А Case Study of Using Digital Tools to Create an Online Communication Game Environment During COVID-19

The purpose of the article is to analyse the experience of Ukrainian libraries using digital tools and the potential of competitions to create an online environment for communication with students during the COVID-19 quarantine. 
Methods. When writing the article, the methods of content analysis, systematisation, and generalisation were used. As organisers of a series of digital intellectual competitions, the authors share their own experiences of creating an online communication environment for librarians and students, which involved intellectual online competitions on the Kahoot platform between students of Ukrainian universities and colleges to overcome the challenges of the COVID-19 pandemic. 
The novelty of the study lies in new knowledge about the potential of digital tools, which, in the context of overcoming the challenges of the COVID-19 pandemic, were effectively used to establish communication between students and librarians. 
Conclusions. The idea of using digital tools to create an online space for students to communicate with each other and with the library to overcome the quarantine restrictions of COVID-19 was transformed into all-Ukrainian digital intellectual student tournaments. In 2021, with the support of 28 libraries of higher education institutions of Ukraine, five intellectual online tournaments were held. With the help of digital technologies, 349 participants from 19 universities and 9 colleges of Ukraine competed in the Kahoot quiz and communicated on the Google Meet and Zoom video conference platforms. 
The article demonstrates that the communication space, created with the help of video conferences, contributed to establishing communication between students and librarians and obtaining information about remote services. Using the capabilities of Kahoot to conduct online quizzes made it possible to popularise reading as a leisure activity in a game format, develop critical thinking skills, and team interaction. It is revealed that the main factors contributing to students’ participation in intellectual online competitions are: the need for positive emotional communication, recreational and cognitive motivation (to get interesting information), and the search for a reference group for interaction on the Internet.