
 
        
         
		HIGHER ED TODAY 
  
  
 COURIER LIFE,30      MARCH 27-APRIL 2, 2020 
 CHECK IT OUT 
 Brooklyn Public Library moves  
 community programs online 
 Librarians have started broadcasting children’s story time on social media.  Screenshot 
 BY KEVIN DUGGAN 
 They’re going virtual! 
 Brooklyn  Public  Library  has  
 moved several of its community services  
 to the web since it closed all  
 branches on March 16 to curtail the  
 spread of the novel coronavirus. 
 Staff at the borough book lender  
 have  worked  tirelessly  during  the  
 last  couple  of  days  to  continue  offering  
 their many  free programs  to  
 Brooklynites via their computers,  
 such as story time for kids, creative  
 writing contests, gaming sessions,  
 and career services, according to a  
 spokeswoman. 
 “An amazing team came together  
 to make  this  all work  to make  this  
 happen under the circumstances  
 that  we  have,”  said  Fritzi  Bodenheimer. 
 Librarians  have  started  recording  
 children’s story time with their  
 phones from their living room couch  
 and broadcasting it live on the library’s  
 Facebook page. 
 “All the story times are being  
 done on the fl y,” Bodenheimer said.  
 “It’s been heartwarming.” 
 The workers hosted a digital game  
 of Dungeons and Dragons Wednesday  
 and are planning a Friday afternoon  
 Mario Kart tournament for  
 Kings County button mashers with  
 Nintendo Switch gaming consoles. 
 They  have  replaced  their  usual  
 face-to-face career guidance and resume  
 help  with  an  email  service,  
 which  should  come  in  especially  
 handy during a time when many  
 people are looking for a new job due  
 to businesses closing down. 
 If  you’re  looking  to  dive  into  a  
 treasure  trove  of  historical  Brooklyn  
 newspapers dating back as far as  
 1835, book bigwigs have made their  
 virtual newsstand available outside  
 the library for the fi rst time. 
 The  organization  will  also  host  
 regular creative writing workshops  
 for teens through social media, posting  
 short writing prompts on their  
 Instagram page. 
 The library will also continue to  
 offer their previously-available online  
 services, including e-books, language  
 learning programs, practice  
 for  standardized  school  exams,  and  
 librarian  book  recommendations,  
 offering Kings Countians a heap of  
 educational resources while remaining  
 indoors,  according  to  Bodenheimer. 
 Brooklyn  Public  Library  is  offering  many  
 of  its  community  services  online  while  its  
 branches are closed.  Photo by Kevin Duggan 
 In  times  of  crisis,  institutions  like  
 CUNY that are integral to the life of New  
 York and its future have an especially  
 important role to play.  
 CUNY’s  responsibility  in  these  extraordinary  
 times  is  both  to  protect  
 the  safety  of  our  community  members  
 and to ensure that all of our students,  
 regardless  of  their  circumstances,  are  
 able to continue their education. But we  
 are also called to step up, to put the country’s  
 premier urban public university at  
 the service of the state and city we call  
 home.  
  I have been moved by the resilience,  
 fortitude and innovation that have been  
 on  display  across  the  university  in  the  
 face of this unprecedented health emergency. 
   CUNY’s  275,000  students  and  
 nearly 50,000 faculty and staff have been  
 at their best. 
 In  a  five-day  recess,  CUNY  accomplished  
 the Herculean task of transitioning  
 to  distance  learning  most  classes  
 across  25  campuses  and  five  boroughs.  
 By the time classes resumed, on March  
 19, up to 95 percent of CUNY’s 50,000  
 course sections had moved to distance  
 learning  instruction,  and  95  percent  of  
 its nearly 50,000 faculty and staff to working  
 remotely. Today, those numbers are  
 closer  to  100  percent.  My most  sincere  
 thanks to all the faculty and staff who  
 keep the University going while facing  
 disruption, fatigue and anxiety in their  
 personal lives. 
 Our  efforts  are  also  aimed  at  doing  
 our part to aid the widespread campaign  
 to slow the coronavirus spread and help  
 those in need. 
 Just as we made our services available  
 following Superstorm Sandy and  
 the 9-11 attacks, CUNY facilities including  
 cafeterias,  gyms  and  some  dorms  
 are available to the State and City to  
 increase  health  care  capacity,  when  
 and  where  needed,  in  the  fight  against  
 COVID-19. 
  Essential campus services like food  
 pantries  remain  open  in  our campuses  
 to serve our most in need students. Child  
 care centers are operating with low demand  
 but they remain open so they can  
 be  fully  activated  as  part  of  Governor  
 Cuomo’s  efforts  to  support  the needs  of  
 families of medical first responders. 
 Responding to the need for personal  
 protective equipment for frontline workers  
 and  other  essential  employees,  several  
 of  our  colleges  have  combined  to  
 donate N-95 masks, nitrile gloves, shoe  
 covers, disposable lab coats and bottles  
 of 70% isopropyl alcohol. 
 Working  with  Memorial  Sloan  Kettering  
 Cancer  Center,  we  have  helped  
 establish a testing site on universityowned  
 property  on  Manhattan’s  Upper  
 East Side. The Graduate School of Public  
 Health  and  Health  Policy  is  releasing  
 a weekly survey that provide a datadriven  
 picture of the pandemic’s effects.  
 Queensborough Community College is  
 in discussions to manufacture, through  
 3D-printing,  much-needed  equipment  
 for hospitals through its Advanced Manufacturing  
 Lab.   
 As we move forward with the critical  
 effort to preserve the health and wellbeing  
 of our city, I am grateful to the professionals  
 and unsung heroes who have  
 marshaled their services to ensure that  
 CUNY remains a stabilizing, reassuring  
 force.  
 Our response to this global pandemic  
 is yet another way that CUNY is going to  
 bat for all New Yorkers. It is yet another  
 reminder of why I couldn’t be prouder to  
 be CUNY’s chancellor.