Renewals Reach: High Impact Practices & Student Employment

Liz Vine’s invited paper for the 2021 Association of College & Research Libraries’ conference discusses the role of High Impact Practices through the lens of experiential learning, and with an eye towards equity and learner-centered pedagogy. The 2019 low morale study (done with Ione T. Damasco) is noted in discussions of BIPOC experiencing a dearthContinue reading “Renewals Reach: High Impact Practices & Student Employment”

Renewals Reach: Work conditions and organizational justice

Matteson, Ming, and Silva apply organizational justice theory to decision-making in library administration and consider the role of this application in improving employee perceptions of the workplace, particularly where perceptions of fairness, autonomy and other factors. Access the article (possible paywall).

Renewals Reach: Toxic Positivity in Librarianship

Contextualizing the impacts of the ongoing COVID-19 Pandemic, which have combined and augmented the previously established cultural, economic, and political gaps in library workplaces, Virginia Moran and Talia Nadir discuss the convergence of toxic positivity, resilience narratives, and vocational awe in their invited paper for the Association of College & Research Libraries’ 2021 Conference. NotingContinue reading “Renewals Reach: Toxic Positivity in Librarianship”

Renewals Reach: Pleasantness in Libraries

A phenomenological study was created to discover user expectations of academic libraries and compare them to consumer behaviors in shopping malls. The authors found similarities linking pleasant experiences in both spaces. The 2017 low morale study was noted for its methodology. Read the article (paywall).

Renewals Reach: Rejecting overcommitment

Katrina Spencer’s in-depth guide helps readers recognize the characteristics and behaviors associated with overcommitment. It includes a checklist of countermeasures to systematically reduce or respond to expectations that ignore human capacity or exploit/augment systems that promote or perpetuate overwork, over-functioning, and associated physical and mental health outcomes. The 2017 low morale study is included inContinue reading “Renewals Reach: Rejecting overcommitment”

Renewals Reach: Power and privilege in libraries

Stark and Dobry’s poster session for the 2019 Northern California & Nevada Medical Group/Medical Library Group of Southern California and Arizona Joint Meeting includes an overview of literature on libraries as dysfunctional workplaces, along with associated behaviors and outcomes. They offer brief recommendations for roles library workers and formal library leaders can take to reduceContinue reading “Renewals Reach: Power and privilege in libraries”

Renewals Reach: Identity, Emotional Labor, and Service

In their chapter, “We’re not libraries; we’re people: Identity and emotional labor in providing face-to-face service in libraries,” Hernandez and Oberlies explore LIS service norms and how they clash with library employees who work in public services. They also share the results of a survey they distributed to gather information about the distribution of emotionalContinue reading “Renewals Reach: Identity, Emotional Labor, and Service”

Renewals Reach: Stress measures for tenure track librarians

Cameron, Pierce, and Conroy’s study centers tenure-track academic librarians and measures work-stress levels and connections to organizational support systems. The report validates links between lack of support and employee stress, and offers an interesting finding regarding connections between professional confidence and stress. Their work cites the 2017 low morale study. Access the article (possible paywall).

Renewals Reach: Library bureaucracy and Critical Race Theory

Nataraj, Hampton, Matlin, and Meulemans discuss cites librarianship as bureaucracy and its overreliance on traditionally structured work practices, which are perceived as neutral but instead reinforce the Whiteness of the LIS field. The authors apply Critical Race Theory (CRT) to surface how bureaucratic practices negatively impact Black, Indigenous, and People of Color (BIPOC) who workContinue reading “Renewals Reach: Library bureaucracy and Critical Race Theory”

Renewals Reach: Job creep in special collections roles

Warren and Scoulas approach causes of burnout in special collecitons public access roles, citing that daily work often exceeds the duties outlined in formal job descriptions, along with how practitioners view these additional ephemeral work expectations.  Access the article (possible paywall)