Renewal: Promoting empathy & Self-preservation in North American Libraries

Kaetrena Davis Kendrick, M.S.L.S.

 

Reflection Prompts:
Consider the following ideas, which may help you engage in our Colloquium discussion. NOTE: You do not have to write out any responses. If you like, consult the cited resources in the list that follows these prompts.
Reflection 1: Berg, Galvan & Tewell discuss resilience narratives as tropes and expectations that that place library employees in the position of taking individual responsibility for gaps in systems or reductions of organizational resources. (2018). During the COVID-19 pandemic, library workers have experienced exposure to language and expectations surrounding resilience narratives (e.g. “do more with less”). Considering this information:
• What perceptions about library work and organizations may be driving low-morale experiences?
• How might library advocacy efforts reduce or expand the impact of resilience narratives?
• How have resilience narratives impacted your organization in terms of operations? Staffing? User services and interactions?
• How have resilience narratives impacted you, your library practice, or your health? How have you responded to these impacts?
Reflection 2: LIS Values, codified behaviors, and gaps in LIS or professional development education may impact library employees’ self-efficacy in creating and maintaining boundaries with their various stakeholders. Think about times you may have had difficulties:
• communicating a difficult point of order or procedure to a colleague or library user;
• calling out a colleague or leader’s unethical or uncivil behavior;
2021 Kaetrena Davis Kendrick, M.S.L.S.
• defending yourself against abusive or negligent behavior; or
• determining the best way to broach or conclude an unpleasant conversation.
What were your concerns? How did those concerns impact your response? What would you have done differently?

 Resilience Grit and Other Lies

https://eamontewell.files.wordpress.com/2008/03/resilience-grit-and-other-lies-acrl-2017.pdf

Library Leaders Lack Confidence in Diversity Strategies

https://www.insidehighered.com/news/2021/04/14/academic-library-leaders-concerned-about-diversity-equity-inclusion

 

Vocational Awe and Librarianship: The Lies We Tell Ourselves

https://www.inthelibrarywiththeleadpipe.org/2018/vocational-awe/

Berg, J., Galvan, A., & Tewell, E. (2018). Responding to and reimagining resilience in academic libraries. Journal of New Academic Librarianship, 4(1): 1-4. Retrieved from https://newlibs.org/index.php/jonl/article/view/805/725

Ettarh, F. (2018). Vocational awe and librarianship: The lies we tell ourselves. In the Library with the Lead Pipe. Retrieved from http://www.inthelibrarywiththeleadpipe.org/2018/vocational-awe/

Kendrick, K.D. (2018). Academic librarians and low morale development. Retrieved from https://vimeo.com/281348220. (Alternatively, read the study from the Journal of Library Administration).
 

Kendrick, K.D. (2018, April 9). Can we talk? Retrieved from https://renewerslis.wordpress.com/2018/04/09/can-we-talk/
 

Kendrick, K.D. (2021). The public librarian low-morale experience: A qualitative study. Partnership: The Canadian Journal of Library and Information Research and Practice, 15(2): 1-32. Retrieved from https://journal.lib.uoguelph.ca/index.php/perj/article/view/5932
 

Kendrick, K.D. & Damasco, I.T. (2019). The low-morale experience of minority academic librarians: A review. Retrieved from https://bit.ly/3pqMKV1 (Alternatively, read the study from Library Trends)

Teaching and Communication Strategies for a New Era

Teaching and Communication Strategies for a New Era

By Dr. Ruth Childs, Theatre professor

 Top three recommendations:
Be prepared, authentic, and communicate

Be ourselves.

Breathe deeply-- slows our speech down.

Aim your camera for your full face and shoulders (if teaching online).

Dress the part,.

Demonstrate, if possible.

Stand up when teaching or recording a video.

Get a light ring, better light for videos or online teaching.

Do a few rehearsals of the script or class before the session.

Add symbols to your notes: One for breathing, one for a smile.

Add variety to your voice.

Underline the most important words.

Keyword-- exercise
    Try changing how you speak the important words:

1. Loud
2. Pause 
3. Slower
4. Add a guesture
   

New Metrics for Telling Your Library's Story

New Metrics for Telling Your Library's Story

June 11, 2020

1 Evaluating Events: Maurini Sturb from U of R spoke

2 Research Commons: Meris Longmeier at Ohio State

Supporting the Research Lifecycle

https://library.osu.edu/researchcommons/

https://kb.osu.edu/handle/1811/91810

3 RAMP - Jon

rampanalytics.org

UT Austin -- Krystal Wyatt-Baxter

Institutional Assessment

Reframing reference services: Perceptions and futures of the reference desk, findings from a mixed-methods survey of United States academic libraries

Reframing reference services: Perceptions and futures of the reference desk, findings from a mixed-methods survey of United States academic libraries

ALA webinar,  June 8, 2020

Traditional reference desk is still prominent.
75% , perception: reference desk gets mostly reference  questions

https://rdw.rowan.edu/lib_scholarship/20/

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1iyptdl1rsKk-1JMpUtbDngp540KmbBy1etb2HtvHaMk/edit?usp=sharing

A research and writing studio example: 
https://library.wwu.edu/rws

Someone mentioned that using LibCal really helped with research consultations.

Majority of research consults are often a follow-up from the instruction sessions they have done. 

Intellectual property, privacy, OERs

https://www.commonsense.org/education/articles/privacy-in-the-classroom-why-should-i-care

https://www.oercommons.org/about

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KPo8ofxTvZA

https://copyrightalliance.org/ca_faq_post/what-is-copyright/

Psychological First Aid Webinar 05/21/2020

Speak warmly and genuinely with those you are working with survivors.

Help families create routines and structure: predictability.
Help the survivors by letting them be involved in the decision making process.  Instead of open ended questions, you might want to give them three choices to choose from. 

Validate survivor's thoughts and feelings. 
Express empathy.  So you feel?... It sounds like....
If you get the feeling wrong, apologize and let the survivor clarify or say what they really feel.  
Don't say "I know how you feel"  --- reflect back to them, like it sounds like you feel really sad or upset....
Don't start any sentence with "At least ... [anything]"

Some questions are just unanswerable.  Just stand there (be there). 

Dealing with anger:  Sometimes the will direct at at you, just because you are there.  Validate, but don't take it personally. 

To be empathetic, you need to take care of yourself.  You might just not be able to help at certain times.

We are in "chronic ambiguity" --say I don't know or provide accurate information

Normalize your reactions... we don't feel normal, what your feeling is what is expected or understandable. 
Positive Coping Strategies
How have you gotten through this before? 
What skills or strengths do you have to get through this? 
What do you have control over and what do you not have control over? 

Effective vs. ineffective ways of coping (seeing it in writing can help)

Stress Management and Self Care Webinar (05/07/2020)

Institute for Disaster Mental Health


Eustress:  The positive stress that keeps us functioning.. like challenges at work, or pushing oneself physically

Sometimes there is a delayed response to a particular stressor

Stress Reaction:  Emotional, Cognitive, Behavioral, Spiritual, Physical (Shame, Guilt)

Quarantine Brain can be a stressor!  yes!

Outbreak Specific Stressors:
General Uncertainty and Unfamiliarity
-Impact is unpredictable... we don't know when this will end.
-Unprecented use of social distancing
-Information changes rapidly
  
Result: Constant need to adapt

Stressors:
Medical Fear, Caregiving, Practical concerns (job loss, enough supplies, education, other healthcare needs), Social Experiences, Economic Concerns, Work/Life Balance,

Self care imperative:  "People who do not take care of themselves cannot take care of others or meet their professional demands."   Taking steps to take care for you own

Compassion Stress Continuum: 
Compassion satisfaction <----------------> Compassion Fatigue
http://www.proqol.org

Burnout

Emotion and Behavior-Based Pratices
Meditation
Mindfulness
Yoga
Breathing exercises
Exercise

Cognition Based
Self talk, Stress Inoculation, Cognitive restructuring

Stress Innoculation:
Acknowledge that stress exists

Component elements:
1. ID potential stressors
2. Appraise or evaluate the stressors
--is the situation a challenge or a threat? 
--is it under my control or not?
3. ID how we're going to cope with them 
A. If under my control:  Develop a problem-focused strategy. 
B. Not under my control: Emotion-focused Strategies, like the Serenity Prayer
4. ID Organizational Strategies