Page 57 - Journal of Library Science in China 2020 Vol.46

056 Journal of Library Science in China, Vol.12, 2020

services.
The pandemic has changed the traditional operational mode and the service ecosystem
fundamentally in many industries. Such changes happen in the library field, too. The visibility and
influence of digital services of public libraries has been elevated greatly. Early in the 11th Five-
Year Plan period, the Ministry of Culture (later renamed the Ministry of Culture and Tourism)
advised to “promote the application of digital and network technologies in public culture services
and build digital libraries, online museums, online theatres and network for remote guidance
on public culture activities” (“ ‘The 11th Five-Year Plan’ of cultural construction”, 2020). In
the 12th and 13th Five-Year Plans, the input and emphasis on digital resources construction in
public libraries was enhanced. However, there is no escaping the fact that the role and proportion
of digital services in the service system was not prominent compared with offline services. The
pandemic has changed the traditional pattern. The performance of libraries in digital services has
given the profession more confidence in the “cloud platform” so that the importance of online and
offline services becomes equivalent.
Like many libraries, libraries in Wuhan made full advantage of existing technologies, resources
and platforms to organize online activities during the outbreak of the COVID-19. For example,
online reading activities such as contests of knowledge related to the pandemic prevention and
protection, traditional festival guess lantern riddles and reading punching in were conducted,
which soothed the citizens and enhanced their confidence in the fight against the pandemic (Library
Society of China, 2020). Additionally, some online exhibitions, contests and other products
were launched with the combined efforts of libraries and their partners. For instance, when the
makeshift hospital in the Wuhan Gymnasium in Qiaokou was founded, the book corner was
planned simultaneously. Receiving the request on February 8, 2020, the Qiaokou District Library
proposed to modify the service mode by providing mobile phone service beside physical books
and journals. The library “contacted WeChat service providers and digital resource vendors and
got positive response”. From that day on librarians “worked in the community in the daytime,
communicated with the mini program developer and made designs through WeChat at night”.
Within only three days, the Qiaokou District Library developed the mini program “home of the
makeshift” which created the channel of online cultural services for patients (“They grabbed 3 days
to build ‘square cabin home’, can read, can play games, can also chat”, 2020). The case indicates
the good interactive pattern between librarians and the library ecosystem: librarians take the
initiative to identify demands, put forward plans, communicate and cooperate with their partners
to find innovative solutions to problems. In the interactive process, librarians give play to their
professional spirit, and demonstrate their new professional literacy different from the traditional
one which is based on information processing.