Following on from Anne’s post and as part of our business continuity planning, Te Paea (Team Leader), Welfare (Jo Condon), Scribe (Saharu Shoji) and Communications (Tim Stedman) have formed a small team to manage the Library’s Covid-19 response.

We will be meeting daily via Skype or in Te Paea’s office (control centre) and will be keeping you regularly informed.

We are very aware the volume of Covid-19 updates from many sources can be overwhelming at this time.  The situation continues to change.  So this post will likely date quite quickly …

How we will keep you updated

We aim to avoid duplicating information from various other sources rather we focus on the Library’s response.  We will be doing our best to keep the amount of communication to a reasonable minimum while at the same time balancing this against the need to keep stakeholders informed.  Updates will be posted on this wiki page and via Counterculture.

Wider campus communication about the Library services

Our role is also to liaise with wider UC communications and getting key Library information out there.  We have been advised as of this afternoon that any comms going out to UC staff will need to be vetted by the relevant SMT member or Incident Management Team.  We are asking for some clarification about this.  They are trying to ensure all Covid-19 messaging is consistent.  Accordingly it seems it may take us time to update or get relevant Library information we want to share in the key places.

Some of the information being shared is news to us.  For instance the current advice on this web page that the Central Library is now on card access.  Te Paea is following up with Security to see what the story is.  So expect an update on that one … !  11:50am 19/3 This page has now been updated

Focus areas

Library Managers have identified the critical services that will be needed for 2020 in the areas of access to information; learning and teaching support; enquiry services; learning spaces and research support.   In addition there will be a focus on student success and wellbeing, and staff wellbeing.    Small teams will be set up to work out the tasks associated with each area.  We are asking some staff to work at home each day to test our capacity to provide critical services.   This is raising a number of issues that are being worked through.

Staff wellbeing

Staff wellbeing is a key aspect of the Library’s response to this event. We encourage you to talk to your manager about anything that’s worrying you.  Jo Condon is coordinating the staff wellbeing stream of the response and you’re welcome to contact Jo directly with any concerns or comments.  Here are some helpful links for accessing support.

• Key HR resources for staff
• EAP Services
• Ministry of Health tips for managing your mental wellbeing in relation to Covid-19

Questions or problems

As questions come up we will be seeking clarification and responding to these on a regular basis.

• Urgent questions – contact Te Paea, Tim, Jo
• Submit a question or problem
• View questions and responses submitted to date

We’d love you to share your experiences

Have you found out something useful for sharing?

• Working from home – add your experience/learning
• Submit another tip or lesson learned
• View tips or lessons learned submitted to date