Library Journal Panel Discussion: Supporting Staff

In the wake of COVID-driven shakeups, much of the U.S. workforce is reevaluating what they need and want from work, and library staff are no exception. Increasingly library workers are sharing their trauma, burnout, and low morale on-the-job experiences and asking for more and different policies and support structures from their libraries to support their work and mental health. Moderator Meredith Schwartz, Editor-in-Chief of Library Journal, will be joined by a representative from frontline worker-focused Urban Librarians Unite, who will share the top line findings of the organization’s IMLS-funded study on urban library workers’ trauma in the workplace, including takeaways that can apply to rural and suburban libraries as well. Amanda Leftwich, Student Success Librarian at Montgomery County Community College, founder of mindfulinlis, and co-creator of LibVoices, will share her advice on how to prevent and reduce burnout.