Angelique Carson Interview, November 12, 2021

All right. So, today is November 12th 2021. This is a recording of an oral history interview between India Pasiuk and Angelique Carson. This interview is taking place via the TheirStory program. Angelique, do I have your permission to record?

That would be fine, thank you.

Thank you. So Angelique, can you tell me a little, about yourself?

I am head of Access Services at Howard University libraries. I've been Head of Access Services for about three years. Previous to that I worked at Catholic University of America as access services, and previous to that Southern University of New Orleans [unintelligible] 2010. So I've been an Access Services librarian for [unintelligbible] academic professional career as a a librarian,

Great. And what would you say are the most important things for somebody to know about you?

Um [pause], professional wise as an Access Services librarian -- Like all Access Services librarians, the processes that we provide for the University. It's very important to us that they are translated in an almost seamless manner as much as possible. And that we're leaving opportunities, or providing opportunities, for the patrons to self-educate on Library Services. Library services are unique in the way that no one really thinks about them as long as everything's running correctly. And that's exactly the way we like it. So just ensuring that our services are seamless. A lot of that has to do with anticipation of patron behavior and how well we're always constantly looking to update and review our transactions and processes to make sure that there are they are seamless. So I guess if you were to know anything about me, as a librarian is that I'm always looking for a way to make a service better and to highlight services.

How about personally? What do you like to do in your free time?

[Unintelligible] Primarily the service industry. So it's always important to me as a professional -- I get enormous pleasure from knowing that I helped the patron in becoming more of an independent scholar, and building the confidence that they understand how a lot of these tools work. So positive transference just showing them what they already understand about goes a long way. So I enjoy being an educator at every every opportunity. I love my work. It's very important to me that at every turn we are making good information as widely available as possible. So the tenants of librarianship really do ring true for me.

What do you like to do in your free time?

I read a lot, to the surprise of no one. I just bought a new house, so we're spending time seeing how brave we are with DIY projects.

Congratulations on your new house!

Thank you! [Unintelligible] I also like travel and I'm a big fan of thrift store shopping.

Oh nice! That's awesome. So, how did you come to librarianship and working in libraries?

I was living in New Orleans at the time and I graduated from my undergrad at UVA [University of Virginia]. At least 10 years prior -- I'm trying to get the dates right in my head -- and either regard -- no, approximately 12 years earlier. And either regard -- I wasn't quite doing what I was [unintelligible] except for a humanities undergrad degree, and I'd always felt best most interested, most happy, in the wonderful safe space of libraries.

I think if you are in librarianship, a part of you is probably always wanted to be an educator to some extent as well. The two are hand in glove. So when I just looked around to say, "What will your next step be?" I started, thinking of all the things I would have loved to have been when I was younger and a librarian was one of them. I spent a huge amount of time in libraries and I went to go check out the program. Really, I guess I was an English -- was an English major in undergrad, I was a theater major in undergrad, and the world of retail was really not fulfilling. I thought I wanted to be a buyer for a while, that I wanted to be a designer. Which I still like probably harbor some like, you know design -- I really enjoy crafting items. But really in the end. I was like if you're going to make a professional career to that, what environment do you feel, you know, you really respond to? And then also I just knew that I could possibly be in the position as an academic librarian, to be a resource that I could have used when I was in school. I am an African American woman, and making an environment of self-education more inviting, more confirming that the space belongs to you as well, I thought I could be some -- I could be an individual and professional like that and in an academic environment. So that's a very long answer!

Great, thank you! I really do appreciate the long and detailed answers. We are here to tell your story. So you always, when you were considering librarianship, you always considered academic libraries?

I did, I did. I just I enjoy an academic environment the most. I enjoy working with instructors as much as I enjoy working with the young students. And just personality-wise. I felt I'd be more at home in an academic library, versus a school librarian. Less school librarians and less public librarians. I think when you're on in school and you are beginning to be professionals, who describe their environments, that's when you start getting tracked as to what like area. librarianship will appeal most to you. And really I could academic librarianship appealed the most to me,

Similar situation for me. I cannot imagine being a school librarian.

But my God, the good work that they do.

I know it's amazing.

It's a very special person.

So when did you begin working at the Howard University Library?

I have been here -- I began January -- Three years ago, January 201. So sorry, it wasn't January. This will be my third December.

Okay, congratulations. And now you're transitioning to a position at the WRLC [Washington Research Library Consortium]?

I am. I moving from Access Services Librarian here at Howard University. So when I say December, I really mean November. I'm rounding, the corner of my third November and I'll be joining the Washington Research Library Consortium as a Shared Collections Librarian, and that starts this Monday.

Oh my gosh, congratulations!

Thank you much.

Well, thank you for taking the time to talk about your Howard experiences today.

I'm happy to do so!

So when you first began at Howard, did you start as the Head of Access Services?

I did. I came in as head of Access Services from Catholic University where I was pretty much the same position. The position at Howard University is more expanded. I'm also a reference librarian here at Howard, which was very important to me to get some experience in reference librarianship as well. I think what we think of academic librarians, we mostly think of the cerebral end of it, which is as reference librarians. But of course, all the bells and whistles of making sure material is coming and going seamlessly is a big part of that of any library institution, but the work where you're working directly with the faculty and the students is also extremely rewarding, and probably what we mostly think about when we think about being an academic librarian.

Do you have a subject specialty as a reference librarian?

Here at Howard University I was a social work reference librarian and the open educational resources librarian. I found a lot of pleasure in both of those. Open educational resources I was not overly familiar with when I was kind of given that that little hat to wear, but I learned a lot and quite quickly. It's such an important topic as we consider how Academia is going to change, post-pandemic, and in the light of late-stage capitalism. So if I may -- so really understanding like how the material and the cost of education -- I think the students that we see today are a much more savvy consumer, and there's so many more options. What is librarianship and obviously what is academia going to look like ten years from now? And I think I think a big part of that conversation is going to accessibility.

Definitely. Have you made any sort of recommendations for Howard in regards to its open access?

I have. I've built an open proposal plan. And right now, the Provost has approved a summer academy that we're hoping will help reconfigure the syllabi for about ten instructors each summer as they adopt an open educational resource as their primary text. And considering that each -- we put an approximate price on an academic book at around one-hundred to one-fifty [dollars], even if 10 instructors only have a section of twenty-five students, and we save all these students from buying a book, the program could yield about fifty grand in student savings. Even in its first semester. So I'm leaving that project, not entirely, but I'll be joining it as a WRLC representative, and we're excited to see what happens. It's going to be our inaugural summer coming next summer.

That's fantastic!

We're excited. [Smiles]

So going back to the more Access Services side of it, what does being the head of Access Services entail at Howard?

I oversee the stacks, obviously circulation, course reserves. We probably hired more student employees than any other departments comparatively. The student employees help a lot with our stack shifting, and our custodial work with the stacks. I also have a staff of about five to seven, and stacks student employees, course reserves, circulation -- Those are the primary areas. And of course I have my social work reference librarian position and my open educational. So not very different from other librarians in any iteration, whether it's academic, public or school. We wear many hats. It's just the nature of our work.

So how did the library change between when you first began working there and say the end of 2019? So just before the pandemic

I would say that -- Well, we really had to reinvent -- Well already the library, like most libraries, were making a turn towards seeing -- toward investigating its online resources versus hard copy. That was already happening. But I've had to say in the last year, reinvestigating, the renegotiating purchases for online material has heightened. Schools discussing how they're going to share, and how much they're willing to share. And not just schools, institutions have been driving closer toward free sharing amongst each other. I think the conversations with large publishing and database colocator such as EBSCOHost -- I'm sorry, Academic Search Premier -- and Elsevier are really examining their positions. What they're asking for, and how much should be made available for free. And what online courses look like in a much more systematic way. How do we get the most out of these online courses? How are students getting the most of the online courses? What platforms are we going to use? Open instruction pedagogy.

While all these conversations were certainly happening before the pandemic, I have seen it escalate. Just in the number of -- getting the most out of your online course. And I think also instructors have had a very steep learning curve. I have seen as I -- Not just at Howard University or not specifically at Howard University, but as I speak with my colleagues, there's been a real steep learning curve for instructors and the technologists. Just really getting on board with technology. I think I was, you know, I think of my colleagues across the WRLC and instructors who maybe had a casual approach to some technology are now out of necessity far more invested in understanding how to use it most effectively.

So I think with the political climate last summer, the entire conversation of diversity, equity, and inclusion has fueled correspondingly a lot of the discussion. None of these discussions are being had in a silo, all these discussions dovetail into each other when we're talking about access. When we're talking about like negotiation with Publishers. When we're talking about what we're purchasing, and how we're structuring these courses to be more relevant to the students who are now an even more savvy consumer than they were and 2019, or even 2020. I think all these are holistically intertwined. And those are the primary conversations that everyone's having. Because not any one school can have it like independently. It's impossible.

So before the COVID-19 pandemic, how would you describe the library's role in the Howard University Community?

I wouldn't say any different than probably any school. We are a research university, so our materials and resources that we provide for the instructors are geared toward their curriculum. Our collection development like any other school -- We were certainly -- I would say that one thing that I've noticed at Howard University and other universities is that the library, as I said earlier, are looking to see -- to investigate how much we can provide online. Because it's not just a purchase that you make, it's how widely it can be shared by how many students once it's purchased online. What a subscription is going to detail in terms of using it on campus.

But I the library, like all libraries, is couched to respond to the service needs of its community. And right now that's online courses, course reserve support, copyright, instruction. With our instructors, which has its own -- educating our service community is a big part of this. It was said very well -- Well, it was said rather, during the pandemic that just because of a pandemic, copyright laws have not gone away. [Unintelligible] for stability is a tension right now that I think every university library is negotiating.

What was your part within that role in the community?

Sure. Once the pandemic hit we were making resources -- We wanted to make sure all the resources would be available online. We were highlighting their availability, and that was as small as changing the search boxes to default to online material. To finding partnerships with vendors such as HathiTrust, to see how much of our catalog will be made available online, to creating pick up services and drop off services that were contactless for our service patrons. And also find professional development work. Our work was uniquely tied to the physical material on campus. So when [unintelligible] some items of our department that we could continue, but with our actual work being tied, so closely to the material, we had to search for other opportunities for professional development. And learning more about the tools that we use, the resources that we use, to make the most of our time while we were off campus.

Before the pandemic, could you walk me through what a typical day at work would be like for you?

Sure. I would come in the morning, answer emails, and I think one of the first things you want to take care of managing the morning was consortium loan services and interlibrary loan. It's just best to get that work cleared early in the morning because that's when most people are at work at any kind of questions are more likely to be resolved. So taking care of consortium loan services, interlibrary loan, getting that sorted and ready for pickup and delivery was the first item.

As I mentioned, I manage a large troop of student employees. So making sure that they understand where they're going to go during the day is very important, because navigating them during the day as they arrive just takes a lot of time out of other processes that we're already completing. And then I go -- I go to see if there's any circulation concerns from the previous day. Any access concerns. Logging in, anything our instructors might need, a student has a question from from an overdue fine. Customer service concerns is probably the next concern.

And then after that we have our ongoing projects, usually the stacks, a lot of remediation projects and closing down some branches to absorb and interfile into Founders Library. And then staff management. That was a large -- making sure our services are functioning. And then after that any projects we might have with other departments. Plenty of time for that, or even our other universities. Right now as a member of the textbook affordability, working group with the Washington Research Library Consortium, we meet twice a month to ensure that we have some kind of tutorial or webinar available. Always improving on them and inviting more instructors. So, then there's an outside projects. But generally what ties most of my day is making sure the material is coming and going as seamlessly as possible. And taking care of the staff in our projects,

Which part of your job did you enjoy most before the pandemic?

I've always enjoyed my reference library opportunities. That isn't to say that I don't enjoy making sure things work in fine order, they do. But a lot of that work is often troubleshooting. And it's also exciting to think of new resources and making sure that we are paying enough attention to the patron behavior. And if we're saying "no," why are we saying "no"? And is there an opportunity to say "yes" if we re investigate a workflow? But I have to say that just reference librarianship [unintelligible] the most favorite part of my job. And a lot of reference librarianship is actually finding out if our transactions and our services work well. Is it the patron getting what they need? That's the first area that needs to be [unintelligible] how their projects are coming along.

So what part of your job did you find the most difficult?

I'd have to say that, only because I'm not native to -- I am not a digital native, a lot of the configurations sometimes were challenging. And I would say that this is a lot because of the way library schools and our resulting professional work occurs. You track yourself while you're in school whether you're kind of liking public services or technical services, right? And of course there are opportunities because there's courses to give you some exposure to the other side. But once you get into the professional field, we are generally in departments and libraries that are fighting for a budget. So you're going to be very focused out of necessity on your own many responsibilities, which is not going to really give you the opportunity to raise your head and say "Hey, I want to dip my toe back into coding or cataloging."

Usually if you're doing any professional development it's going to be directly tied to the work at hand. So I would say that I have had to find [pause] -- And it's been challenging because there's so many responsibilities -- more opportunities to self-educate on those areas where my work is more tech involved, technology involved. And it's not so much of a challenge as doing it, which of course if you know, it doesn't come natural to you, there's that challenge but finding the time to do it on top of all the other are responsibilities that you already have. And I think that our responsibilities within under budgeted departments just escalates or exacerbates the same problem.

Definitely. I'm experiencing the same problems where I am.

Yeah, it's an opportunity [Unintelligible] and the time to do so.

Exactly. I've lost all of the coding skills that I acquired in library school.

And they were very modest to begin with! [Laughs] Very modest, but you know. And that is not unique to Howard University, not unique [Unintelligible] I don't think to academic librarians having to prove their worth. So that generally we are fighting, fighting. We are in position to really prove our worth to the institution that's our parent institution. So I think that such as a universal concern for library professionals.

So how much stress did your job bring to your day-to-day life before the pandemic?

Minimal. Minimal to average, you know. I enjoyed my work, I understand my work. It's most -- I get most pleasure at it when I can think of a new idea, or improve something. But when we become librarians, it's kind of our life's work. I don't know if every attorney or accountant finds the joy I do in my work. [Unintelligible] with the process but it was minimal and I enjoyed my work, as I expected to. I'm librarian, not a hedge fund manager! That doesn't look like enjoyable work to me. [Laughs]

My best friend is an accountant and she and I took opposite tracks. She's like, "Oh, I will take this thing that will make me money." And I'm like, "I will take this path that I think I will actually enjoy."

Yeah. [Unintelligible] But before the pandemic, minimal. So I guess I'm gonna just assume your most organic next question, "What was the stress level after?"

Yeah. I was going to ask you later in the interview, if that's okay? I'm going to try and like walk through the various phases. But yes, we will definitely come to that later in the interview. Did you work remotely before the pandemic?

No. I did not. Occasionally, but it was rare.

How would you characterize your relationships with your library colleagues before the pandemic?

I would say collegial.

It sounds like you had a lot of departmental overlap at Howard since you have that--

That was because we were just such a small staff, -- Small staff across the library total that you just really did find yourself naturally hand in pocket with other departments.

Great. Can you describe your interactions with faculty in the university of before the pandemic?

Again, collegial. Instructors want certain material and certain services, and we fulfill them. And they were pleasant and happy to have them. So again, collegial. Everything -- Everyone's happy as long as they're getting what they need in general.

You've talked a little bit about your interactions with your student employees. How about other students in the University?

Are you asking how the department's relationship was with students?

Yes.

Okay. Again -- Well, I've always tried to make it a point for our department to prioritize responsiveness to patron questions -- faculty and students. And that was our habit and I think appreciation for that went a long way.

Great. How did students show their appreciation?

Verbally. It was -- if you sent an email or you called, I did -- We again -- We made it a priority to certainly get a response back within the day, and resolve resolve it as soon as possible. And if it could not be resolved immediately, we put value on updating the patrons. So I think all that lends itself to a good reputation.

Great. Who else in your campus community did you interact with regularly before the pandemic?

At any point we could be like speaking with any department across the campus. The office of enrollment, certainly the IT Department. [Pause] Depending on the project, maybe the Center for Excellence, Teaching and Learning Assessment for my textbook adoption working program. Those are pretty much, you know, the standard ones for Access Services. Oh, well, the the hiring department for federal work-study students. Nothing out of the ordinary.

Okay. Did you have any particular challenges or difficulties with any of these groups before the pandemic?

No, nothing out of the ordinary. No.

And what is -- can you define ordinary for me?

Sure. Ordinary is me calling IT because I need a concern resolved at the patron upload and them resolving it. Ordinary is me calling the Office of the Registrar saying I need the list of students who will be graduating because I'm going to check to make sure that they have no outstanding library obligations.

Great. Wonderful. Thank you. So kind of moving into the early pandemic, for lack of a better term, when did you first become aware of COVID-19?

I think from the very end of February, right? Before we left for spring break. Yes. I will -- Yeah -- It's hard to say. Now, again, this has been a moment ago, but I have to say, probably top of March, end of February.

Okay. How did you become aware of COVID-19?

The news.

Before DC shut down, were you concerned about COVID-19's potential impact on your daily life?

No. I thought it would be at most a week or so, which was concerning, but nothing that I thought would be on unmanageable.

Okay, kind of similarly, did you view COVID-19 as a threat or a danger to you or to anyone around you?

Well, certainly, because the news was saying it's a concern. So I was concerned for myself and my family. But I think at that point before the shut down we didn't know very much. So my concern was concern to keep up, to keep abreast of information, but not frightened.

Yeah. Did you do anything to keep your students or anybody in the university community informed?

At the very beginning? No, because we didn't know enough, and I wouldn't take that position. That'd be up to my University to do that via Communications.

Great. Thank you. So did your library shut down at the beginning of the pandemic?

We were actually about to go into spring break, so we simply never returned.

Okay.

And I think actually a number of WRLC schools were similar.

Yes. We were on -- We were on our spring break when we got word.

I think that's what happened with most schools. They were either about to enter or they were on it, and they just simply never returned afterwards.

Was the Founders Library open during spring break?

It was not.

Okay. How was this decision to shut down, or simply to not return, communicated to you?

HU [Howard University] Communications. The university lets us know.

Okay. Did they send that out over email or --

Yeah, yes.

Did you hear any rumors before the official communication that things --

No, I didn't hear any rumors. I can't quite remember what I -- Maybe I heard that maybe one of the other WRLC schools should be doing so as well. Maybe, because we tend to fall in line after each other. But I could not say for certain because again, this was a while ago. But when I started hearing more of the news, I assumed that we would not come back immediately, but that was just speculation.

Okay. Did you agree with this initial decision to not return?

Yes.

Cool. How long did Howard say that they were going to be shut down and if --

I don't think that they did say specifically a time. I don't think any school gave it a time. I certainly can't remember off the top of my head now. But if I were to say, I don't remember a specific date.

Okay. Can you talk a little bit about your reaction and your feelings to hearing that the library would be closing?

Well I was concerned. And I was relieved to see that the school and that the city was taking such a serious position. So I was relieved to see that there was a plan in hand. It seemed like DC, Maryland, and Virginia tend to move in tandem out of need. So -- [Pause] Yeah, I was concerned but not alarmed.

Okay. What did you do during this time when things began to shut down?

I did, as advised. Stayed inside, went outside minimally to shop for only necessities. Continue to work from home, and meet with my staff and work with them. Honestly, search for projects that we could do from home. That was the first question. And again, it was unique to my department because so much of our work is tied to the physical material.

I know you spoke a little bit about keeping in contact with your students before the pandemic. Did you keep your student employees employed while you were working remotely?

Yeah, it was really the tail end of the semester. So we found some professional development work for those who wanted to. Not everyone wanted to. A lot students were trying to figure out how they were going to continue with classes, and the extra burden of figure out how to work from remotely. So for those that wanted to we found some small assignments.

We did something similar. I manage a team of thirteen students and it was a lot of "Oh, you can do this LinkedIn Learning!"

Yeah. It wasn't like we had -- We found a few small projects that was mostly data entry or double checking some spreadsheets. But again, it wasn't a lot.

What did your pri unit -- What did your unit prioritize during this early time?

Making -- ensuring the students got the online material, they were looking for, since we couldn't check out material right now.

Okay. Were you as Librarians allowed back into the library for anything?

[Shakes head] We were not. Initially it was quite strict and only essential employees of the university could go back.

What kinds of decisions did you have to make during this time after the announcement that you would be closing indefinitely?

The work that we were going to be able to figure out how to do from home. How to closely resemble as much as possible. To [Pause] reimagine those services remotely. Finding out what was most important or useful to our service community, and how we could respond. What pick-up and drop-off services were going to look like. [Pause]

I'm trying to think. That was really the bulk of it since we couldn't go -- Oh also finding out what kind of partnerships for interlibrary loan we could develop to increase our partnerships. So that we could since we would be -- Certainly sharing more. So I investigated other ILL [Interlibrary Loan] groups that were -- that did not charge if you were a member.

Okay. Were you able to identify any?

I was. I was, and we did -- and we made -- we increased our partnerships by hundreds. So that was very useful. Thousands, really.

Yeah, it's great. And this kind of dovetails nicely into my next question. Did you make these decisions in partnership with anybody or in collaboration with anybody?

Well, I am the head of Access Services, so primarily with my direct supervisor. But for some services, like HathiTrust, making sure that an open library. That absolutely involved a lot of conversations with our cataloging department and serials department, and those who manage electronic resources. Yes.

What kind of concerns did your staff bring to you during this time?

A lot of equipment. [Unintelligible] provided with the laptops, the materials they needed to work from home. Also, I think that not everyone was used to -- was as tech savvy. So we did have -- we all learned a bit more about the resources we have, whether it was document sharing or video conferencing. We all had to learn about more platforms and more tools and investigate what in the in the catalog would be best for a community that suddenly found itself off campus. So looking at the OPAC [Online Public Access Catalog] and Primo obviously, for our WRlC purposes. Again, we got together with cataloging and reference librarians to see what could be made on here to heighten our online resources for opportunities for self education. Something as simple as changing the search box to default to online material versus books. Decisions like that.

Okay. Thank you. What problems did you anticipate with the library's closure?

Hard copy material pick up/drop off services was probably my primary concern. When were those reinitiate?

Okay. How did you plan on addressing or solving those problems at the very beginning?

At the very beginning I planned to see what other schools are doing, which is usually what we do. You just look for ideas and you anticipate what would work best with in your space.

Okay. What was your biggest worry or fear during this period?

[Pause] I just really wanted to ensure that patrons received the requested material that they asked for, especially if it was online. And if it was not available -- if it wasn't already available online, could we afford, and how can we manage to find it electronically? Because not every book that you might want to purchase is even available electronically. And if it is available electronically, how much is going to cost you to make several -- make it available to several patrons at one time? So could our cost -- could the cost of -- could we keep up with the cost of post pandemic resources as quickly as we needed to?

What was the atmosphere at the library or among library staff like during this time?

Could you be more specific?

Yeah. So how how did you see the pandemic affecting your colleagues and the sudden shut down?

I think everyone was just like really -- there was nothing unique that you would not see elsewhere. Concern for services, concern for what that might mean for how we can best work, and what that was going to look like. [Carson's cell phone begins ringing] So definitely -- I'm so sorry. Let me cut -- [Carson mutes cell phone]. Yes, just the corner for -- and trying to be creative and problem solving. Efforts to be creative soling problems.

What kind of a creative and problem-solving efforts did you guys come up with during this period?

Pick up/drop off services. Initiating -- making sure that reference questions were always available twenty -- as close to twenty-four hours a day as we could. Making sure that the catalog -- the online public access catalog reflected what the patrons were going to be most concerned about. Online material, finding relationships. Making sure we were creating more relationships. Partner relationships or interlibrary loan, making sure our CLS [Consortium Loan Services] Services would be able to be initiated as soon as possible for pickup/drop-off and what that's what that process would look like.

Safety for when we return back to campus. And small things like -- there is a way to look at a virtual shelf within Primo [WRLC OPAC], if you scroll down a bit further within an item's catalog. So you can see which on the what's on the shelf both virtually, electronically, and physically. So whether it's an electronic item that we own that is just there in the cloud, or whether it's the next physical item on the direct shelf, making sure that was correctly configured, as it would be one more resource for the patrons.

Thank you. How many people outside the library, like students faculty and non-library staff, reached out to you for help during the early pandemic period?

I don't understand "how many people."

I guess maybe "how many" isn't a good way to describe it. Did anybody outside the library reach out to you for help?

Well, I wasn't -- I'm with the research steering advisory committee with WRLC. And I'd have to say that of all the committees that the WRLC has, I have heard more than once that we uniquely reach out. With a heightened amount, we reach out to speak with each other, and to confirm our -- to give ideas. To make sure that we aren't making patrons frustrated when they're working with one institution versus another. So I would say that our -- my biggest fear to [unintelligible] other colleagues at other libraries because of how we operate.

Okay. How about within the Howard University community? Did anybody reach out to you during this time?

[Pause] I mean instructors, as they usually do. And students who are looking for material. Definitely walking through showing students how to get the most out of the database use. Maybe a little bit of reference instruction was heightened at that time. Just because instructors and students alike forget about all that's available to them, even when they're looking at something like the library's catalog. Showing them where -- how they can use a drop-down menu to make sure they're only seeing material that's online. Showing them where the virtual library is, reminding them how to find the New York Times within LexisNexis [a database]. So things of that nature. Maybe some reference -- reference questions might have shot up a bit just in terms of using the tools.

Great. Thank you. Kind of at this time in the early pandemic, how did you imagine the broader DC, Maryland, Virginia shutdown playing out?

I want to make sure I'm answering the question correctly. Can you give me an idea of what you mean when you say "out"? What did I think was going to happen in the end? Is that what you're asking?

Well, what did you think was going to happen like in the end in, the next couple of weeks? What did you think -- how do you think the region would be?

So when it first happened I just assumed -- because of course we didn't know how serious it was, and the information was not as forthcoming as it was in the beginning. So as I began to learn how international the the crisis really was, I knew that we were an area that's highly, fairly liberal. That's certainly an area that valued science and education. The political climate was predominantly conservative, but I guess I just took some comfort knowing that a more liberal, science-based, ethos was really -- I'd have to say for this area. So I felt, I don't know. I thought we would there would be some tension,, and there was but I was just hoping that our area leaders would continue to trust the science.

Thank you. That was -- I was in a similar boat at that time and thinking around similar things. So thank you. So did you do anything in those early days to personally prepare for the pandemic or for a shut down?

Like everyone, water, safety supplies, buying in bulk to ensure that I wouldn't have to go out again, making sure I was cleaning properly. I too trust the science, so if it said it was a good idea, I did do it.

So kind of moving into past those early days and in kind of the thick of the pandemic, how long did you think you would be working remotely?

I honestly did not have any anticipation. Did I think would be a year? No. But I really, in the very beginning -- Maybe I thought it'd be about few months. Maybe. But of course that changed on any given day. You'll remember it wasn't so much a timeline of progressive thinking. It doubled back on itself as we learned more. So, I don't know if I can answer the question quite in a timeline sequence, but I think that's how most people understood it. Your assumptions and ideas change as more information came forward, which at first didn't seem that forthcoming.

I don't know if you can answer this question, but how long did you think you would be working fully remote after the first three months of the pandemic?

I think at the time because of -- because the conversation was still something somewhat optimistic, but was also looking more grim, I thought maybe the end of the year. At that time, I was like "Surely by January of next year we will be back in some respect." That's what I thought.

When did you actually start going back to work in person?

It was actually around February [of 2021] that we actually onboarded again. And that was in the hybrid situation.

Can you describe what that hybrid situation looked like?

Three days on, and about half the day at work and half off work. And that was for some staff and not for all. Depending on what you could get done.

Okay, thank you. So when you were still working remotely in 2020, when did things for lack of a better term, kind of settle down after this initial shutdown scramble?

I don't -- I can't say that anything really settled down. I think we understood more of our environment. Around the beginning of the summer, at least we'd had a couple months to get equipment, practice using conference links, have some experience in getting material to our students. So we had a couple of workflows down.

Okay. Can you describe your typical day while you were working remotely? Your typical workday?

Sure. I would get up in the morning. I generally had appointment scheduled. I learned early to try to not schedule too many appointments on one day, because they're still the work that you have to get done. And a lot more phone calls because you're not seeing your colleagues in person. And a lot more emailing.

Did you enjoy working remotely?

I thought I would, but I'd have to say that I felt more productive at the office. And I think again, that's again tied to my position, and the work I could get done was closely tied to the physical material. But I think I like the beginning and end of a day that being at work affords you.

How much stress did you feel from your work during this period?

It was fairly stressful. Learning how to navigate the material, the new environment. And I'm trying to think of new workflows. And only managing a staff remotely when remote work was not a part of -- Learning how to work remotely also had its own stress, and I think that's universal as well.

What were the biggest changes for you personally?

Having all your work at home, and not really being able to turn it off. That clean line was a lot more blurred.

What change was the easiest for you to adapt to?

[Pause] I've never thought of it about in that order, so let me think here. Well, I've always been a big communicator and trying to share instruction and being proactive. So I have to say that the level of communication increased, but I've always tried to be a strong communicator. So that was probably -- if it meant more emails, that was fine. I tend to try to communicate pretty clearly. So maybe that was, if you weren't [Unintelligible] in-person, I could see how that would be challenging.

What do you think was the most notable change to library services for members of the Howard University Community?

For the Howard University community?

Yes.

[Pause] I think that -- not necessarily -- I could not think of anything that's just unique to Howard. I would say, overall, [Pause] both patrons and staff have learned to become much more tech savvy in the last year and a half than they were before hand. Out of necessity. So, really in some manner staff and instructors ended up catching up a bit with our students because they're more digital natives for the larger part. But not always. So I have to say that there was a lot of catch-up to understanding, and even understanding different variations of -- technology took a big leap -- Understanding technology, everything. I think everyone took a big leap over this past year and a half.

Thank you. How did community members, you talked a little bit about this, but how did community community members react to these changes?

When you say community members, are you asking how the HU Community like students and instructors and staff all reacted to learning more about technology?

Yes. Essentially.

I'd say part frustration and part we have -- everyone has to get it done. I don't know that I could say that one specific reaction. I think that there is some stress with not just learning but having to learn on the fly. So I'd have to say that probably something that we could have learned when it wasn't at the last minute, underneath what felt dire-like circumstances there would be less stress. But I think unfortunately having to learn new platforms was coupled with the stress of having to do it very quickly. And I think that was probably universal as well.

How would you characterize interactions, and your interactions and relationships with students during the height of the pandemic when everything was remote?

I think they were just mostly happy that someone was still working to get the material that they needed. So I would say it was -- I was pleased with it. And I mean no one was pleased with the overall situation. However, pleased that there was a response and concern to get material to them when they needed it.

How would you characterize your relationships with your library colleagues during this remote period?

Everyone was just really trying to figure out how to best get the work done. It was collegial. But again, I think that there's always a stress of -- there was a lot of stress that was not just work bound. That was like home bound, and social bound, and health bound. So I would have to say that universally probably the same as you would find anywhere else. People dealing with being at home environments, dealing with their childcare, dealing with if they had the equipment that they needed to get it done comfortably. People had to go buy printers and not necessarily was the school -- for your work. But it didn't necessarily mean that the school was interested in buying your printer just because you needed one. I bought one but I don't go asked Howard to reimburse me. So trying to recreate office functionality was also a part of the concerns. I can't imagine that was much different than it was at any other institution.

How about -- how would you characterize your relationships with faculty at Howard during the fully remote period?

I would say the same. Faculty actually had their own concerns as well. And again, as long as they were getting -- as long as there was an effort to get what they needed, and that we were actively working to get what they needed, as happy as as expected. And still collegial. Because I think those I worked with were also trying to be empathetic. So that was a big part of it as well.

That's great. What challenges arose during the pandemic that you did not anticipate?

[Pause] I honestly can't say-- You know what, I couldn't -- I didn't anticipate the resistance to science, but I don't think that makes me unique either. I'm still appalled.

Me too. What did you do in response to those challenges?

What could one do in response to that? I kept myself educated. I followed the directions and instructions of science bound individuals, and tried to avoid those that were not as concerned.

How did your unit's priorities change as the pandemic continued?

Well, again, in my unit our work is uniquely tied to the physical material. So we changed our -- We pivoted toward those that we could, projects we could fulfill and invest in -- Just try to find projects that we did not necessarily have on board at the time, but said "Hey, what is an opportunity to take care of now, since this is really our only environment?" We have the time. What clean up can we do? What work can we improve? Is there anything we haven't thought of that we could take care of?

How about the library in general beyond your unit?

I have to say -- I have to mirror to say the same. We just had to pivot toward those services that we can improve upon, or projects that we had not thought of before. To try to -- to make sure that we were still producing good work and responding to our service community.

What kind of projects did you do that were new during this period?

We -- I focused on going through our policy procedures to redraft and update them. A lot of our work -- our department's work -- is grounded in transactions and has a procedure that follows it in the Integrated Library Management System. Make sure that our training material was up to date, those kind of documents can't remain static. Looked at what kind of cataloging projects that we can contribute to that were a little older. There's a new website the library's developing. We spent time editing that.

What's the new -- Is it a new website for the library in general, or is --

It is, it's exactly that.

Was that a project that began during the pandemic?

It began before, but now we could just turn a careful eye toward editing it, and seeing if there was any more material that we would add or make more clear.

What did you see as your role in the library's mission during this height of the pandemic?

Well, I am Access Services, so as I've shared earlier, my role was to find -- to think about how we can make our services more -- how we could raise our profile. And how we can ensure that the services were as consistent, despite our challenges, as possible.

Was there anything you were afraid of during this period?

How so?

So things that you were afraid of for the library, for yourself, in a pandemic environment?

[Pause] I think like everyone I was concerned that we -- if when we did return -- it would be to environment that was a safe as possible. But that I would say it's all I can think of that was my concern. Like once we returned, what would be in place to ensure that we would all be safe?

Did your perception of COVID's potential threats and dangers change during this time?

[Pause]No. I wouldn't say that they were exacerbated or less. Really since the beginning the rules to follow haven't changed very much, so I just stayed the course as we learn better and more.

Did you or anyone close to you contract COVID?

No. Not within my household, no. I mean, did I know people that did? Yes, but not within my household.

Did you have any worries or anxieties beyond work during this time?

I mean it was a pandemic. So beyond work, there was the usual stresses of being inside all the time and making sure you're staying active, and making sure you're taking care of your own self-care. And just trying to find a way to not only work. So I would have to say that nothing out of the ordinary that everyone else wasn't dealing with. Missing family.

Do you have any family in the area?

I do have a sister and a brother who live in Richmond, Virginia.

Okay. Were you able to see them at all?

Not during the pandemic. We all we took it very seriously.

So now I'm going to kind of ask you questions about when you and your library staff kind of started transitioning back to work on site.

Sure. But I'm going to apologize, can we like stop recording for just one second?

Sure!

Thank you.