Recipes for Mindfulness in Your Library: Supporting Resilience and Community Engagement Edited by Madeleine Charney, Jenny Colvin, and Richard Moniz Mindfulness is an accelerating trend in libraries, and this title is a great start for those interested in joining in. It explores how librarians have integrated mindfulness into their teaching, collections, services, … Continue reading Mental Health in the Library
Freeman was joined by Maria Stella Rasetti, director of San Giorgio Library of Pistoia in Tuscany, Italy; Lisa Rosenblum, executive director of King County (Wash.) Library System; Loren Mc Clain, certified instructor for the National Council for Behavioral Health and Mental Health First Aid USA and senior academic advisor for the School of Science, Technology, … Continue reading Coping in the Time of COVID-19
I also could not have predicted how social media and app developers would later design their products to be addictive using many of the same techniques that casinos use to get people to spend mindless hours gambling. Over time, I began to see the unhealthy pull of technology on my attention, whether it was spending … Continue reading Pay Attention to Attention
They’ll discuss lessons learned during the initial response and how they are continuing to provide important services as public facilities close and commerce slows. We’ll also speak with mindfulness and mental health experts about how library workers can manage stress and anxiety during this ever-evolving situation and how they can disseminate these strategies to their … Continue reading Free Webinar: Libraries and COVID-19
Nine Lies About Work: A Freethinking Leader’s Guide to the Real World By Marcus Buckingham and Ashley Goodall Culture, goals, leadership, feedback: These ideas are ingrained in our work lives. They shape the organizations we work for and our experiences within them. But Buckingham and Goodall argue that they are, in fact, lies that distort … Continue reading Reenvisioning Work
Abigail Hing Wen (Loveboat, Tapei), I.W. Gregorio (This Is My Brain in Love, 2020), Gail Silver (Mindful Bea and the Worry Tree, 2019), Sharon Huss Roat (How to Disappear, 2017), and Beth Kephart (The Great Upending, 2020) were joined by Lauren Caldwell, director of the American Psychological Association’s (APA) Children, Youth, and Families Office, for … Continue reading Using Lit to Help Kids
As a first step, a three-member ALA Workplace Wellness Advisory Committee and I collaborated with the American Library Association–Allied Professional Association (ALA-APA) to renew the wellness website started by former ALA President Loriene Roy (2007–2008). Thanks to graduate students in Roy’s School of Information class at University of Texas at Austin, the site has been … Continue reading Immerse Yourself in Wellness
Oberlander is one of an increasing number of academic library directors who oversees what are variously called “reflection rooms” or “meditation rooms.” Around the US, students are using these spaces for prayer, yoga, scripture study, or simply for an escape between tough classes. It is a recent and growing trend for colleges, where a rising … Continue reading A Space Apart
Participants sit in comfortable chairs arranged in a circle, and Allen sounds a low bell to begin. Overhead, sunlight sifts through the double windows as the meditators silently listen to the sounds of the bell and their own in-breaths and out-breaths. Then, while a recording of a meditation by Zen Buddhist monk Thich Nhat Hanh … Continue reading Mindful Librarianship
This first book grew out of a 2014 ALA Annual Conference presentation. Taking Your MLIS Abroad: Getting and Succeeding in an International Library Job, by Lara Seven Phillips and Katherine G. Holvoet, both of whom have worked overseas, explains the process of landing and taking on an appointment in an international library. The result is … Continue reading Know Thyself
