This article explores the response of the Science and Engineering Library team at Manchester Metropolitan University to the COVID-19 pandemic. It examines how the team's experience supporting distance-learning programmes acted as both a dress rehearsal and a road map for Library provision during the pandemic. In particular, the changing role of staff members whilst operating in the COVID-19 setting is carefully reflected upon. The article is structured into three sections, discussing support for distance-learning programmes, distance learning and COVID-19, and the changes COVID-19 prompted within the team's operation.