Academic libraries’ main strategies and services during the COVID-19 pandemic

Abstract

This study aimed to identify and evaluate the most important activities of academic libraries during the COVID-19 pandemic. This research was conducted using qualitative content analysis to discover the services that supported education and research, and social responsibilities, at the time of the crisis. Three hundred and one of the world’s top universities were randomly selected and analysed. The findings show that libraries used four strategies in supporting education and research: creating new services and activities, developing previous services and activities, changes in previous services and activities, and support for research on COVID-19. Seven substrategies were identified for social responsibilities: documentation of events, preparation of guidelines, current awareness of the public, COVID-19 rumours versus reality, physical and mental health-care programmes, providing useful information about COVID-19, and providing medical information about COVID-19. As the pandemic continues, the experiences presented in this article can help in the provision of library services during the current crisis and be used in times of similar crises in the future.