Week 6: The Great Pause

Elaine Martin Director’s Corner

You might have seen Billy Baker’s article in the March 13, 2020 Boston Globe where he describes the quiet of Boston. The “worst rush hour traffic in America” became nothing. The author called this the “Great Pause.” Our entire campus is at a standstill. Spaces in TMEC, research labs, and Countway are all but empty. Long commutes are replaced with local walks or no movement at all. The stillness of human activity has given way to a new life of social distancing or sheltering in place. This is the Great Pause, and we entered week 6.

For the leadership team at HMS and Countway, however, there is more happening during the Great Pause. Scenario planning for both a gradual return to on-campus workspaces and modeling the inevitable budgetary challenges that come with a deep economic recession occupy our time.

As I mentioned in my post, there are still several unknowns, but each week brings more clarity, and hopefully, with more clarity comes less anxiety and feelings of despair.

What we know:

  • There will be several COVID-19 safety protocols put in place in order for staff to enter the workplace. This will include wearing face coverings. More safety protocols will be developed.
  • A university-wide committee will dictate when and how we will return to work.
  • The university has identified research and libraries as key components that need to be ramped back up in the first phase. There is recognition that you cannot have a robust research enterprise without the library.

What we are considering in our scenario planning at Countway:

  • Construction starts up—While the Dean will make the final decision as to the exact date of the resumption of construction, we are on weekly calls with Lee Kennedy (our Construction Management Co.) about when this may occur. In addition, the company already has COVID-19 protocols in place for other jobs outside of Boston that can be adapted to our setting. These include ways to separate the construction crew from staff, disinfection of spaces, and monitoring the health of the labor force thru regular temperature checks, to name a few.
  • Countway staff: We would create teams of library staff who would work on-site for limited hours during certain days of the week on specific essential in-building tasks that cannot be done remotely. All units of the library would have representation on these teams.
  • For the first few weeks when construction resumes and limited staff are first on-site, the building will not be open to the community.
  • Access to the physical collections would be via a grab and go delivery model.
  • Social distancing while social honoring protocols for service points, reading rooms, and study spaces will be instituted for when the building does open to the community (think grocery stores).
  • Enhanced cleaning services and disinfection protocols will take place.

What we don’t know:

  • The exact date as to when construction will resume.
  • The exact date when all or some staff will work onsite.
  • The exact date when our community will be allowed inside the building.
  • The exact nature of all Covid-19 protocols as determined by HMS.

The Great Pause has caused us to hunker down, buy time, and keep ourselves and others safe while enabling HMS to pause operations until we have a better handle on COVID-19. At the same time, the economy has been brought to a halt. The Great Pause gives us an opportunity to rethink what we do and what is truly important to our community. Where can we position the library for more meaningful connections and interactions? As we think about how to respond to the many challenges of reopening our campus and on-site library services as well as responding to the economic crisis before us, we realize that there is an opportunity to reposition the library in different ways online and in person. Libraries including Countway must not return to business as usual.

Elaine