TY - JOUR AU - Bastone, Zoe PY - 2022/01/22 Y2 - 2024/03/29 TI - Come Together, Right Now, Virtually JF - Journal of New Librarianship JA - JoNL VL - 7 IS - 1 SE - Columns DO - 10.33011/newlibs/11/1 UR - https://newlibs.org/index.php/jonl/article/view/1163 SP - 1-9 AB - <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">The COVID-19 pandemic has been a driving force for academic libraries to reexamine how they provide services and support to their communities. This was certainly the case at my academic branch library, where we were also preparing for a major construction project that was slated to begin during the fall 2020 semester. The combination of these two circumstances complicated the question of how to engage students safely and effectively when the library was more inaccessible than ever before. In order to meet students where they were, I collaborated with the coordinator for student life and diversity to develop a virtual learning commons that supports intellectual, social, physical, and mental wellbeing. This column will explore the process of creating the Virtual Learning Commons and provide reflections for how this tool has become a necessary component of the student experience.</span></p> ER -