Peruvian public libraries in the face of the COVID-19 crisis: Services, reflections and challenges

Abstract

The unexpected expansion of the new coronavirus or COVID-19, at the beginning of 2020, has caused alarming effects throughout the world, causing the suspension of various economic and social activities, including library services. Public libraries had to close their premises when the state of emergency was decreed in their countries and entered a period of confinement. This panorama has generated the extensive use of digital services in libraries to continue working, a fact that will be exposed in this work. In addition, some statements by specialists in the Latin American library sphere regarding the current situation are indicated. In the present study, an extended problem is obtained where it is indicated that the public libraries of Peru work "face-to-face" with limited resources, scarce specialized personnel, absence of digital services, and no visibility within their local governments. Despite this, some libraries have carried out various initiatives in the midst of this pandemic. Therefore, a series of services that Peruvian public libraries are providing in response to the COVID-19 crisis are shown, as well as some reflections from the library sphere in the country and a series of challenges for the near future.