THE FLORA LAMSON HEWLET LIBRARY
THE HEART of The GTU Continuing and expanding service during the COVID-19 pandemic
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n a time of building closures and remote learning, the Flora Lamson Hewlett Library continues to be the heart of the GTU. While the COVID-19 pandemic raged around the world in 2020 and into 2021, forcing closures and restrictions in almost every sector, the Flora Lamson Hewlett Library staff worked tirelessly to sustain and innovate ways to meet the GTU community’s ongoing needs for library services and resources. “Credit goes to my predecessor, Clay-Edward Dixon, for keeping the library afloat during the difficult beginning months of shelter-in-place ordinances,” says Colyn Wohlmut, Director of Library Services.
“He was here pretty much every day, along with Jeffrey Jackson, Head of Access Services, and Stephanie Miller, Branch Librarian, hammering out ways to get materials to students who couldn’t come into the building. I am committed to maintaining continuity of service.” “Since patrons couldn’t come into the building, we offered curbside pickup,” says Stephanie Miller, SFTS Branch Librarian. “At SFTS, we’d bag up items for faculty, students, and community card holders and leave the bags on top of the book return for people to pick up. Additionally, we offered scanning services so that people who would normally come
in to copy a journal article or book chapter could have a library staff member do that for them.” “While the library building was closed, we were still running full library services,” explains Beth Kumar, Learning and User Experience Librarian at the Hewlett Library. “Additionally, our reference desk, which offers research help, switched to remote. Our most popular service is the Ask-a-Librarian chat, which has been available every weekday for the entire pandemic. We also offer live Zoom appointments and workshops, pre-recorded workshops, and extensive guides online.”
A student works at a desk on the first floor of the Hewlett Library as in-person services and access resumed this fall. Photo: Benjamin Heller
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