In late July, the Orbis Cascade Alliance held its annual Alliance Connections event – a three-day virtual professional development conference with plenty of opportunities to learn and meet with affinity practice groups in Orbis Library Alliance’s service/membership area. I was invited to offer a non-concurrent session on the second day – a one-hour keynote I titled “Hard Truths & Soft Starts: Challenges and Pathways to Critical Hope in Librarianship.”
The 60-minute conversation included topics covering
- library worker identities;
- how the LIS industry presents itself and who believes those narratives/presentations;
- How these identities and narratives show up in current challenges facing knowledge and information industries;
- The implications for harm and neglect in library workplaces;
- Critical hope (what it is, and how it presents falsely); and
- Considerations and tools for beginning Critical Hope practice/praxis
As we entered into conversations about morale, I asked attendees if they’d had or observed a low-morale experience:
Figure 1. Alliance Connections attendees’ response to observing or facing a low-morale experience.
We also discussed frameworks that catalyze Critical Hope practice, including the COVID-19 Pandemic, vocational awe, and burnout. Most attendees indicated burnout as a top framework that has impacted their workplace.
After a brief summary of Self-Preservation tools that could be applied to began or expand Critical Hope practice, I asked attendees which tools they would be likely to try or continue building. Take a look at this – joy reclamation is on top – how cool is that!
Session Evaluation
Share something you learned during the session or a concept that was defined more clearly during the session:
- “strategies to combat moral [sic] in libraries”
- “The self-care narrative is actually very capitalism-focused and individualistic. It is better to do self-preservation by having a group of people to be mutually supportive, communicating assertively, and reclaiming your joy.”
Share how the information offered during the session may impact your daily or long-term library practice:
- “will read [Kendrick’s] stuff and recommendations; will work on my own awareness of issues, how I can support change and people. Self care always!“
- “If we are able to take more time to do praxis with our work, I think that would be very helpful. We are wanting to evaluate our new event/activity program that we started as well as our laptop lending program.”
Share something that you’d like to learn more about as result of attending the session:
- “want to learn more about critical hope”
- “I want to learn more about what people have been doing in their libraries to improve morale. It is always helpful for me to hear stories and examples of real-life situations. I also want to learn more about assertive communication because that is something I’ve always wanted to be able to do…”
What are your immediate plans to consider or expand Critical Hope practice or community-building in your workplace?
- “read more on this topic!”
- “Using cynicism as a tool to evaluate current practices. When others are cynical, don’t feel discouraged, but see it as an opportunity to expand the discussion and analysis.”
What are your immediate plans to try or expand Self-Preservation in your workplace or personal life?
- “I am in a good place right now (have not been before) but want to make sure my workplace is good for all. listen, be aware and support others.”
- “I would like to reclaim joy because I’ve felt weird about being happy at work since coworkers and patrons are so discouraged, but I feel hopeful being able to be in a library and do my work even if things are getting harder.”
Thanks to Amy Coughenour at Orbis Cascade Alliance for the invitation to speak at this year’s Alliance Connections event!
Are you seeking a speaker who centers (Critical) Hope and Joy – and inspires others to reclaim both? I’m ready to transform your event – let’s set up a call!
