Skeleton Crew: Equitable In-Person Staffing During a Deadly Pandemic

Background: In March 2020, our health sciences library’s Public Services department was suddenly elevated to the one essential in-person department within the library. A national conversation emerged about the unfairness faced by the lowest paid workers forced to be at most risk of contracting COVID-19 by denying them the ability to stay home. Our library needed to provide in-person services after university administrators, and legislation, required it. Our library opted to implement equitable, voluntary service desk staff scheduling. This would ensure the safety of all employees through minimal exposure, and involve all faculty and staff, regardless of pay or stature.

Description: Like many libraries, we shut down March 2020. Afterwards, the library’s executive committee was responsible for in-person activities (daily building checks, statistics, alarms, etc). Following pressure to offer in-person service to patrons, we implemented our “Skeleton Crew” in August 2020. We excluded all staff who were considered high-risk, and those who lived with someone high-risk, while respecting employee privacy and confidentiality. We then distributed a survey to all faculty and staff about their willingness to work on-site. The final on-site staffing group included members from every department, and every administrative level. Staff were given training and materials, while the Public Services department head was on-call for any questions. Library service hours were limited to 9-3pm, Monday-Friday. Staff worked in pairs, to keep staff exposures at a minimum. Each staffing pair were assigned to between one and four shifts per month.

Conclusion: After more than a year, Skeleton Crew was eventually retired at the start of 2021 fall semester, and the library returned to normal operations. The library received overwhelming support from library staff, and university administration, for our unique equitable staffing model. Staff continuously reported feeling safe about their work environment during the pandemic, as well as having a new appreciation for Public Services, and better insight into student and faculty needs. In January 2022, COVID-19 cases resulted in a return to a modified Skeleton Crew model which was easy to implement on short notice, with same level of support from 2020-2021.