Building the Train as We Chug Along the Tracks 7 as library-specific software and tools like the integrated library system. This meant that trainers and trainees alike could have live access to all the pro- grams they needed for training. The college strived to ensure that all college staff had the equipment needed to do their jobs from home, such as web- cams and microphones all library staff were able to participate fully in training activities. ADJUSTMENTS TO REMOTE WORK AND EARLY TRAINING NEEDS In the earliest days of the COVID-19 pandemic, one of the biggest chal- lenges was having enough work to keep all library staff busy when their major task, staffing a service desk, was no longer an option. Just before the pandemic forced staff to work from home, the training committee had unveiled a LibGuide to act as a landing page for all training-related infor- mation and links. In trying to come up with things for staff to do from home, a tab for webinars was added to the LibGuide. One committee mem- ber kept the guide updated with webinars from vendors, databases, and state-based library organizations. Staff members were regularly reminded that there was a one-stop shop for available online trainings. Many of the part-time staff, especially, who normally work exclusively at the service desk, were able to take advantage of the multitude of virtual offerings that became available. Addressing changed staff needs also meant that the trainings themselves needed to change. In the pre-pandemic model, the training committee had two to three days per semester set aside for staff training. In talking about what to do for a scheduled date in late April, the committee recognized a need for a refresher on some of the databases. This was needed for several reasons: staff who previously had not staffed library chat were staffing chat while they were remote workers, the number of overall chat hours offered increased from roughly 37 hours per week to 57 hours per week, the volume of chat increased as it became the only way for students to get library help, and students were relying completely on online resources while physical spaces and resources were unavailable. The committee decided that instead of doing a one-time training on the reserved late-April date, they would do weekly sessions for the remainder of the semester, and each session would focus on a different electronic resource. Previously, while the committee determined and set up trainings and its members were not necessarily the ones giving the training, there was still a fairly limited pool of staff members who actually presented. Moving to weekly trainings meant a need to share the load of work associated with creating and presenting. This provided an opportunity to invite all staff to participate in leading a training session. Using the biweekly emails sent to all library staff by the library director and the weekly all-staff check-in sessions
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