Evolution of Library Services in the Post-COVID Era
Author(s): Ms. Bangasree Dey
Abstract - The COVID-19 global pandemic resulted in significant disruption in educational, cultural, and information domains. Libraries, as a traditionally physical space, faced unique challenges in how to stay accessible to resources and services while keeping users safe. The article focuses on discussing the development of library services during the post-COVID period and reviews the available literature. It covers the shift to digital collections, virtual reference, contactless services, and remote learning support, as well as equity, infrastructure, and digital literacy issues. The paper presents the response of libraries in academic, civic, and special sectors to crisis conditions and, through a narrative literature review, determines the sustainable practices that transformed the profession. The evidence indicates that the pandemic further catalyzed the change towards hybrid models, re-established the role of the library in fighting misinformation, and emphasized the need to move towards digital inclusion. This paper finds that the libraries of the post-COVID era need to integrate these technologies into long-term plans that offset physical and digital activity and enhance the relevance of libraries to society.
Keywords - COVID-19, library services, hybrid model, digital inclusion, information literacy, post-pandemic libraries.
DOI URL: https://doi.org/10.26761/ijrls.8.2.2022.1547
Cite This Article As: Dey, B. (2022) Evolution of Library Services in the Post-COVID Era. International Journal of Research in Library Science (IJRLS), 8(2) 249-254. www.ijrls.in
Copyright © 2022 Author(s) retain the copyright of this article. This article is published under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License 4.0.
Paper ID: IJRLS-1547 Page: 249-254 Publication Date: 29 June 2022