Emerging Roles of Libraries and Librarians During and Post COVID-19 Pandemic: Challenges and Opportunities

Abstract

This chapter highlights the challenges and opportunities that have and will arise as a result of the epidemic. When the spread of CoronaVirus 2019 (COVID-19) was announced by the World Health Organization (WHO), most schools, colleges, and tertiary institutes around the world were ordered to close so as to contain the spread. Currently, most learning institutions are experiencing challenges related to how to provide critical services; the most critical ones are linked to the library services. With the COVID-19 pandemic still in place, it is evident that libraries will greatly be affected in their service delivery. This chapter, therefore, brings into perspective the eminent changing roles of libraries and the challenges and opportunities that did and will emerge as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. It provides different library case studies and how the COVID-19 pandemic is being handled in Kenya, Morocco, and Hungary. The chapter puts into perspective new insights that will enable libraries to adapt quickly to the new technologies substituting the obsolete and redundant ones.