Close the library

I trust that my peers directing libraries across the country and across the world are trying to do the right thing in an unprecedented time, with incomplete and ever-changing information and directives from above, and in a situation that we were largely not trained or educated for.  I offer the following notes in support of directors trying to make the right decision. These are rough and incomplete notes, so if this doesn’t address something you think is important, please feel free to address it yourself.

In the early morning hours of Friday, March 13, I made the decision to close the libraries, and suspend all in-person services, including any service that could not be done remotely. In retrospect, I wish I had made that decision earlier, and avoided putting my staff through the unthinkable anxiety of trying to plan for limited services and inequitable demands. I ultimately got support from above to close totally, and I was prepared to keep arguing until I got that support, and/or to close the libraries without that support and deal with the personal/professional fallout later. I am grateful that I did not have to do that, and I realize there’s all kinds of privilege at work in the willingness to do so.

Later, we can all share details of how we operationalized the planning and preparation for all this, but suffice it to say that the MIT Libraries’ staff were nothing short of amazing. For the last week and a half, they took care of each other and took care of business and operational planning with creativity, compassion, and urgency. Knowing they were doing all the things freed me up to work at the MIT-level.

Some local context that might be helpful is that the libraries are not considered Emergency Essential services at MIT, so for example, during snow closures we shut down. I owe a huge debt of gratitude to the late Anne Wolpert, my predecessor, for making that so. With that context, I was able to make the argument that “None of us want to be in the position of insisting that staff who are not considered essential come to work anyway. If they are not in roles considered essential, they did not sign up for this.”

Some libraries are considered Essential services, but/and I hope leaders will see that what is Essential in some kinds of emergencies, may not be essential in a global pandemic where our best chances as a global community of mitigating the impact is to immediately practice social distancing.

There are many folks who laudably want to keep the libraries open for equity reasons to support those students who have no access to computers, wifi, or textbooks except for at their libraries. I get that, but making some students use shared spaces and resources while other students can safely participate in remote classes from well-equipped and safe homes is not equitable either. For schools that can, I hope they are getting laptops and wifi hotspots in the hands of every student who needs them, whether they are staying on campus or going elsewhere. For students who simply don’t have the resources to participate in remote education, give them all the exceptions. I encourage library directors to insist that our institutions not use the presence of libraries as a reason to hold all students accountable to the same standard of performance and participation. The inequities in higher education and in society will be on full display for the duration of this thing, and my personal and professional opinion (as a library director and a sociologist) is that using libraries to mask those inequities is bad for individuals, institutions, and society. Someone will write a paper on that someday, with references; but for now I encourage colleagues to advocate for process and policy solutions, not “libraries as bandaids” solutions.

Also, pay everyone anyway. And tell everyone that their job on Monday is to take care of themselves and their loved ones. This is a time for creative compassion.