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”
Tag Archives: resilience narratives
Red Flag: Resilience Narratives
Resilience narratives place individuals in charge of filling in or taking responsibility for system failures (Berg, Galvan, & Tewell 2018). People who are faced with such narratives often hear colloquialisms like “do more with less,” or, upon sharing their workplace concerns about lack of resources or support, are admonished to have “grit.” When resilience narrativesContinue reading “Red Flag: Resilience Narratives”
Report Update: Low Morale and COVID-19, Part 1 (November 2021)
The following report reflects my goal to continue sharing data from my ongoing survey exploring how COVID-19 has impacted library employees who were already dealing with low-morale before the development of the COVID-19 pandemic in the United States. My last general quantitative and qualitative reports were offered in September 2020. Here are the quantitative results asContinue reading “Report Update: Low Morale and COVID-19, Part 1 (November 2021)”
Low Morale Frameworks
While the low-morale experience is a unique phenomenon, it can be housed within several frameworks, some of which are distinctive to helping professions like librarianship, and others that are found in the general workforce. Ambiguous Loss – a loss that occurs without a significant likelihood of reaching emotional closure or a clear understanding. (Boss 2000; See Also, lowContinue reading “Low Morale Frameworks”
Renewals Reach: Resisting impostor syndrome in LIS
Andrews shares the definition of impostor syndrome and summarizes the topic’s entry into LIS practice and research. She underscores that this phenomenon exposes problems in library systems, culture, and how we perceive &/or promote LIS mythologies and values – and not failings of individual library employees. Read the article.
Recorded: National Network of Libraries of Medicine Panel Session
In April 2020 I joined National Network of the Libraries of Medicine representative Bobbi L. Newman, along with co-panelists Jenn Carson, Madeleine Charney, Fobazi Ettarh, Amanda Leftwich, and Eamon Tewell to discuss the impacts of COVID-19 (Coronavirus) on library employees and best practices for counteracting these impacts. No doubt some of these names are familiarContinue reading “Recorded: National Network of Libraries of Medicine Panel Session”
Renewals Reach: Fighting bullshit in academic libraries
In a succinct poster, Amanda B. Albert expands on Jane Schmidt’s definition of bullshit: “something that doesn’t really mean anything, but sounds totally legit; so we don’t ask too many questions, go along with it, and carry on.” and summarizes how these characteristics show up in LIS values, philosophy, and practice. The original low moraleContinue reading “Renewals Reach: Fighting bullshit in academic libraries”
FAQ about the Low Morale Study
Q: What is low morale? A: Low morale is the result of repeated and protracted exposure to abuse or neglect in the workplace. Q: What kinds of abuse are people exposed to during low-morale experiences? A: During low-morale experiences, employees are exposed to one or more of the following: emotional abuse, verbal/written abuse, system abuse, and negligence.Continue reading “FAQ about the Low Morale Study”
Renewals Reach: Saying “No” at work.
In November 2018, Melanie Cassidy, Ali Versluis, and Erin Menzies hosted a roundtable at the Critical Librarianship & Pedagogy Symposium (University of Arizona). Their discussion, titled “Disrupting traditional power structures in academic libraries: Saying no, how to do it, and why it matters,”centers the framework of resilience narratives and how they are used against librariansContinue reading “Renewals Reach: Saying “No” at work.”
#RecommendedReading
Title: Less is not more: Rejecting resilience narratives for library workers. Author: Meredith Farkas. LEAD: I teach a course for San José (Calif.) State University’s School of Information on embedded librarianship in academic libraries. Some of the service models we explore in the class are very high-touch, and I was pleased this term that quiteContinue reading “#RecommendedReading”