to edited sentences, words, and even graphs. Price shared his belief that “this is a teachable moment for preserving our documents.” He advocates for working with citation organizations and K-12 schools to adjust our practices to cite archived documents, rather than live web pages. In his presentation, Price showcased Archive-It, Save Page Now From Wayback, WebRecorder, and other tools. His presentation notes are available a https://bit.ly/webarchive20. Nicole Greenhouse, Web Archivist at NYU, started archiving web pages in response to Covid-19 during the week of March 9. She began with daily crawls and moved to weekly crawls to suit the speed at which information was changing. Her mission at present is to document NYC activist and labor response to the crisis, as well as preserve pages that demonstrate the impact of Covid-19 on NYU’s campuses around the world. Among the critical information Greenhouse is preserving are the obituaries for New York City’s transit workers as part of the collecting priorities at the Tamiment Library. Greenhouse’s sound approach to preserving web pages includes attention to quality assurance. She works with colleagues to develop a document that sets the scope of the collections she works to create and maintain, taking care to avoid capturing documents that could put people at risk. Alex Thurman, Web Resources Collection Coordinator at Columbia University Libraries, is working on a collaboration between International Internet Preservation Consortium (IIPC), of which Columbia is a part, and the Internet Archive. The group is working to collect web content related to the ongoing Covid-19 outbreak. To date, over 6,000 resources have been nominated by IIPC members, and over 1,400 from the public nomination form. About 4,500 of those resources have been archived. The bulk of the resources nominated so far consist of news media articles, national, state and local government web content devoted to COVID-19, academic public health research, statistical websites tracking and visualizing the number of cases worldwide or in particular countries, and medical journal articles. Mark Graham, Director of the Wayback Machine at Internet Archive, shared practical tools for preserving web-based materials. In addition to providing the capabilities for web archivists to do their work, Internet Archive’s contributions to the Covid-19 crisis have included the instantiation of The National Emergency Library (NEL). The NEL makes DRM-enabled copies of ebooks available without the restriction of a waitlist. Graham expects the NEL to be available through the end of June, or perhaps through the end of the crisis. Graham’s case for preserving web-based materials included a government website’s updated recommendations for Covid-19 treatment based on potentially misleading information. Meanwhile, political groups are beginning to form on Facebook in order to advocate for “liberating” states from social distancing measures. Preserving these materials helps us understand the evolving nature of Covid-19 information (and disinformation), a critical need for this epoch, in which lives are on the line. The webinar wrapped with each presenter sharing a practical tip about archiving online materials. Advice includes: Just get started. Find information about which you are passionate, and give the tools a try. Have a collection development policy in place. The internet is a huge place; it’s important to narrow the scope. Capture things that are relevant to your user base. Focus on quality assurance. Make sure the materials you are capturing are legible to researchers and others after you’ve done the work of identifying and crawling pages. Start by defining what you’re going to collect. Look to other institutions to see what others are collecting (here’s a master list of Covid-19-related archives) so that your efforts will be composed of unique contributions. Consider the use cases for what you’re saving; a healthy archive is an archive that’s being used. If you see something, save something. The average life expectancy of a web page is 100 days, and changes happen even hourly. Save often. Many thanks to our presenters for sharing their work with us. Please join us at one of our future events; a full listing can be found at https://metro.org/events.

Welcome & Announcements Upcoming METRO events New format for Community Calls Call for future agenda items / moderators Checking In Featured speakers Tim Johnson (METRO) on how hospital libraries are faring April Hathcock (NYU) on the National Emergency Library Closing

The following is a summary of the event by Traci Mark, Program Manager - Equity, Archives, and Media Preservation, METRO, published on May 7, 2020. As month two of self isolation approached, we held a lunch break discussion on how to work (or look for work) with mindfulness and self-compassion. Susanne Markgren and Linda Miles, authors of the recently-published How to Thrive as a Library Professional, joined us for a reflective conversation on maintaining your well-being, finding focus in chaotic times, and building and sustaining healthy habits. This conversation included brief activities you can do from home to start (or continue) along the path of working mindfully. This webinar was moderated by Davis Erin Anderson, the Assistant Director for Programs and Partnerships at METRO Library Council. Panelists include Linda Miles (Assistant Professor and Librarian at Hostos Community College) and Susanne Markgren (Assistant Director, Head of Technical Services at Manhattan College). Linda Miles and Susanne Markgren, authors of the recently-released How to Thrive As A Library Professional, joined us for a lunchtime discussion on working mindfully in uncertain times. In addition to sharing their wisdom with us, Markgren and Miles led us through abbreviated versions of a pair of activities our participants were able to do via Zoom. If you’d like to try the full versions at home, please take a look at the worksheet Markgren and Miles provided.  During the webinar, Markgren and Miles reinforced that self-compassion and mindfulness are more important now than ever before; these methods can be used to help us through this difficult time. To be mindful is to be present in the moment, as an alternative to longing for the past or worrying about the future. It’s especially easy right now to forget about ourselves and our own personal and professional needs. But, we’re reminded, if we don’t show ourselves love and compassion, how can we be there for people who need it from us?  We’re all learning how to cope with the present, including how to communicate differently through several platforms, and with different schedules and spaces. We’re all experiencing this differently and, Markren and Miles suggest, we can keep that in mind while interacting with each other. Be kind. We can take this advice into our personal lives, too: reach out to your friends and colleagues who are more vulnerable at this time (especially those who live alone, and those who have addiction problems or health concerns).  Markgren and Miles acknowledge a constant low-grade (or even at times, high-grade) anxiety. While we want to keep informed with the news, this seems to make us more anxious. Consider limiting your news intake. When it comes to work, their advice includes establishing priorities to help you become more productive in the long run–and understanding that productivity right now, is likely very different than it was pre-pandemic. Tend to what’s important and be realistic about how much time tasks will take when you communicate with your manager and your colleagues. Know your value and communicate it. Stand up for yourself and take credit. Find ways to let off steam and be social. Even if you’re more introverted, connection is important. Our speakers noted that there’s been an uptick in the perceived need to demonstrate your value by overworking. As a remedy to this, think about how you add value to your institution, even if you’re normally the kind of person who would shy away from this type of thinking about yourself. To those dealing with imposter syndrome: know that you’re not alone. This is very common. Our speakers encourage you to remember that your success comes from hard work, intelligence, and your innate ability. The struggles you’re experiencing likely have to do with the external circumstances happening right now. Be kind to yourself and appreciate the things that you are accomplishing. Reach out for help if you need it. And remember: It’s OK to not be OK. We thank Linda and Susanne for sharing their time and insights with us. Please join us for one of our upcoming community calls, online workshops, and virtual panel discussions. Learn more about our events at https://metro.org/events.

The following is a summary of the event by Traci Mark, Program Manager - Equity, Archives, and Media Preservation, METRO, published on May 1, 2020. Maintaining physical distance is especially tricky when you’re a manager of people and projects. On Monday, April 13, 2020 we were joined by Emily Drabinski (CUNY Grad Center), Lisa Norberg (Cooper Union), and Alevtina Verbovetskaya (CUNY Office of Library Services) to hear how they were reworking their approaches to leadership in a radically altered environment. We discussed working compassionately with reports, handling shifting priorities, and managing change during a stressful time. This webinar was moderated by Davis Erin Anderson, the Assistant Director for Programs and Partnerships at METRO Library Council.  The transition to working from home looked different for each of our panelists. Allie Verbovetskaya had been accustomed to using Zoom frequently to collaborate with colleagues who were dispersed among New York City before COVID. Lisa Norberg had just begun a new position at Cooper Union and was beginning to schedule in person meetings with faculty and students. Emily Drabinski likens her experience to “normal time” before March 15th and “crisis time” after. “The world seems not at all like it was six weeks ago, and that has been a huge transition for us” Drabinski said. Of all of our panelists, Verbovetskaya and her team had most of their technical equipment in place because of frequent work travel, though working from home full time has still been challenging. “We have children, we have pets, we have all kinds of things that we weren’t used to always being in our presence and in our work lives” Verbovetskaya said. Since her team mainly deals with tech, they are on call all the time. They have remote access to their machines though the Internet and WiFi has been dependent on how well connected they are at home.  Meanwhile, Norberg’s team was not as well prepared to work remotely, relying more on in person services and local consortium collections. Cooper Union launched  chat reference service, trained staff to do online instruction, and expanded access to remote resources. “It was chaotic” Norberg says. Drabinski echoes this statement, noting that many access problems that have come up are class inflected. Staff members who have a higher salary or management titles typically already have several devices at home, often one for each family member, and ample WiFi. Drabinski shared that The Graduate Center at CUNY tried to be proactive and shipped laptops to people’s homes as a response to this.  Now that we’re all settling into a “new normal,” Drabinski has been thinking about meaningful work that staff and student workers can engage in at home in place of daily library tasks. This includes work that staff and students care about that was not prioritized before, but is just as important. Norberg is careful not to ask too much of her student workers right now. “I know that our students are really stressed right now, they’re also dealing with a lot. We’re doing everything we can to make sure that they get paid.” When asked how each of our panelists continues to work with their colleagues in a positive way, they recommended having weekly meetings and being open and accessible to staff to express their concerns and anxieties. Other advice from our panelists includes allowing for flexibility in deadlines and work hours, permitting staff to skip meetings if they’re not relevant to the work they’re doing, and finding the balance between keeping people informed without overwhelming them with messages and virtual meetings. “Eighty percent of the time I want to be listening to you, and twenty percent of the time I want to be talking to you,” Drabinski says. Things seem to be changing from week to week. Having compassion for yourself and your staff is priority right now.  TLDR; Working from home looks different for each panelist. Some already used Zoom to manage staff and projects and others had a huge learning curve and had to launch new services and train staff in a matter of weeks.  It’s important to have open communication with your staff surrounding tougher issues, like budget cuts, even if there are no definitive answers yet. Find balance between keeping staff informed without overwhelming them.  Finding ways to be sociable outside of work can be helpful.  Not all library workers make an equitable salary. Some of us have more access to technical devices and WiFi than others. The inequities showing who can and can’t work from home are being made clear during this time.  Ergonomically friendly workstation tips (if possible): Make sure your feet are flat on the ground. Be seated so that your hips are above your knees. Use a pillow behind you, if needed, to  provide more comfort. Have your elbows higher than your wrists while using your device. If you have a laptop stand that elevates, use it so that you are looking straight at the screen rather than looking down (books work as a platform, too). Keep your posture in mind.  Talk to your manager about engaging in work you find meaningful.  We thank Emily, Allie and Lisa for their time and insight on this topic. Please join us for one of our upcoming community calls, online workshops, and virtual panel discussions. Learn more about our events at https://metro.org/events.

Welcome & announcements Upcoming METRO events New format for Community Calls Call for future agenda items / moderators Checking In Featured speakers / discussion leaders Beth Posner on ILL when library facilities are closed Traci Mark on keeping your home space distinct from your workspace Community Qs What are your plans regarding summer internships? What is one tip you might share about managing people remotely?

The following is a summary of the event by Traci Mark, Program Manager - Equity, Archives, and Media Preservation, METRO, published on April 23, 2020. Early in the pandemic library professionals faced an unprecedented time of moving library services entirely offsite to help maintain the health and wellbeing of our communities. In this virtual conversation, we talked about how reference services and library instruction can be reworked to meet the moment. This webinar was moderated by Davis Erin Anderson, Assistant Director for Programs and Partnerships at METRO Library Council. The panelists include Kate Adler, Director of Library Services at the Metropolitan College of New York, Linda Miles, Assistant Professor and Librarian at Hostos Community College, CUNY and Sharell Walker, Student Outreach, Reference and Instruction Librarian at the Borough of Manhattan Community College. It took place on Zoom on April 7, 2020. Stressful, frustrating, and surreal are some of the words used by our panelists to describe their transition to working from home. As Kate Adler mentions early in the conversation, “So much of libraries are about space. How can we provide community space at this time?”  Out of necessity, each of the colleges represented on this panel shifted heavily to remote reference and instruction. Sharell Walker mentions that while some professors welcomed the change to online instruction, others understandably shied away. Meanwhile, each panelist recognized that the effects of COVID-19 would disproportionately affect students under the poverty level who may be lacking resources including the Internet. Issues surrounding informational inequity, access, equipment and community have always been in question; now, they’re at the forefront of conversation.  Zoom’s security issues have been a facet of this WFH lifestyle. Adler’s library Zoom account was Zoombombed while hosting a community poetry slam recently. “I’ve thought a lot about questions of privacy and security and the ethos of privacy. Of course we’re worried about privacy and security. We have to be. We have to balance risk and rewards though, and this moment is so urgent ” Adler says. Linda Miles’ suggestions to help mitigate this risk include requiring people register for zoom webinars in advance and using passwords for meetings.  Tools for reference and online instruction The shift to working online spurred Hostos to implement LibChat. Linda Miles pointed out that staff needed to be trained on using the software and recommends testing new tools with another colleague, using the perspective of the librarian and student. Meanwhile, Adler’s library has used Library H3lp for three years, though integrating Zoom and screen sharing into reference has been an adjustment. Adler mentions that most issues experienced have been standard library database problems library staff has faced before, but the stakes seem higher when someone is watching your screen. Adler uses the telephone as an alternative when she can and Gimlet to track reference statistics.  Before COVID, Walker’s college offered only limited online instruction; most of her one-shots were delivered in person. Now, she’s facing a higher demand for instructional content in a shorter period of time. BMCC uses BlackBoard to collaborate and Zoom for the creation of videos. Librarians send handouts through email. BMCC uses Screencast-O-Matic to create video tutorials, and Jing to make five minute videos. Emailing large files hasn’t been easy; the library is beginning to utilize their YouTube page in response to this. Walker offers advice to those who are nervous about moving their instruction sessions to an online environment. “Don’t look at it like you’re teaching in a new platform. You’re doing the same type of speaking, you’re just looking into a tiny hole,” she advises. “I found that the students are more shy than anything. Make sure you mention the audio only option. If you don’t want to use the video, the student shouldn’t have to either.”  Each college’s website shares resources students can use while navigating online instruction and programs.  The last question posed to our panelists was an optimistic one: “What are you doing that makes you feel happy?” Answers from our panelists include keeping to a routine, taking long walks around the city, Zooming with friends, watching Grey’s Anatomy. We encourage you all to take time to think about this and if you are able, do something little that makes you feel joy everyday. We thank Kate Adler, Linda Miles, and Sharell Walker for their time and advice. TLDR; Each college has shifted heavily to remote reference and online instruction. While some colleges had these programs already in place, others had to implement new software when beginning to work from home in March. Try out new software with colleagues from the perspective of both the student and the librarian. This could help you feel more comfortable using it on a daily basis for reference and instruction.  We’re all concerned about Zoom privacy issues. Had anyone ever heard of Zoombombing before March? We recommend having people register in advance and/or using a password to enter meetings to help mitigate this risk. Feeling camera shy? We all do. And if you’d rather not use video, opt for only using audio only.  We’re all doing the best we can under the circumstances. Breathe. Repeat. You’re doing great. Many thanks to our presenters for sharing their work with us. Please join us at one of our future events; a full listing can be found at https://metro.org/events.

Space for METRO members to share their work-from-home strategies and challenges. Meetings from 4/9 on include special guest presentations.

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The following is a summary of the event by Traci Mark, Program Manager - Equity, Archives, and Media Preservation, METRO, published April 20, 2020. Public libraries around the country closed their doors in an effort to slow the spread of COVID-19. This presented those of us in the industry with unforeseen challenges: how do we run a library from a distance? On a Zoom call on Monday, March 30, 2020 at 4:00pm, Lauren Comito (Neighborhood Library Supervisor at Brooklyn Public Library) and Brian Hasbrouck (Branch Manager at D.C. Public Library) shared their stories about closing their branches in order to help their library systems mitigate the spread of the novel coronavirus.  We hosted our first work-from-home webinar. Their conversation was moderated by Davis Erin Anderson, Assistant Director for Programs and Partnerships at METRO Library Council. Anderson began by asking the panelists about their first reactions to learning about the spread of the virus in their local communities. “My first response was… what on earth do we do?” – Brian Hasbrouck This is a sentiment we can certainly all relate to at the moment.  In early 2020, we started to hear the serious reports coming from Washington State. We began to wonder what that could mean when the novel coronavirus hit places like New York City and Washington DC. As a response to news reports in early March, Comito began to implement measures to reduce physical contact between people at her library branch in Williamsburg, Brooklyn. This included making sure that everyone checked in their books by scanning their own library cards. She also had all the toys removed from the circulation floor so that little kids wouldn’t be at risk of catching an infection. This soon led to every item being removed from the floor completely.  Comito mentioned that she wanted to provide comfort to her staff early on; it was important for staff to know that she was aware of the situation and was trying to mitigate possible exposure. She was doing her best to protect them while trying to manage expectations of the library. By mid-March, notification was sent out that schools were closing, indicating the library would most likely be closing soon too. Comito had permission to collect a few things out of the library such as books for virtual story time, and get out. Hasbrouck was also notified in mid-March that the DC Public Library was going to close and started to delve into administrative details to prepare. In the days leading up to the closure, reference statistics went up nearly threefold, as the public sensed that this was very serious and the library would be closed for a while.  Finding work for staff has been a point of difference between BPL and DCPL. DCPL staff is unionized and is expected to continue to work on performance goals and other projects identified by their supervisors, if assigned. Staff have engaged in StoryTime at 10:30am on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays on Facebook, along with crafting and book clubs all ages. A full listing of DCPL’s programs can be found here.  BPL’s staff is also unionized, though they are not expected to work. Some members of the library’s staff are choosing to do so, but Comito puts no pressure on them. She reminds us that is an emotionally stressful time for everyone; it’s important to acknowledge that each staff member deals differently with the general anxiety happening at the moment, whether that means working the same number of hours or taking more breaks throughout the day. Comito mentions that if it makes them feel better to work, then they are welcome to do that, though if they need some time to process, that is more than welcome. She also has weekly staff meetings with everyone, using that time to casually chat and check in with staff.  Meanwhile, Hasbrouck sends emails every four to five days with updates and to check in with his staff members. He’s learning to find a balance between not sending too many emails while figuring out the needs of each employee. Hasbrouck recognizes that some may prefer to not receive many emails at the moment, while others prefer consistent contact. “This is an unprecedented time for all of us,” Hasbrouck said. “We all need the time and space to figure out what our coping mechanisms are… many library patrons were living in NYC through 9/11 and the Great Recession. We should all be very careful with how we venture into speaking about these things, and we need to be aware of our own limitations fiscally, emotionally, and mentally. Everyone is figuring this out. I try to speak very precisely about things we can and cannot do.” Hasbrouck’s comments serve as a reminder that respecting boundaries while we process everything that is happening is paramount.  One of the biggest concerns for staff have been possible layoffs. Comito spoke to these concerns, noting that state budgets are being monitored closely. She recognizes a need for advocacy, noting that public funding is a sensitive issue; any and all advocacy must come from a place of awareness.  To stay engaged with her local community, Comito has been organizing online programs a couple times a week. She’s using the library’s local social media page to ask patrons what they would like to learn about or see. So far, Comito has facilitated a book club, an art history lecture, a new parent support group where she had midwives and doulas contribute and toddler yoga.  Throughout the call, both speakers spoke eloquently and with a lot of compassion for what our colleagues and our communities are currently enduring. As Comito aptly says nearing the end of the conversation “We are traumatizing an entire generation of people right now. We’re all experiencing trauma together at the same time. This is something we’ll have to deal with in our libraries and schools for the next decade.” We have a lot of healing ahead of us, and we know we can count on colleagues like Comito and Hasbrouck to help lead the way. TLDR; (too long; didn’t read) Both managers are taking an organic approach to managing staff. Both agree that it’s important to acknowledge the needs of staff rather than focusing on productivity and deadlines. Staff layoffs are a big concern. No one is sure of what could happen in the future or how budget lines could change. This is an emotionally stressful time. Managers are encouraged to be cognizant of their reports’ work style as they process trauma. The speakers acknowledge that this approach may not be possible for smaller library branches with fewer staff or a patron and student body to support.  We are all doing our best in the current situation, and it’s important to give everyone the time and space to adjust. “We’re building this plane as we fly it” – Lauren Comito Our thanks to Lauren Comito and Brian Hasbrouck for their companionability and thoughtfulness. 

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Space for METRO members to share their work-from-home strategies and challenges. Meetings from 4/9 on include special guest presentations.

Programming Fundamentals with Python is an immersive introduction to the programming language Python. Used by organizations such as Google, Wikipedia, and NASA, Python provides an intuitive, efficient, and useful framework for automating tasks and assessing large amounts of data.

If you’ve graduated from library school/iSchool in the past year or two, join us for a community call on Wednesday, September 2 at 4:00pm. Graduating into a combo pandemic/recession and taking our first steps as professionals is… quite a mix. Let’s take some time to debrief and discuss what we’ve learned working in the field, share our journeys toward (hopefully) finding employment, and reveal our coping strategies. This community call will feature breakout sessions; please come prepared to talk. Our chat will be moderated by Mary Bakija, Georgia Westbook, and Davis Erin Anderson.

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Emulation is commonly associated with video game consoles and questionable internet download sites. But the same technology can be a powerful tool for overcoming legacy software and hardware dependencies hidden in digital collections.

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Join us at METRO on Thursday, January 16, for a fun and engaging event centered around the recently published book, How to Thrive as a Library Professional: Achieving Success and Satisfaction, by local authors, Susanne Markgren and Linda Miles.