Abstract
COVID-19 is persistently transforming how and where public libraries are able to engage with and support their communities. While existing research at the juncture of public library services and COVID-19 has overwhelmingly examined library-produced content, this study shifts focus to media representations of library practices during COVID-19. Using frame analysis methodology, this study analyzed 218 Canadian news articles for the ways in which news stories articulate public libraries’ roles and resources during the COVID-19 pandemic. Three frames emerged: (re)negotiating the library’s space, (re)configuring the library’s roles, and (re)constructing “others”. Conclusions explore the implications of these frames, linked to a broader conversation regarding transformations to public spaces during COVID-19.
Highlights
With the uncertainties that accompany a number of emergency or disaster situations, public libraries often assume the role of emergency information centre; aided by the social trust that communities place in their public library (Jaeger et al, 2007)
Given the global impact of COVID on everyday life, including public library staff and patrons, existing research ranges from a global documentary analysis of international library and information associations’ statements on COVID-19 (Kosciejew, 2020), to responses at specific geographic locales, including countrylevel analyses (Greece [Koulouris, Vraimaki & Koloniari, 2020] and the United States [Wang & Lund, 2020], state-level studies (Texas [Santos, 2020]), to specific public library systems’ responses
Alajmi and Albudaiwi (2020) reported that nearly 86% of NYC Public Library’s 9,450 tweets focused on general library information with only 14.5% of analyzed tweets directly related to COVID-19. Whereas these authors hypothesize this approach is done to provide a sense of normalcy for patrons, with more than half of the 189 libraries surveyed in Koulouris, Vraimaki, and Koloniari’s (2020) study reporting that they view sharing information about COVID-19 as being outside their duties, further studies might speak to library staff directly to better understand the impetus behind libraries’ social media posts
Summary
With the uncertainties that accompany a number of emergency or disaster situations, public libraries often assume the role of emergency information centre; aided by the social trust that communities place in their public library (Jaeger et al, 2007). COVID-19 is uniquely and persistently transforming how and where public libraries are able to engage with and support their communities. In addition to outlining the frames present in the news stories ((re)Negotiating the library’s space, (re)Configuring the library’s roles, and (re)Constructing “others”), we discuss the utility of both the frame analysis methodology in LIS research as well as the importance of examining representations of public libraries in media
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