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CDNLAO Newsletter

No. 97, February 2021

Special topic: Library services during the COVID-19 pandemic

Offering user services and information from the National Diet Library to the public under the spread of COVID-19

By Service Planning Division, Reader Services and Collections Department, the National Diet Library, Japan

With the spread of COVID-19, many public facilities all over Japan were forced to temporarily shut down or downsize their services. The National Diet Library (NDL) was no exception. In this report we discuss the ways the NDL has dealt with this pandemic in terms of the safety of NDL users and workers, as well as distributing information to the public as of January 2021.

Current status of the three NDL facilities and remote/online services

The NDL already formed guidelines in 2013 after the 2009 novel influenza pandemic. This time we modified those guidelines to organize a response.

All staff members were required to wear a face mask at the counter starting at the end of January 2020. Also, we cleaned the user areas more than usual. The NDL is comprised of three facilities: the Tokyo Main Library, Kansai-kan of the NDL, and International Library of Children’s Literature (ILCL). The Tokyo Main Library and ILCL are located in Central Tokyo and the Kansai-kan is in Kyoto. With the growing spread of COVID-19, all library events scheduled in February were cancelled. The services for onsite users were stopped in the two libraries in Tokyo as of March 5. In addition, the Kansai-kan suspended its onsite services on April 11.

After stopping operations, the photoduplication service for remote patrons and inquiries via the internet and phone calls, both of which can be done without actually visiting the NDL, were maintained, though we had to stop the photoduplication service for remote patrons on April 15. However, the service resumed on May 20. The onsite services also resumed at the Kansai-kan on June 4 and at the Tokyo Main Library and the ILCL on June 11.

When reopening we had to limit the number of actual visitors to the facility in order to avoid crowding inside the buildings. The Tokyo Main Library usually has 2,000 visitors on average per day and sometimes more than 1,000 people inside the facility depending on the time of day. So, a special website was prepared on the NDL home page to apply for admission to the facility, with application via postcard also available. Admission reservations were allocated by lottery, with 200 visitors allowed per day at first. Currently, around 1,000 people per day are able to visit the library. As of November 4, no reservations are necessary for admission after 4:00 pm on weekdays, because there are less visitors at that time.

The Kansai-kan did not introduce a system for admission reservations. The number of visitors inside the facility was regulated only when it exceeded a certain amount. As for the ILCL, an entry ticket was distributed according to their entry time. This system is currently used only from 11:00 am to 5:00 pm on weekends as of November 14.

At all facilities, we measure the temperature of each visitor using thermography and broadcast announcements that they should wash their hands frequently, keep physical distance from other library users, and wear a mask at all times. The library staff also take appropriate measures such as wearing masks and using transparent curtains and a face shield depending on the situation. The number of users' seats have been reduced almost to half and they are regularly disinfected with alcohol. For appropriate preservation of the library materials, we do not sanitize the materials themselves.

Onsite library events were held in July at the ILCL, in October at the Kansai-kan, and in November at the Tokyo Main Library, taking thorough measures such as appropriate ventilation and sanitization.

The number of requests for the photoduplication service for remote patrons has surged because actual visits to the facilities became difficult. Usually we accept about 1,000 requests on average per day, but more than 6,000 applications were made on the first day when the service resumed on May 20. Though slowly at this moment, the number of applications is still increasing. The number of reference services offered by phone decreased during the temporary closure of the NDL while online inquiries regarding library materials has been increasing, similar to the photoduplication service for remote patrons.

Offering information related to COVID-19

While the internet is full of information related to COVID-19, the NDL actively offers information about COVID-19 in order to contribute to accurate and efficient information collection.

Research Navi is a website of the NDL that introduces materials and websites which are useful for research by specific theme or material group. We created a new article on Research Navi that gathers links to websites related to COVID-19. For example, "Initiatives by libraries to deal with COVID-19 in Japan" introduces websites of Japanese libraries which were created in response to COVID-19. "Websites providing open data on COVID-19" gathers websites of official institutions that provide open data on COVID-19. In addition, Research Navi organized and summarized the English pages that had been published so far, and opened a new English website on January 27, 2021.


< Research Navi
Information on COVID-19 from the websites of major academic societies (Japan) >

The Current Awareness Portal offers the latest information related to libraries and to library and information sciences, providing information regarding countermeasures against COVID-19 at the NDL and other libraries in Japan as well as information on the situation of libraries around the world. The NDL automatically and regularly collects the websites of official institutions as part of its Web Archiving Project, and this has been strengthened for gathering websites related to COVID-19.

With people being asked to stay at home and schools closing, services which are available at home have attracted attention. The official twitter account of the NDL (@NDLJP) created a hashtag "#自宅でNDL" (NDL at home) and actively posted about services available on the internet such as the Digital Collection, Research Navi, and Web-Archiving Project, as well as Digital Exhibitions such as "Portraits of Modern Japanese Historical Figures" that are useful for studying at home.

The Japanese government announced a second state of emergency on January 7, 2021 and further infection prevention measures are required. The NDL continues to open to the general public implementing measures to prevent the spread of COVID-19, and to offer information related to COVID-19.

Time Facility Status of services and events
The end of January All facilities Mandatory face masks for staff at counters
Strengthening cleaning of terminals, desks, etc.
February All facilities Cancellation of all events and exhibitions
March 5 The Tokyo Main Library and the International Library of Children's Literature Closed to the general public
April 11 The Kansai-kan Closed to the general public
April 15 All facilities Suspension of remote photoduplication services
May 20 All facilities Resumption of remote photoduplication services
June 4 The Kansai-kan Reopened to the general public with restrictions on the number of visitors
June 11 The Tokyo Main Library
The International Library of Children's Literature
Reopened to the general public with reservations being allocated by lottery
Reopened to the general public with restrictions on the number of visitors
July The International Library of Children's Literature Resumption of events
October The Kansai-kan Resumption of events
November 4 The Tokyo Main Library Started to accept visitors without reservations after 4:00 pm on weekdays
Late November The Tokyo Main Library Resumption of events

Reference:
HATATE Yu, "Restrictions on Services at the National Diet Library in response to the COVID-19 pandemic: Service suspensions, resumptions, and other initiatives through the end of July 2020," Bulletin of the Special Libraries Association Japan, (301・302), 2020.10, pp.7-11.


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