Although
we may be reminded lately of the dystopian novel, The Stand by Stephen King,
the world has been here before. The 1918 H1N1 flu pandemic (also called the
Spanish flu) was the deadliest epidemic of the 20th Century. It spread
worldwide during 1918-1919 and was ameliorated by World War I and the crowded
conditions in the trenches on the battlefields of the Western Front. “The virus
traveled with military personnel from camp to camp.”[i] In
addition, returning soldiers brought the epidemic across the Atlantic. More
American military personnel died of influenza and pneumonia during the war than
they did from the enemies’ weapons.
One-third
of the world’s population (or 500 million people) were infected with this
virus. 50 – 60 million people died across the globe. 675,000 of those occurred
in the United States. Norwood’s own historian, Patricia Fanning, wrote about
Norwood’s involvement during the pandemic (see From the Library Column Influenza and Inequality, September 13, 2018). Over 100 of the 12,000 citizens of
Norwood perished from that flu.
To put
this into perspective, the U.S. population in 1918 was about 103.3 million
people. 6.5% of the population died in the United States. The population now is
more than three times higher.
During
the pandemic of 1918, the Board of Library Trustees wrote in the 1918 Town of
Norwood Annual Report that the total circulation (books checked out) for the
year was down by over 5,000 items. “The decrease … due to the war work
activities and also the closing down of the circulation department of the
library during the severe influenza epidemic.” Due to the war, the hours of the
Library after January 13 were 12:30 pm – 8:00 pm. To conserve fuel and
electricity, there were no Sunday hours, as well.
Regular
hours resumed in December after World War I had ended on November 11, 1918.
As many
library users in Norwood know, our library closed to the public on Sunday,
March 13, due to the Covid-19, a virus that causes a respiratory infection,
sometimes deadly. Library staff members were sent home – and expected to work
from their homes, while minimal staff took care of technology and network
issues. Very quickly, library staff began manning a chat-with-a-librarian
feature prominent on our website. Reference and other professional librarians
became available for instant answers to questions from 9-5 every day that week.
(On off hours, the Chat application sends an email to staff who answer those
questions as soon as they can.)
Delivery
between all Massachusetts libraries ended on Monday of that week, and on
Thursday and Friday, a staff of no more than six people telephoned or emailed
library users who had books waiting on the hold shelf. A curbside delivery
service was implemented for those two days, according to Norwood’s Public
Health Department guidelines. 175 users were contacted, and 94 of them received
their items – 308 in total.
Upon
Governor Baker’s stay-at-home order given on Monday, March 23, all library
staff have been at home communicating online through Zoom, on phones, text, and
email. Programming librarians quickly began presenting both children’s and
adult events – StoryTime with our children’s staff - Miss Kate Tigue, Miss
Nicole Coon, and Miss Dina Delic on Facebook Live at 12:30 pm in the afternoon.
Liz Reed, Adult Services librarian, held the first Craft Connection, and Patty
Bailey, the library’s book discussion leader, held the monthly Turn-the-Page
event in the evening. Both events were held on Zoom, a free remote conferencing
service that combines video conferencing, online meetings, chat, and mobile
collaboration. Nancy Ling, Outreach Librarian and author, and Kate Tigue,
Children’s Services Librarian, conducted a Google Meet split-screen interview.
A Together-Apart book discussion was held on Thursday night, March 26 and it
was a huge success. Many more programs are being developed as I write this.
Library
staff began Zoom conferencing each evening, to coordinate programs, solve
problems and share ideas. In between meetings, group texts have provided
instant communication and feedback.
Unlike
1918, libraries are more equipped than ever to provide free digital services to
library users. While we have had digital audiobooks since 2005, and digital
eBooks, movies, and music since 2010, we have been investing in both the media
AND staff training since that time.
Libraries
in the Minuteman Library Network have been investing nearly a million dollars a
year in the OverDrive platform, also known as the Libby application. More and
more readers have found reading and listening on their personal devices
(tablets and phones) for the past decade. All OverDrive books and audiobooks
are easily accessible through the Minuteman Library catalog. In addition, there
are many titles of popular magazines available for download.
The
Morrill Memorial Library has been offering magazines on the Flipster app for
the past few years and adding more and more titles. Flipster is a user-friendly
app – magazines appear much like they do in the paper version, flipping through
the actual pages. The Atlantic, Oprah, Kiplinger’s Personal Finance, Men’s
Health, G.Q., Real Simple, and Bon Appetit are a few of the many free titles
available.
Hoopla
provides Norwood residents free and easy access to stream and temporarily
download thousands of movies, T.V. shows, music albums, audiobooks, e-books,
and comics. Kanopy is an online streaming service, much like Netflix or Hulu.
It provides access to excellent movies (many from the Criterion Collection),
independent films, foreign language content, and award-winning documentaries.
Of
course, in addition to all of the terrific streaming and downloadable options,
library users still have all of our database resources that have always been
available from home – Britannica, Boston Globe, the Chilton Library, NewsBank –
America’s Newspapers, Heritage Quest Online, and Mango Languages.
If you
need a library card to access all of these tremendous digital library
collections, you can quickly sign up online on our website. Check the How Do I?
drop-down menu for Library Cards. As soon as you are registered, the library
will open your world to a wealth of possibilities during this time at home. And
make sure you click on the link to chat with a librarian – he or she will
attempt to solve any problem you encounter.
