Location

Expo Center

Session Number

9

Keywords

Workplace and organizational culture, tele-work, flexible work, hybrid work, flexwork, equity, recruitment and retention, teambuilding, management

Description

The COVID-19 pandemic led to some significant changes in how many of us work and live. It also exposed deep infrastructure problems and systemic equity issues around income, race, and employment and redefined the meaning of front-line essential worker. The pandemic’s acceleration of the move to remote and hybrid work in many areas, coupled with the redefining of essential work, will result in many libraries having to adapt operations and culture around a hybrid work environment.

While libraries prior to the pandemic did allow for some flexible work arrangements, telework was not an expected benefit nor was it universal enough to be a pervasive part of library culture. During the pandemic many libraries provided staff with more opportunities to work from home but are now wrestling with how the situation will evolve post pandemic. This paper will describe the University of Virginia Library’s journey from the shift to an all-remote workforce in the early days of the pandemic to its current and projected future hybrid work environment and provide a framework for other libraries to consider. Throughout the paper, challenges, opportunities, and lessons learned will be highlighted and issues around equity, recruitment and retention, culture and teambuilding, and management will be explored.

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Jun 16th, 2:00 PM Jun 16th, 3:15 PM

The Future of Flexible Work and Hybrid Work Culture Beyond Covid-19: Challenges, Opportunities and Lessons Learned at UVA Library

Expo Center

The COVID-19 pandemic led to some significant changes in how many of us work and live. It also exposed deep infrastructure problems and systemic equity issues around income, race, and employment and redefined the meaning of front-line essential worker. The pandemic’s acceleration of the move to remote and hybrid work in many areas, coupled with the redefining of essential work, will result in many libraries having to adapt operations and culture around a hybrid work environment.

While libraries prior to the pandemic did allow for some flexible work arrangements, telework was not an expected benefit nor was it universal enough to be a pervasive part of library culture. During the pandemic many libraries provided staff with more opportunities to work from home but are now wrestling with how the situation will evolve post pandemic. This paper will describe the University of Virginia Library’s journey from the shift to an all-remote workforce in the early days of the pandemic to its current and projected future hybrid work environment and provide a framework for other libraries to consider. Throughout the paper, challenges, opportunities, and lessons learned will be highlighted and issues around equity, recruitment and retention, culture and teambuilding, and management will be explored.