Bringing the federal work-study program home: The Rutgers University Libraries-New Brunswick student worker program goes virtual

Abstract

Libraries often pick up the work of education where the classroom leaves off. This was certainly the case when the Rutgers University Libraries-New Brunswick (RUL-NB) agreed to employ 250 student workers virtually when classes went online during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic in the fall 2020 and spring 2021 semesters.

What happened

In early August 2020, RUL-NB administrators approached the libraries—one of the largest employers of work-study students on campus—to see if they would be willing to continue to employ returning library work-study students through the federal work-study program. During this time, other units on campus were not offering student jobs while classes were online, many campus buildings were closed, and most university faculty and staff were working from home. The federal work-study program exists to provide students with an income while they are studying, as well as valuable career experience. Before the pandemic, the federal work-study students at RUL-NB staffed service desks, shelved books, processed user requests, and completed special projects for the libraries. Most of these tasks did not easily translate to remote work, and the libraries didn’t have enough special projects to keep the more than 200 students employed, so moving online would be a significant undertaking that would require creativity and thinking outside the box.