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<\/a>\u201cI just get emotional even saying it now. When you\u2019ve had a life\u2019s work\u2026 to have to close your doors is heartbreaking,\u201d she says. \u201cHeartbreaking.\u201d<\/p>\n
Libraries are the very essence of education and public knowledge, as far as Harrison is concerned.<\/p>\n
\u201cI never ever thought in my career that I would see this, that we would ever close our doors,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n
Since closing the library, Harrison has spearheaded a laptop-lending program at the college that allows students who don\u2019t have access to a computer to get one. They check it out just as they would a book, she says. Many students would otherwise be without a way to complete their classes.<\/p>\n
\u201cMany, many students depend on the computers at the library in the college. Most students have a phone, and they\u2019re able to connect that way,\u201d she says. \u201cBut I\u2019ve talked to many students who tell me they don\u2019t own a computer at home.\u201d<\/p>\n
Harrison isn\u2019t sure about the exact percentage of students who don\u2019t own computers, but through library statistics, she can see what type of device students are using to access library resources; much of the time, she says, it\u2019s a smartphone.<\/p>\n
\u201cI can\u2019t imagine completing schoolwork on a phone,\u201d she says. \u201cAll of us who work in the library sector, it\u2019s been heartbreaking, cutting off access.\u201d<\/p>\n
The library has had the systems in place to lend laptops for a number of years, but the question for Harrison was how to do it in a way that was safe.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe had\u2026 lots of good social distancing,\u201d she says. \u201cWe made everybody wash their hands before they came in. We had all of the laptops just set up on a service desk. Students would come forward one at a time, and we would just ask them to place their student card on top of the computer beside our bar code and then I took a photograph, and it went up into my iCloud.\u201d<\/p>\n
There is quite a bit of space in the Lansdowne library, which made things a little easier as well. Still, it\u2019s not always easy getting people to follow rules.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe felt good that we were able to do it practicing in a really safe way,\u201d says Harrison. \u201cQuite honestly, we were all very concerned in those last days before we closed the libraries. Students were, as much as we had signs everywhere\u2026 It was challenging.\u201d<\/p>\n
Luckily, much of the library is online, and Harrison says she is looking at ways to possibly get hard copies of books to people who need them, depending on how much longer the government\u2019s self-distancing measures go on for.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe have access to thousands and thousands of electronic journals,\u201d she says. \u201cWe have lots of e-books, we have a whole range of resources.\u201d<\/p>\n
Some instructors have been in touch for books, and Harrison is working around the clock doing everything she can to get the stacks to those who need them.<\/p>\n
\u201cI dropped off books at somebody\u2019s house on Sunday, for example,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Camosun director of learning services Sybil Harrison has had some hard days recently. Some really hard days. She gets emotional recalling the day she locked the doors to the Alan Batey Library and Learning Commons last week. It was the hardest day of her 30-year career, and it came as a result of the COVID-19 […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":12622,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[9,15],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-19323","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-webexclusive","category-campus"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nexusnewspaper.com\/newsite\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19323","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nexusnewspaper.com\/newsite\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nexusnewspaper.com\/newsite\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nexusnewspaper.com\/newsite\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nexusnewspaper.com\/newsite\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=19323"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.nexusnewspaper.com\/newsite\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19323\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":19324,"href":"https:\/\/www.nexusnewspaper.com\/newsite\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19323\/revisions\/19324"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nexusnewspaper.com\/newsite\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/12622"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nexusnewspaper.com\/newsite\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=19323"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nexusnewspaper.com\/newsite\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=19323"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nexusnewspaper.com\/newsite\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=19323"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}