Renewals is eight years old (the Renewers Facebook community is seven, too – and our social media channel on Instagram is five years old). Renewals’ Facebook and Instagram communities continue their growth, with member/follower numbers at 2,475 and 1,264 respectively; Blue Sky (285 followers) and Threads (608 followers) social platform presence is about one year […]
Renewals hosted the second session of The Reset Experience on February 4, 2026. This second session attracted over 200 registrants, and during the two-hour event (technical difficulties nonwithstanding!) attendees heard from invited speakers as we delved into a focused exploration of recovery from workplace harm, burnout, and associated experiences. The Reset Experience also offered attendees
Report: The Reset Experience: mid-winter 2026 (February 2026) Read More »
I’ve enjoyed a good end-of-year hiatus, and I’m excited to share my first speaking engagements of this year. See below to learn more. Febrary 4, 2026 | Renewals Presents The Reset Experience: mid-winter 2026. 10A – 12P ET (Learn more) February 10, 2026 | American Library Association: Recharging in Challenging Times. 12P ET (Register here).
Reserved: Various (February 2026) Read More »
I’m in the third week of my eight-week intensive course, Critical Hope & Self-Preservation in Contemporary Librarianship, which I’m teaching to currently enrolled Dominican University School of Information Studies students. A Special Topics course (LIS 805) within the school, this course includes an introduction to the concepts of Critical Hope and how it may be used
Sometimes when I’m reading for pleasure, the prose, concerns, conversations, or challenges that protagonists face offer unwitting help as I navigate my own recovery from workplace harm. Concerns about belonging, discerning safety, navigating freedom, remembering missed chances to make another decision, or meeting people who help us along the way – all show up from
Book Haul: Reflective Fiction Read More »
While reviewing data I’ve received during participant interviews for my low-morale experience studies and from respondents to my ongoing data collection projects, I’ve noticed recurring acts that interrupt employee success and engagement. As I categorized them in groups, I eventually placed them under the broad concept of what I call GOTCHA Culture: workplace environments characterized
Employee Success, Interrupted: Recognizing GOTCHA Workplaces, Part 2 Read More »
[A] newly promoted assistant manager, chosen by my most recent predecessor who stepped down but was still in the department, often told our shared staff that they should trust me, then proceeded to undermine me by giving them an outlet to complain about me instead of engaging me in conversation. – Respondent, Legacy Toxicity in
Employee Success, Interrupted: Recognizing GOTCHA Workplaces, Part 1 Read More »