Virtual Undergraduate Internships: One COVID-19 Side Effect THat Academic Libraries Should Keep

abstract:In spring 2020, the California State University System and its 23 campuses became the first in the United States to commit to a year of remote instruction due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Remote instruction separated the system’s librarians from their users, whose needs were especially great within the system’s ethnically, economically, and academically diverse student body. At California State University Channel Islands (CSUCI), public health guidelines and closures prevented many students from fulfilling internship and field experience requirements needed for graduation. CSUCI’s John Spoore Broome Library established a work-around by implementing a virtual internship program for one undergraduate that benefited both the student and the library. This paper, coauthored by the intern, documents the virtual internship, describes the model and structure of the experience, and argues that such remote internships are one pandemic side effect that should remain to promote equity in library and information science.