Contextualisation of Library Usage during the COVID-19 Pandemic and Beyond

Abstract

This literature review paper reviews the appropriate usage of libraries during the COVID-19 pandemic to discuss various viewpoints of the library for the improvement of its service rendered to its users while on the other hand considering the safety of librarians and users. The objective of this paper is to provide a basic understanding of library usage during the lockdown as a result of COVID-19. This paper aims to introduce some early considerations, discussions and to put forward the author’s personal critical positioning on the issues, challenges and potential benefits emerging during the COVID-19 pandemic era for libraries and to underline areas of importance for the usage and direction of the library. The purpose of this review is to provide inspiration for the new ways of library usage for the development of library service provision. The research method utilised to collect data concerning the library usage during and after the COVID-19 pandemic was a literature review. Data was collected from survey reports, journal articles about the topic and books. Main findings and recommendations of this conceptual paper are also based on a literature review.