The 2022 Circulation Symposium reveals exciting opportunities for academic libraries post COVID-19

On September 21, 2022, the University of Johannesburg (UJ) hosted the first Circulation Symposium for academic libraries in South Africa. The theme of the symposium was The Future of Circulation Services in a Post COVID-19 World: Challenges and Opportunities. Ten South African universities attended the online symposium. The purpose was to share experiences on how COVID-19 transformed the role of circulation services and what this means for the future. Approximately 20 members of the University of Pretoria’s (UP) Department of Library Services circulation team attended the symposium in person at the Merensky 2 library’s Research Commons.

 

The speakers at the event were all from abroad and their perceptions on the future of Circulation in academic libraries were very informative. The panel discussions were covered by circulation staff from the South African libraries who were in attendance. The symposium kicked off with Ms. Chiu from Meescan who introduced attendees to the newest self-checkout machines for libraries. The attendees were very impressed with the small, tablet-sized device and arranged for a demonstration early in 2023. 

 

Thereafter, the attendees got a glimpse of China for a presentation by Stella Seto, Head of User Services at the Chinese University of Hong Kong. “We found it quite informative that they do not have the same challenges as us because of a different society, but they still value Circulation as one of the key services in their library” said one of the attendees. This was followed by a panel discussion led by UJ and the University of the Free State on how they dealt with services during the COVID-19 period and what has changed in their approach.

 

After a short break, there was a presentation regarding the International Federation of Library Associations and Institutions (IFLA) and how circulation staff could get involved. Charlie Molepo from LIASA then spoke about the “Professional Body Value proposition for Library Staff”. Next, the attendees moved to Canada where Bronwyn Rassman, Director of SAAS (Software as a Service) Innovation at EBSCO, spoke about “Circulation on its head – looking at a new perspective”.

 

In the next panel discussion led by the University of Mpumalanga and UP, Busisiwe Mmalefahlo represented UP and her discussion was on “Opportunities developed out of COVID-19”. She mentioned the inventory project where Circulation staff learned to create item records and assist with basic cataloguing with the assistance of the cataloguers in the library. The Book Nook project was mentioned where leisure reading collections are now displayed in a more accessible way and it involves the Circulation staff's input. New skills were also developed from these projects, and the teams benefited from these experiences.

 

For the last session, attendees flew all the way to Trinidad and Tobago where the speaker, Georgia Alexander, informed them on “Propelling Past the Pandemic: Cultivating a Futureproof AJL Now!” (AJL=the Alma Jordan Library in St Augustine).

 

The UP Co-ordinator: Access and Lending reflected that “it was quite interesting to hear about all the other libraries and circulation staff in our country and abroad. They either have similar challenges with different solutions or totally different attitudes toward solving them. We decided that students and users are more or less the same no matter where they are from”. She concluded by expressing that “as frontline staff in the libraries, someone must always stay behind to render services. We thank the DLS Management for the opportunity to attend this symposium. We hope to attend or even host the annual symposium in years to come”.