Impact of COVID-19 on Parents/Guardians in the Library Profession

Objectives: While the impact of COVID-19 was felt by many, there is no collective understanding of the impact of the pandemic on those who are parents/guardians working in the library setting in the United States. Therefore, this narrative literature review will try to answer the following main question.
Primary Question: What is the current and future impact of COVID-19 for those who are working in the U.S. and are parents/guardians in the library profession? This paper is sponsored by: Systematic Reviews and Hospital Library Caucuses

Methods: The research team conducted a narrative literature review and a search in the following bibliographic databases: PubMed (NLM), Business Source Complete (EbscoHost), Social Science Premium Collection (ProQuest) and LISTA (EbscoHost). Google searches were also performed to locate news articles, conference proceedings and other media outlets such as blogs, podcasts and/or webinars. Additionally, due to the lack of literature in the library field, other disciplines were considered, if relevant to the complex issues parents and/or guardians faced during the COVID-19 pandemic. The research team also collected real-life stories from librarians who were caregivers of children during the pandemic and the real-life stories were coded and woven in to support the literature and illustrate important concepts. The collection of stories from librarians were not considered research involving human subjects and an IRB waiver was therefore granted.

Results: The literature review resulted in 79 references, a majority were not related to the library profession. Stories were collected from 51 participants in a variety of library settings. A majority of participants were librarians but some were directors, supervisors/administrators, library staff or library assistants. The average number of children per participant were two. Stories were coded and in total there were 14 codes that ranged from flexibility, mental health/burnout, safety concerns, work/life balance, job performance, childcare issues and more.

Conclusions: This study found the reports in the literature accurately reflected what was reported in the set of participants who shared their COVID-19 story. Themes emerged about the many hardships parents and/or guardians faced during the pandemic. More than 50% of participants in this study commented on mental health, stress and/or burnout. 60% of participants in this study reported issues with childcare. Over 60% of participants reported a lack of support or wished for better support. A handful of participants reported recommendations regarding administrative issues or policies related to work from home, flexible arrangements, safety and/or work/life balance. Job security and performance were also important factors for the participants.