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: vocational awe
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.
Renewals Reach: Mentoring as low morale therapy?
Ginger Williams’ thesis (Valdosta State University) explores the impact of mentoring on the career development and job satisfaction rates of academic librarians. Her work discusses types of mentoring and reveals suggestion for the practice of mentorship. The thesis also includes suggestions for further areas of study, wherein she questions a possible mentorship need: guidance throughContinue reading “Renewals Reach: Mentoring as low morale therapy?”
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: Library employee engagement
Jason Martin shares the results of his study on engagement levels in library employees. He applied the Utretcht Work Engagement Scale to discern factors of engagement, which is defined as “the opposite of burnout: energy, involvement, and high efficacy” (Martin 2019). The 2017 low morale study is cited in Martin’s literature review, along with Ettarh’sContinue reading “Renewals Reach: Library employee engagement”
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”
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.”
Recorded: “Lost in the Stacks” (March 2018)
Earlier this year in mid-March, I was interviewed by the folks at “Lost in the Stacks,” a radio show that airs on the Georgia Institute of Technology’s (GT) student-run WREK station. The show features alternative rock-and-roll music that relates to the show’s topic. In between sets, you’ll hear my discussion with hosts Charlie Bennett andContinue reading “Recorded: “Lost in the Stacks” (March 2018)”