In a pre-pandemic world, the School of Optometry & Vision Science’s Witer Learning Resource Centre (WLRC) was open for students whenever they needed it. Students regularly would come and go – freely using the carols for quiet study time, checking out publications, or gathering for study groups to prep for their exams.
But when COVID-19 hit, there was a sudden need for additional layers of safety pre-cautions that would change how freely students would be able to interact with the WLRC.
Pivoting quickly, the WLRC team (Mirka Freemantle, Peter Stirling, Janine Solis Solis and Brie McConnell) worked together to ensure access could continue for Optometry students - including implementing an electronic sign-up system to manage capacity requirements in all spaces, digitizing the library's collection, executing regular sanitation protocols and coordinating resource requests.