Bashar H. Malkawi, Middle East Librarian Association Conference 2020

People around the world have faced unusual challenges touching nearly every aspect of their lives due to the COVID-19 outbreak and its rapid spread. The 2020 MELA Program offers presentations that engage with the impact of such challenges on libraries and other cultural institutions providing service to users of collections centered around the study of the Middle East. Crises such as the current pandemic profoundly change how information professionalsmust do their work, usually requiring adaptations in a matter of weeks, to last for nobody can say how long. At present, while stay-at-home orders have kept users away from physical collections maintained on campuses and in various repositories, librarians and archivists have responded rapidly and nimbly to maintain the visibility and accessibility of collections and library services to everyone who uses them. The crisis has also created an opportunity for all of us to reexamine how best to respond to user needs, as well as how to continue creatively engaging with them.