Date of Graduation

5-2022

Document Type

Thesis

Degree Name

Bachelor of Arts

Degree Level

Undergraduate

Department

History

Advisor/Mentor

Williams, Patrick

Committee Member/Reader

Hare, Laurence Jr.

Committee Member/Second Reader

Brewer, Dennis

Committee Member/Third Reader

Clay, Matt

Abstract

Public libraries are a staple American institution, and one that was created to adapt and react to its surrounding communities. Public libraries are unique in their ability to anticipate and fill a community’s needs, as evidenced by their constant evolution to remain relevant and provide up- to-date services to all users. To highlight this evolution, librarians from both the Fulton County Public Library System in Atlanta, GA and the Enoch Pratt Free Library system were interviewed to gauge what the library’s role is in a modern world, in a world newly ravaged by COVID-19, and how that role has evolved and is evolving. Perhaps the most common theme throughout the interviews is that the library is working to shift from providing information to providing resources. In addition to books, libraries also provide access to the internet, digital literacy classes, mobile WIFI hotspots, and a variety of other programs and services. When COVID-19 made a virtual world a necessity, libraries stepped in and helped even the field. Because of the high adaptability of libraries, as illustrated through the swift changes to adjust to life with COVID-19 and in other evolutions in library history, libraries have proved that they are not going away: if anything, they are becoming all the more relevant.

Keywords

public libraries; libraries; Atlanta; Baltimore; community resources; COVID-19

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