Contactless Library Service: Case Studies from Ohio's Private Academic Libraries

Abstract

While contactless library services have been available for decades, there’s been a distinct shift in the design of and expectations from contactless services in the last few years. Whether accelerated by the pandemic, or by the expansion of contactless services in adjacent industries, there’s an increasing demand for simplicity and convenience of library services. A smooth user experience on the surface often involves complex behind-the-scenes procedures, requiring a depth of technical knowledge, cross-organizational communication skills, and a high level of patience and understanding as the process for creating new service models that remove barriers to accessing library resources can be burdensome.