Low Morale in Libraries: Impacts and Countermeasures
Learn about important research on low morale and leave with actionable ideas for promoting a healthy work environment for all staff and cultivating empathetic leadership in libraries.
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Low morale is detrimental to the health and well-being of employees, library organizations, and the communities they serve. Kaetrena Davis Kendrick has conducted extensive research on low-morale experiences in libraries, identifying the various workplace factors and events that can lead to or trigger low morale, and revealing the systems and structures that enable and perpetuate low morale. Join us to learn more about this important research and leave with actionable ideas for promoting a healthy work environment for all staff and cultivating empathetic leadership in libraries. The webinar will highlight established and emerging countermeasures for library workers, including promoting work-life balance, encouraging candid communication, and cultivating a supportive workplace culture that allows all employees to thrive.
Presented by: Kaetrena Davis Kendrick, Researcher, Leader, Consultant, and Coach; and Sunnie Scarpa, Library Director, E.C. Scranton Memorial Library (CT)
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Webinar Attachments
- View slides (pdf)
- View chat (xls)
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- Learner Guide (doc) Use alone or with others to extend your learning.
Related Resources and Links
- Recording for follow-on session, Revitalizing Morale: Cultivating a Supportive Library Culture, October 11, 2023
- Researching Low Morale in Libraries, a WebJunction interview with Kaetrena Davis Kendrick
- Kendrick’s list of Published Low Morale Studies
- WorldCat.org list of 12 books on Empathetic Leadership, recommended by webinar presenters
- Responding to and reimagining resilience in academic libraries, Berg, J., Galvan, A., & Tewell, E. (2018). Journal of New Academic Librarianship.
- Vocational awe and librarianship: The lies we tell ourselves, Ettarh, F. (2018). In the Library with the Lead Pipe.
- Be careful with each other: How activist groups can build trust, care, and sustainability in a world of capitalism and oppression. Mehreen, R. & Gray-Donald, D. (2018, Aug 29). Briarpatch.
- Working Toward Wellness: Exploring Trauma-Informed Librarianship, Leah Dudak, Library Journal, February 2023
- The Artist’s Way by Julia Cameron
- Library next: seven action steps for reinvention by Katherine Murray-Rust
- Career Burnout: Causes and Cures, Pines, A., & Aronson, E. (1989). New York: The Free Press.
- The Comprehensive Guide to Resisting Overcommitment by Katrina Spencer
- What Is Psychological Safety?, Harvard Business Reveiw, February 2023
- Build Your Learning Culture: The Whole Organization Approach, WebJunction webinar
- Mental Health First Aid and Trauma-Informed Approaches for Libraries, WebJunction webinar
- Renewers Communities
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/groups/RenewersLIS
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/renewerslis/
- Twitter: https://twitter.com/RenewersL
- Renewals Coaching, Career, and Facilitation Services: Regain your confidence, clarify your career, and cultivate leadership skills and teams that support healthier employees and organizations: review the suite of coaching, career, and facilitation services offered by Kaetrena Davis Kendrick - the leader in low morale research and mitigation praxis.
- Leaders, to learn more about Kaetrena's leadership low morale study and some more ideas to consider for reflection, a podcast on Librarian Linkover
- Additional links shared in chat or Learner Guide:
- What Makes a 360-Degree Review Successful?, Harvard Business Review
- From CDC, overview of Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs) and related resource, the 3 Realms of ACEs
- Today I Bent a Rule: Barrier Identification Staff Survey at Halifax Public Libraries
- WebJunction webinar Library Policies for Today’s Communities
- Freedom Project, Trauma Informed Practice, Educational Guide (pdf)
Date
29 June 2023
Time
3:00 PM – 4:00 PM
Eastern Daylight Time, North America [UTC -4]
Webinar presenter Kaetrena Davis Kendrick
Webinar presenter Sunnie Scarpa
Upcoming Webinars
04 June 2025