Welcome Back!

Dear Badgers,

A new academic year begins this week, and what a year this promises to be. While it would be easy to focus on the challenges which make this year unprecedented, the Libraries and our campus community continue to look for the opportunities in these moments – for growth, ingenuity, leadership, and compassion.

Since most of our physical locations closed in March amid the initial outbreak of COVID-19 in our state, we’ve put in countless hours as a campus, finding solutions to make the fall semester possible. Our patience has been pushed, our problem-solving skills stretched, and our personal and professional resolve tested. This significant team effort is an outstanding milestone in our careers.   

Things will look different this semester, whether it’s how students attend classes, how we map out our day when we’re on campus, and yes, even how Libraries are accessed. This semester, Libraries will require appointments to access our physical spaces. This process, which we launched over the summer, will allow us to maintain physical distancing and health guidelines while still providing access to our campus community. Our online services are as robust as ever, as we look for ways to offer increased assistance during this time. We’re all learning new approaches for how we engage our academic year, and we know it will take some adjusting. But we’re here to help each other and advance the life changing endeavors that happen at this university.

As we take our first steps into the Fall 2020 semester, I want to thank you for your efforts to progress our mission and for your collaborative problem solving to provide our services.  I echo Chancellor Blank in acknowledging that this is an unusual experience for us all, and continued flexibility and understanding is crucial as we move forward. But we will work through this together.

On, Wisconsin!

Lisa Carter

Vice Provost for Libraries and University Librarian