The Effect of COVID-19 on Law Libraries: Are These Changes Temporary or a Sign of the Future?

23 Pages Posted: 31 Mar 2021

See all articles by Thomas Sneed

Thomas Sneed

Washburn University - School of Law

Date Written: 2020

Abstract

Due to the public health crisis of the COVID-19 pandemic, many of the traditional roles of the library were altered spontaneously. These sudden changes, coupled with the reality that libraries often struggle for relevance in an ever-changing legal education landscape, force one to ask the existential question: what will come from this crisis and what will academic law libraries look like on the other side? This Article examines the responses from academic law libraries to COVID-19-related changes and emphasizes the need for strong communication skills and effective crisis management strategies from our library leaders, and also discusses which of the changes necessitated by the pandemic should be temporary and which of the changes speak to the future of academic law libraries.

Keywords: libraries

Suggested Citation

Sneed, Thomas, The Effect of COVID-19 on Law Libraries: Are These Changes Temporary or a Sign of the Future? (2020). Washburn Law Journal, Vol. 60, No. 1, 2020, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=3815908

Thomas Sneed (Contact Author)

Washburn University - School of Law ( email )

1700 College Avenue
Topeka, KS 66621
United States

HOME PAGE: http://washburnlaw.edu/profiles/sneed-thomas.html

Do you have a job opening that you would like to promote on SSRN?

Paper statistics

Downloads
422
Abstract Views
1,559
Rank
143,954
PlumX Metrics