A digital library service at your fingertips

Abstract

On 20th March 2020, most of the universities across the country followed the Government’s guidelines and started working from home. On the day the PM announced the first lockdown in the UK (23rd March 2020) and ordering people to “stay at home”, the Library Engagement Team at Library Services were at their keyboards – some from the kitchen, some from a shared space at their homes – working their hardest to provide our livechat service to LJMU students and helping them through one of the most challenging times the world has faced for a generation.   

The livechat service was introduced in September 2018 as one of several other methods of communication to library users, which included a telephone service, Twitter and Facebook and of course in person at our library buildings. It has evolved to be a key feature of Library Services since the pandemic.    

The lightning talk will focus on how Library Services demonstrated a “Student at Heart” culture during the pandemic, and to further improve the service after moving on to the ‘new normal’.