Annual Year-end Report 2020

Librarian’s Note:

Warm greetings.

The year 2020 has been difficult, demanding severe changes in how we deliver information services. The health risks of a novel virus has closed down traditional face-to-face interaction, with knowledge-based activities being limited to tech-based communication.

Many of the library’s targets and objectives needed specific review. The University Library had to go back to its basic mandate and progress from its fundamentals. Our mission: to provide excellent access to information that supports the instruction, research and extension services of the current programs of the University; and to deliver quality library service through the use of current information and communication technologies (ICT); thereby meeting the needs not only of the academe but of the larger community as well. (excerpt from the Library Manual).

We would continue library and information work, navigating through quarantine guidelines on a weekly basis. This would mean an enhancement of previous non-strengths such as electronic resources, social media communication, and online consultancy services. Such a challenge would require internal support as well as collaborative assistance from partner institutions. In this regard, the University is lucky to receive.

This annual report will show the transformation of strengths to weaknesses; as well as the conversion of weaknesses to strengths. It is a summary of how we fared in troubleshooting the extreme situational changes in the community, and in attempting to complete the library mission.

Hoseal Gayman

LSPU Library Services

The Library Service for Flexible Learning

The University’s Academic Affairs unit - with leadership from the OVPAA, CID Office and QA Office – developed a Flexible Learning Plan to address issues of instruction delivery caused by the long-term quarantine. It has expanded into a contingency plan to guide academic units, including the library, in accomplishing mandates through technology communication, remote instruction and online transactions.

The library moved its service delivery through social media channels, specifically by strengthening its facebook pages across all campus libraries. Students, through valid fb accounts access the page for announcements. They are also allowed to send messages for assistance. Refer to the following work flow for handling online queries:

Growing the Collection

Part of the challenge presented by the pandemic is on the prioritization of funding for library collection. Health-related services were needed, with austerity measures implemented on services such as what the library provides. In LSPU’s case, few collection acquisitions would be funded for 2020-2021.

However, partner institutions, national agencies, and other external organizations have helped the library by providing access to databases for student use.

See the collection here