Personalizing the Pandemic: Experiences of Theological & Religious Studies Librarians During COVID-19

Ian Burke; Megan E. Welsh; Patrick Milas; Robert Burgess; Kayla Harris; Stephanie Shreffler; Hannie Riley; Deanna K. Roberts; Jude Morrissey; Benjamin Dueck; Victoria Tsonos; Marta Samokishyn; Michelle Spomer; Jenifer Gundry; Jeremy Wallace; Evelyn Frangakis; Elizabeth Miller; Caitlin Soma; Brian Shetler; Bobby L. Smiley

doi:10.31046/atlaopenpress.96

Personalizing the Pandemic: Experiences of Theological & Religious Studies Librarians During COVID-19

Authors

Ian Burke (ed)

Independent Researcher

Megan E. Welsh (ed)

University of Colorado Boulder

DOI: https://doi.org/10.31046/atlaopenpress.96

Keywords:

American Library Association, COVID-19, Student management, Religious studies librarians, Pastoral care, Library leadership, Pandemic, Student experience

Synopsis

In late 2019, a new coronavirus emerged and began to spread globally, causing a once in a lifetime pandemic. Personalizing the Pandemic offers a snapshot of how the COVID-19 pandemic impacted the professional and personal lives of theological and religious studies librarians, especially as they balanced meeting patron needs and institutional expectations while caring for themselves and their communities. It seeks to personalize the disruptive, chaotic, and tragic event we lived through while offering a record of this professional community’s experience for generations of librarians to come.

Chapters

Introduction

Megan E. Welsh, Ian Burke

Introduction
Long-Forgotten Passion of My Youth
Artist Statement

Hannie Riley

Artist Statement
Looking Back
Glimpses of the Pandemic

Michelle Spomer

Chapter 1
The Pandemic as Chrysalis
How the Library at Princeton Theological Seminary Emerged with a New Identity

Jenifer Gundry, Jeremy Wallace, Evelyn Frangakis

Chapter 2
Stranger in a Strange Land at a Strange Time

Robert Burgess

Chapter 3
Re-Visioning Student Staff Management Through a Pastoral-Care Lens

Deanna K. Roberts, Jude Morrissey

Chapter 4
Understanding Students’ Experience of the COVID-19 Pandemic in Small Theological Libraries

Victoria Tsonos, Marta Samokishyn

Chapter 5
The Changing Realities of Special Collections and Archives
Facing the Future with Confidence

Brian Shetler

Chapter 6
COVID-19 Web Archives
Evolving Catholic and Marian Devotional Practices

Kayla Harris, Stephanie Shreffler

Chapter 7
Equipping Myself
From the Old Normal to the “New Normal”

Hannie Riley

Chapter 8
Panic, Pivot, Plan
Pandemic Course Material Management

Elizabeth Miller, Caitlin Soma

Chapter 9
Spiritual Resonance in a Virtual Age
Hildegard of Bingen’s Scivias and the Limitations of Digitized Primary Resources

Benjamin Dueck

Chapter 10
Meditations in an Emergency
Pandemic-Era Library Leadership and Management

Bobby L. Smiley

Chapter 11
Library Leadership in the Long Lockdown and Beyond

Patrick Milas

Chapter 12