COVID-19 Information
Hours Updated
LIBRARY SERVICES
Access to Physical Collections
Borrowing from Other Libraries
Health (Social Distancing, Masks, Cleaning)
INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY SERVICES
Students can get assistance a variety of ways. They can call Bush Library’s Research Assistance at the Central Service Desk at (651) 523-2373 or email the desk at bushref@hamline.edu. Bush Library is part of a worldwide cooperative chat service that students can use. The chat link is available on the library’s homepage. Students seeking more in-depth assistance can request an appointment with one of the Research & Instruction librarians. These appointments will generally be delivered via Google Meet or WebEx. Library users seeking face-to-face support can inquire about varying availability at the Central Service Desk.
Faculty can get assistance in a variety of ways. For account or technology questions, they should contact the Central Service Desk. For questions about collection development (reserves, material purchases, course readings for Canvas), or for library instruction requests or faculty research support faculty should be directed directly to the library liaison for their respective department. Faculty can see their liaison contact information on the library’s service page for faculty. The default manner for support will be virtual.
Yes, but in a much-shortened version from last year. It will now consist of approximately an hour of short videos and tutorials, followed by a short quiz. FYSEM Professors and students have access in their Canvas courses list and/or dashboard.
Yes, Librarians are available to deliver research instruction both in course classrooms face-to-face, via Google Meet or WebEx synchronously during class times, and asynchronously outside of classroom hours, via pre-recorded video content.
The library believes that working in tandem with the classroom instructor is the most effective way to deliver the library’s information literacy curriculum. However, please consult with your library liaison for other possibilities.
As soon as Human Resources has approved their teaching assignment, Workday will alert the registrar to add the instructor to the associated Canvas course. This could take up to 24 hours from approval.
Please call the Canvas helpline
, or make an appointment with Nicole Nelson regarding your Canvas course. Due to social distancing requirements, CSD Agents are not able to offer face-to-face one-on-one consultations.
Effective July 8 the University Archives are closed to the users following the elimination of the University Archivist position. For additional information, contact University Librarian, Terry Metz, at (651) 523-2160 or tmetz01@hamline.edu. Watch for further updates on the archives webpage.
Consult the library’s hours information on our website and/or the signs on the public entrance doors.
Seating in the library has been reduced. Most tables now accommodate no more than two users simultaneously. A few tables allow three users maximum. Furniture should not be moved nor grouped together because doing so violates social distancing guidelines. Currently there is only one collaboration station available to users on the first floor, near the rear of the building.
The enclosed study spaces on the second floor of the library require that users wear a mask at all times in space. Users are not to add or remove chairs from space. As with all spaces within the library, group meals are prohibited. Please help our cleaning crew; please remove all food trash to the large trash bins by the elevators. Disinfect the space when you’re done.
Students in Bush Library, studying alone are allowed to take a quick meal break. Group meals or study groups eating together, is prohibited. If you are working in a group, you will need to separate into different areas during your meal at least 20ft or more apart. Drinks must be in covered containers. Keep your mask on between bites, and put it back on securely when you are finished eating. Please clean up any mess, sanitize your space and carry out any leftovers or utensils. Put recyclables and trash in appropriate large bins located by the elevators. Everyone must put their mask back on immediately after finishing their meal.
Currently: Yes, but, we may choose to substitute your request for a physical library item, with the same item in e-format, instead. You will be notified if we choose this option for you. Our goal is to avoid passing along the COVID-19 virus on any materials we loan from the library. Therefore, to reduce the number of hands that touch an item, the library has placed barriers in our book stacks and started a pulling service. Only library staff will pull physical items off our shelves. Please continue to use the “place a request” option in CLICsearch for Hamline owned content and a staff member wearing gloves will remove it from the shelves and notify you when you may come to the CSD to pick it up. Hamline users are not allowed to walk through the library stacks or handle materials at this time. Consult with a librarian about accessing materials which are considered non-circulating. The library reserves the right to adjust the due dates of items we circulate.
Due to the need to quarantine circulating items between each user, for up to 72 hours, the library has decided to eliminate loaning physical reserves items during fall term 2020. Instead, we recommend replacing your physical content with e-content and linking it in a Leganto reading list, or directly in Canvas. Your library liaison can help you with this process.
Yes, faculty, staff and students needing short-term equipment loans should check with the CSD for options. Please read the Checkout Technology Equipment page for information on what devices are available and complete this form to request to borrow an item. Walk up service is also available, but to limit interaction time, the CSD would prefer users engage with the form first, and then users will be notified once the item is ready for pick up. Short term loans last two weeks or less, and most items can be renewed once (renewals may be restricted for popular items such as hotspots and laptops). An ITS employee will walk through the options with users to determine if a longer term loan is more appropriate for their needs.
For long-term checkouts, faculty should speak with their Dean to determine if the items they need should be borrowed from the CSD, or if a new long-term lease should be started under their department’s TechSelect program. Faculty needing access to the “iPad teaching collection” for a course session should enter their request on this form. Faculty needing a webcam should visit PiperXpress.
Yes, but these items have to be quarantined and cleaned between users before they are loaned again, so many of them may be unavailable at any given time. The CSD highly encourages users to purchase personal copies of these items. The Hamline Bookstore has earbuds with microphones for sale for $10.
At this time, we ask alumni to use their local public library as their primary library. The university is discouraging any guests on our campus, to reduce the spread of COVID-19. Bush Library is able to share our print collection through Interlibrary Loan services to public libraries. If an alum comes on campus, they will be asked to first visit the Office of Public Safety to get registered (for contact tracing), and be provided a mask.
Yes, CLIC libraries are willing to loan their physical items to Hamline users via the once daily (M-F) courier delivery service between our schools. Please do not attempt to visit other schools’ libraries directly at this time to borrow items. Please calculate additional wait times to receive items sent from other lenders, as all physical items are quarantined at Hamline for 3 days when they arrive, before getting processed and placed on hold for your pickup. We do not mail physical resources directly to borrowers. Lending libraries determine the due dates of the materials they lend. These due dates could change in a COVID environment.
For your safety, and the safety of our staff, all items are quarantined for a minimum of three (3) days upon arrival before any processing is done. When items are returned to the library, they are also quarantined for the same amount of time.
This means that there may be a delay in getting an item. Even if your friend/coworker/professor/student returns it and you’re standing right there with them, we cannot check it back out to you. All items must undergo the mandatory quarantine. This applies to books, DVDs, computers, etc. and is non-negotiable.
The university cleaning crews wipe down high touch areas, such as tabletops, during overnight building cleanings. The university also provides each campus building a supply of spray cleaner and wipes which allows a Hamline user to self-clean a space prior to and after using it. Look around your study area to locate the nearest “Sanitizing Station” offering the cleaning supplies to self-clean the study space you plan to use. Cleaning supplies are available to end users to wipe down keyboards and mice and digital imagers.
All Hamline students and employees are required to wear masks
indoors and social distance as part of their social contract with the university
. You are welcome to remind others of this policy.
The university cleaning crews do their substantial cleaning overnight. They follow the guidance provided by the Minnesota Department of Health for Institutes of Higher Education. Look for signage on the doors of the restrooms which suggest the preferred occupancy of each space. Do not queue up inside the restrooms. Wait outside the space, in a socially distanced manner, for the next availability.
COVID-19 operating procedures have been developed for each campus building, including Bush Library. Details can be found on page 6 of the Hamline COVID-19 Preparedness Plan
(August 11, 2020 revision). The air changes per hour in the Bush Library building now exceeds the minimum requirements recommended by scientists.
In addition to the extensive actions taken by the university, listed in the Hamline COVID-19 Preparedness Plan, the library has undertaken the following actions in response to pandemic planning:
Students should contact the Office of Disability Resources for options. The library offers most library services to users who learn remotely.
The Hamline COVID-19 Campus Preparedness Plan addresses the actions that students and employees should take.
The CSD is open for business the same hours as the library building. Some of the support staff works in the building and some work remotely. During the first two weeks of fall term, classroom technology support specialists will be focused on helping with classroom technology support issues between 7:30 AM-7 PM.
Outside of normal coverage hours for the CSD we have self-help options: The ITS Self-Help Resources Google Site is a repository of information available to you anytime. It includes Knowledge Base documentation such as how-tos, user guides, and videos and includes direct links to vendor support sites and articles.
Additional resources for finding answers to your technology questions can be found on the “New to Hamline” webpage and the ITS “Services” webpage.
All items we loan are quarantined for three (3) days minimum upon being returned to the CSD. Afterwards, they are wiped down with appropriate cleaning products by someone wearing gloves and a mask before being made available to be checked out again.
Q: Are campus computer labs still open and available for use?
The seating in all campus computer labs has been reduced to meet social distancing guidelines. Check 25Live to see when courses might be scheduled in those spaces. Cleaning supplies are available to allow end users to clean mice, monitors, and keyboards.
Q: How can a student borrow a Chromebook, Wi-Fi Hotspot or both for long-term use?
PiperXpress will be the distribution point for these devices, and where the devices will be returned. A student needing a device will first email the CSD at csd@hamline.edu and will be directed to a form to fill out.
Q: How can a current Hamline faculty or staff member borrow a Chromebook or Wi-Fi Hotspot?
For long-term use, submit a TechSelect request order, and the device should reach them within 2 weeks from the point of approval from their budget authority. Hotspots for short-term use (2-week loan period, limited availability) will be available at the CSD.
Q: I am a faculty or staff and need a device with a built-in screen, camera and mic. Where should I go?
A Chromebook can be made available through the CSD for short-term use (2-week limit), on a first-come, first-served basis, but the individual making the request will need to assess if the limits of the operating system, available apps and screen size will be adequate. If a Chromebook does not meet their needs, a limited number of laptops are available for short-term loan. Otherwise, a TechSelect request will need to be made for long-term use. The TechSelect request will need to be approved by the end user’s budget authority before the asset will be ordered. Requests for short-term loans for faculty and staff can be made by contacting the CSD or via the Equipment Checkout Form.
Q: How can students borrow a Webcam for short-term use?
The CSD will be the distribution point for this device, and where the webcam would be returned. A student needing a device will first email the CSD at csd@hamline.edu and will be directed to a form to fill out. Please be aware that webcams are subject to the same three-day quarantine as all other items, and may not be immediately available.
Here is the self-help page on 2-step verification.
We encourage all data to be backed up to Hamline’s Google Drive. Here is an article from Google on how to save/move your data to Google drive.
The university cleaning crews wipe down tabletops every night. The university also provides each campus building a supply of “wipe down buckets” containing cleaning supplies which allow Hamline users to self-clean a space and university tools, prior to and after using it. Look around your study area to locate the nearest wipe down bucket you can use.
