The Michael Schwartz Library at Cleveland State University offered ample services to both on and off-campus students in fall despite the COVID-19 limitations. 

The library was open Monday through Friday from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. throughout the semester, a reduction compared to years passed. It was closed for on-campus use after Thanksgiving. 

Ann Marie Smeraldi, the library’s assistant director of public services, explained the many on campus services being offered despite the library’s smaller than normal staff. 

“We have limited staff in the library,” Smeraldi said. “But there are still people there to assist with technology needs. We’re still checking out materials. We still have textbooks available. We have spaces for students. We have our individual silent study rooms that are being utilized by students every day.” 

Although only the first and second floors of the library were open, Smeraldi is confident the needs of the on-campus students were being met.

“We are maintaining the first floor and the second floor,” Smeraldi said. “We do have the flexibility though to expand if there is a demand and more people and students do start coming into the library, but so far we’ve been able to meet those needs.”  

As for off campus students, the library’s website is also offering many services. According to Smeraldi, the online chat feature is at an all-time high. 

“We’re continuing to offer chat,” Smeraldi said. “A service where students can chat online with a librarian. It has really grown quite a bit, it’s up about 91% compared to other years.”

OhioLINK, an online research resource, and Interlibrary Loan, a service where students can request materials that aren’t available in the library, were also both fully functioning in fall. 

“OhioLINK is also running and the Interlibrary Loan is running,” Smeraldi said. 

Smeraldi also said that the library was offering a contactless pick up service that was available until 8 p.m. even though the building closes three hours earlier. 

“We are offering a contactless pick up service,” Smeraldi said. “We also have that available after hours for students that can’t make it by 5 p.m. They can pick up their items in the Rhodes Tower lobby.”  

The library also has an online writing center, a service for students to receive assistance on papers. 

Do students know the Writing Center is open?

Mary McDonald, Ph. D., is the Director of the Writing Center. She explained exactly how the Writing Center, which was previously located inside the library, was operating entirely online during fall due to the university’s COVID-19 limitations. 

 “Once we receive a paper or a request for a Zoom meeting,” McDonald said. “A tutor works on the paper and we send it back to the student with the tutor’s feedback. If a student wants a Zoom meeting, we send a link.” 

McDonald also explained how the writing center was seeing significantly less students than previous semesters. Due to the shift to online only, McDonald believes students aren’t aware the writing center was still operating.  

“During a usual fall semester,” McDonald said. “We would hold about 4,000 tutorials for 1,000 students with a staff of 17. Now, we see about 53% of that population. We are missing the students who come to us because they are inside the library and we are sad about this.” 

What about librarians?

Similarly to the writing center, the librarians have been significantly impacted by the shift to online classroom instruction. 

Ben Richards, the librarian for the Colleges of Communication and Business, explained more about what the librarians are doing this semester and how, despite their best efforts, they were also reaching less students than normal in fall. 

“I know all of the librarians are still doing classroom instruction,” Richards said. “But we’re delivering it over Zoom. I think that’s down just a little bit from a normal semester because not every instructor is holding the same class as they normally would.” 

Richards also said he’s missing face to face instruction with students.

“I’d rather meet in person with a student,” Richards said. “But I much prefer Zoom over a phone call. It’s nice to see the student that I’m talking to but also I can share my screen, they can share their screen, it’s a smoother learning experience for the student and it’s easier on me.” 

Richards said he hopes that, not only the library, but all universities can learn from the shift to online instruction and better utilize technology in the future. 

“I hope that we learn from this,” Richards said. “And we see what’s possible and we make the best use out of the technology that’s been around for awhile but that the universities and colleges weren’t necessarily taking advantage of.”