On December14,2021,Dr.Lian Ruan, Head Librarian of the Fire Service Institute at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, was invited to deliver a lecture on the topic of "Libraries Adapting to the COVID World: Research Topics and Practices" to all students and faculty of the Institute of Science and Technology Information. The lecture was hosted by GuifengLiu, the director of the Institute of Scientific and Technological Information, and attended by all graduate students of the Institute of Scientific and Technological Information from thegradeof 2020 and 2021.

The epidemic has separated us by thousands of miles, but the high-tech means have brought us together, allowing us to communicate. Dr. RuanLian pointed out that the epidemic is not over yet, we have to continue to face it and there are many questions for library colleagues to ponder. This talk was about how libraries are facing the COVID-19 in the context of the epidemic and our research themes andthebest practices. To do this,Dr. RuanLian firstly introduced the impact of theCOVID-19 on the way libraries in the US work, the services they provide toreaders, and the way librarians andreaders communicate with each other. Secondly, it is the practical innovations made by USUniversityLibraries andPublicLibraries for patron services in response to the epidemic and to better fulfill the role of libraries in society, including the provision ofcontactless book borrowingand returning, e-book lending services, referenceconsultancyServices, collection and collation of factual records of the epidemic, drive-through book pick-up and express book lending and returning. Then, Dr. RuanLian shared the ongoing research projects of libraries in the US to achieve sustainable development of libraries in the post-epidemic era. Finally, DirectorGuifeng Liu summarised the lecture, saying that libraries are a growing organism,andlibrary confidence is the basis for library innovation and development.The future of libraries depends on the joint efforts of librarians and staff and students ofLIS.

During the epidemic, when international interactions are relatively unfavorable, the students drew from today's two-hour lecture richer and more three-dimensional than they could obtain from the literature. Dr. Ruan's talk was a window into what library workers across the ocean know, do, and feel, whichwasbeneficial to the students and teachers in the audience.