Reflections of the pandemic on the 2030 agenda: the academic library as an essential instrument in meeting the goals

Abstract

The main objective of this article is to reflect the impact of the pandemic caused by COVID-19 on the fulfillment of the 2030 Agenda, having university libraries as essential for the goals established by the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) to be achieved. In methodological terms, the research is characterized as bibliographic, exploratory, and descriptive. It presents, in the scenario of social isolation, the expansion of technological mediation as an important tool for the continuity of work and teaching that collaborated with access to information and the production of scientific knowledge. It contextualizes the goals of the 2030 Agenda in particular, SDG 4: quality education, in the face of the challenges posed by the pandemic, understanding that this objective is directly related to universities and university libraries. It presents a timeline between the Millennium Goals and the 2030 Agenda, the public policies implemented throughout the 2000s, which reflect on the changing profile of students at public universities. They present data on the results obtained for the fulfillment of the 2030 Agenda in the educational field. Finally, it points out that, due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the goals established by the 2030 Agenda are not on the way to being achieved, showing that university libraries are instruments that contribute to reducing the existing inequality among students, as they promote inclusion, equality, independence, and autonomy of users’ items that corroborate to achieve the goals of SDG 4 of Agenda 2030.