Today marks Renewals’ three-year anniversary (yesterday was the three-year anniversary of Renewers – Renewals’ connected Facebook community). I recognize that these events also are happening at one year into the COVID-19 Pandemic, and I am hopeful that national and global vaccination efforts will mean communities will be able to safely reconvene soon. In the meantime, Renewals spaces and communities – along with related research and professional development opportunities – continue to solidify and expand.
Renewers, the online Facebook community, now has over 1,000 members, and I also created social media spaces on Instagram and Twitter (315 & 744 followers respectively at press time). I’ve presented my work on general and BIPOC-centric low-morale experiences through various keynote addresses at virtual conferences. Since the formal U.S. Federal acknowledgement of the COVID-19 Pandemic, I’ve been tracking how library organizations’ responses to the Pandemic have impacted ongoing low-morale experiences. The survey remains open, and I’ve presented results and/or discussed mental and physical impacts in a variety of venues:
- #LIBREV/RESILIENCE Conference
- National Network of Libraries of Medicine (here and here)
This coming Friday (March 26), I’m slated to present the latest results of my survey at the BLOSSOM conference, hosted by the National Network of Libraries of Medicine.
Several interviews about my low-morale research and approach were published, including The Librarian Parlor, The Professional Development Digest (BCALA), Library Journal, and Infobase. Podcasts are resurging, and social media “lives” are increasingly popular, so I’ve also shared my ideas on low-morale countermeasures with LibVoices and @mindfulinlis
Last year I continued teaching my low morale courses on the Library Juice Academy platform (“Deconstructing the Low-Morale Experience in Academic Libraries” and “Reimagining Workplace Empowerment: Reducing Low Morale for Minority Librarians”), which were offered in January and May 2020.
During this third year, I expanded my professional development/facilitation offerings by launching the Renewal Presentation and the Renewal Colloquium. These shorter but still intentional offerings allow for pointed attendee inquiries and offer opportunities for individuals and organizations to explore if the more intensive Renewal Workshop or Renewal Seminar could be useful for them. In 2020 and in 2021, I have hosted (or am slated to host) a mix of Renewal events with the following organizations:
- Academic Library Association of Ohio (October 2020)
- Weber State University – Stewart Library (November 2020)
- Clemson University Libraries (November 2020)
- African American Medical Librarians Alliance (February 2021)
- Rochester Regional Library Council (April 2021)
More opportunities to work with library membership/professional organizations and libraries of all kinds are solidifying, and it is my desire to continue public speaking on the range of data points that my research uncovers where workplace abuse and neglect are concerned.
I am thankful that my research gives me the opportunity to offer voice and context to the realities of contemporary library employees and their workplaces, and I will continue to improve. Please look forward to it.
In addition to this blog, you are welcome to keep up with my formal research, speaking engagements, and other work here.
All Best,
