It's Academic

Many news sources have been offering advice over the last few months on how to cope with the stress of working from home, social distancing, and generally sheltering in place. With large parts of Pennsylvania moving into green or yellow status–for up to date information, see the Process to Reopen Pennsylvania website–we should be prepared for a new wave of anxiety, because the move is not without controversy and people remain fearful despite measures to mitigate the spread of COVID-19. Agnostic of political persuasion and where you stand on the issues, such as masks, there is one very real challenge that we should all acknowledge: quarantine fatigue.

There is of course crisis fatigue, pandemic fatigue, philanthropy fatigue, moral fatigue, compassion fatigue and even Zoom fatigue, but what is meant here by quarantine fatigue is the general erosion of mental health as a result of being in the midst of the pandemic even if you are not a health care worker or someone dealing with the disease directly. A blog post by the Cleveland Clinic states:

If you’ve felt any of these, you’re most likely feeling the effects of quarantine fatigue:

• Irritable.
• Stressed.
• Anxious.
• Eating more.
• Eating less.
• Unable to sleep.
• Unmotivated or less productive.
• Having racing thoughts.
• Or just on edge in general.

A recent feature from a local newspaper in Delaware, ‘Battle Fatigue’: Counselor offers advice on dealing with virus-related stress, mentions “sources for mental health assistance.” In Pennsylvania, there is also 2-1-1, a free 24/7 phone helpline which provides information and makes referrals to a wide range of health and human services (www.pa211.org), and the Pennsylvania Department of Human Services has an extensive resource website Mental Health in PA.

Suggested reading:

“Are You Experiencing Coronavirus Quarantine Fatigue?” Health Essentials from Cleveland Clinic, 14 May 2020, https://health.clevelandclinic.org/are-you-experiencing-coronavirus-quarantine-fatigue/.

Koehn, Nancy F. “Leadership Lessons From the Shackleton Expedition.” The New York Times, 24 Dec. 2011, https://www.nytimes.com/2011/12/25/business/leadership-lessons-from-the-shackleton-expedition.html.

Lufkin, Bryan. “How to Avoid Burnout amid a Pandemic.” Worklife, 30 March 2020 https://www.bbc.com/worklife/article/20200330-covid-19-how-to-learn-a-new-skill-in-coronavirus-quarantine.

“Quarantine Fatigue: How Will You Decide to Rejoin the World?” Psychology Today, 5 May 2020, https://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/mental-mishaps/202005/quarantine-fatigue-how-will-you-decide-rejoin-the-world.

Yuko, Elizabeth. “The Reason You’re Exhausted Is ‘Moral Fatigue.’” Rolling Stone, 27 Mar. 2020, https://www.rollingstone.com/culture/culture-features/corona-exhausted-moral-fatigue-974311/.

“‘Zoom Fatigue’ Is Taxing the Brain. Here’s Why That Happens.” Science, 24 Apr. 2020, https://www.nationalgeographic.com/science/2020/04/coronavirus-zoom-fatigue-is-taxing-the-brain-here-is-why-that-happens/.

Beginning June 5th, the county of Lehigh will be moving into the yellow phase as dictated by Governor Wolf. Things will certainly feel much different for us at Lehigh Carbon Community College as we make the slow transition of opening the doors of our physical library and offering our services hands-on to our patrons. As necessitated, we will need to proceed with caution. Our library will remain closed to students, staff, faculty, administration, and the public for the time being, with only librarians and library staff reporting to the physical building. Curbside service will be provided to our patrons three days a week; Tuesdays, Wednesdays, and Thursdays between the hours of 10:00 am and 5:00 pm. Patrons will need to give us twenty-four hours notice of requesting curbside service, or else our circulation staff need not report to the library that day.

While I am not circulation staff, I am proceeding forward by going in one day a week starting Tuesday, June 9th, to check on interlibrary loans. Already several libraries through OCLC and Access PA have shipped back items borrowed from us, so I am anxious to see if they have successfully made the transit. One of our librarians who lives close to the campus has been going into the library a few times a week even while we are in the red phase to check the mail and our book drop. (As can be expected, we are getting a lot of returned rentals meant for the campus store. Has anyone else had that issue?) He has confirmed for me that several interlibrary loans have been shipped to us.

Our president has been holding virtual “town hall” meetings to discuss protocol and procedures as we move into the yellow phase. Working remotely will still be encouraged where feasible. While there has been speculation that our county would be moving into the green within three weeks, I believe this is jumping the gun. From what I understand, this speculation has been based on the counties which moved into the yellow back on May 8th, and who are now moving into the green come June 5th. However, it is important to note that these are more rural counties, such as Bradford, where there were cases of COVID-19 not even in the triple digits reported. I believe it has been easier for these counties to proceed with moving forward into the green phase. Lehigh County needs to take it slower, in my opinion. As of Saturday, May 30, Lehigh County has 3,628 confirmed cases of COVID-19, making it the sixth-highest number of infection by county within Pennsylvania. Our neighboring county, Northampton, ranks seventh with 2,866 confirmed cases. The other county which our community college supports, Carbon, moved into the yellow phase last week and has only 227 confirmed cases of COVID-19.

Guidelines have been sent out to us regarding what to expect once we return onto campus. We cannot make impromptu stops; we need to report a schedule to our supervisors and stick to it so there is a thorough record of who is on campus in case an incident of COVID-19 is confirmed among one of us. We will most likely be responsible for providing our own masks, although there will be places on campus where we can get one should we need it. Other disinfecting materials, such as sprays, wipes, and hand sanitizer, will be provided by the college. I will need to develop some kind of protocol for handling interlibrary loans, such as sanitizing and quarantining materials before returning them.

I am curious to hear what other colleges moving into the yellow phase next week will be doing, especially those counties with a high number of confirmed cases of COVID-19, such as Philadelphia, Montgomery, and Delaware counties. Are you providing curbside services? When will you be opening your doors to your students? What about the public? How are you handling your interlibrary loans? Are you nervous about being back on campus?

The 1619 Project has its advocates and its critics, but the fact that slavery is a part of American history is undeniable. Less well known is the role that communities of faith had in not only the abolition of slavery but also the owning of enslaved African Americans.

Members of the Society of Jesus, a men’s Catholic religious order better known as the Jesuits, did employ slaves in many states, including Pennsylvania, before the abolition of slavery in the United States. Because this is a little known part of Jesuit history, and even though certainly something of which Jesuits today are ashamed, The Slavery, History, Memory, and Reconciliation Project (SHMR) is supported by the Jesuit Conference of Canada and the United States and “motivated by a desire to uncover the truth of people’s stories, to honor their memories and heal relationships.”

If this sounds interesting, there is the opportunity to hear the Project Coordinator, Research Coordinator, and an Advisory Committee member, “discuss the connections being made with descendants of the enslaved, community members and scholars, the research needed to facilitate these conversations, and communication with all stakeholders on what transformative solutions might look like.”

This panel discussion will be the keynote at the virtual annual meeting of the Catholic Research Resources Alliance (CRRA) Thursday, May 7, 2020, 2 p.m. There is no registration fee for this Webinar and participation is open to all. You just need to sign up to attend.

As the COVID-19 pandemic continues to run its course, many Pennsylvania colleges and universities are faced with the probability of continuing remote instruction and support well into the Fall 2020 semester. The Association of College and Research Libraries (ACRL) is presenting a Zoom meeting to discuss librarians offering remote reference and assistance to students, faculty, administration, and staff further into 2020. This will take place on Monday, May 4th, at 12:00 PM.

Register now and take a look at the other virtual sessions hosted by the ACRL.

How is everyone adjusting and managing? What are your college’s plans for the summer and fall semesters? Our college’s Summer I session will be completely online, but our Summer II session has yet to be determined. I can honestly say that I have been enjoying my time in my house and love working remotely. How does everyone else feel?