Initiatives of the Polish Librarians’ Association for Libraries and Readers in the First Phase of the Pandemic

Abstract

Thesis / Purpose of the article ‒ The aim of the article is to present the activities undertaken by the Polish Librarians’ Association in the first period of the pandemic, which supported librarians in two areas: maintaining communication with readers and self-improvement and improving competences in the field of remote reader service. Research methods ‒ The article uses the method of analyzing available sources, i.e., reports presenting activities undertaken by the SBP and libraries until the end of June 2020, including: reports, reports posted on websites, in social media, articles in industry magazines, surveys of training preferences of librarians and online training evaluation. Results / conclusions – Showed the effects of the pandemic with regard to the services offered by libraries, the impact of SBP on increasing the dissemination of digital resources and electronic services, as well as increasing the competence of librarians in the use of tools to work with the reader in the virtual space, through online training.