Students study and attend classes while distanced from each other. They can access more than one million books digitally. And in a recent development, they’ve been able to request hardbound books for delivery, in accordance with public health guidelines. Like so many other mainstays of campus life, the Northeastern Library has adapted to the virtual realities of COVID-19.
“It really is a rapid evolution of the library,” says Dan Cohen, dean of libraries and vice provost for information collaboration at Northeastern. “Every single service that you would get in Snell, pre-COVID, is available to you as a student or faculty member.”
The library, which has been limited to 750 students at a time because of COVID-19 distancing rules—compared to its normal capacity of 2,000 before the pandemic—has become an especially welcome sanctuary this semester.
“I didn’t really go to Snell that much last year—only a handful of times—but now I’ve been going there more because there’s limited space everywhere else,” says Matt Blanco, a second-year student computer science and design. “Everything is really spread out. The space between students is pretty large, so I’ve been feeling safe.”
