Caring for our colleagues: Wellness and support strategies for remote library teams

Abstract

The COVID-19 pandemic has posed many challenges for academic and research libraries and those working within them. Nearly everything that we do has been questioned and re-envisioned, and our days are filled with new work, uncertainty, and isolation. Because of this, one of the areas that library leaders must invest in re-envisioning is how we can best support the well-being and morale of our library colleagues. This article identifies and discusses simple, informal, practical, and easy strategies that library leaders can use to support the physical, emotional, spiritual, professional, social, and mental well-being of their teams in remote and hybrid working environment.

Management Practice Changes in Academic Library Technical Services Departments during the COVID-19 Pandemic

“…8 Managers should also consider creating opportunities for employees to communicate and express themselves across different dimensions (e.g., physical, social, and emotional) while leaving space for those that may not want to participate in these other types of sharing opportunities. 9 Creating space for social communication amongst team members during a quarantine can help strengthen relationships and enhance the overall wellness of employees. 10 Mazur was happy to discover most of their technical services department's duties could translate smoothly into off-site work arrangements but quickly found communication to be an important area of needed focus.…”

“…9 Creating space for social communication amongst team members during a quarantine can help strengthen relationships and enhance the overall wellness of employees. 10 Mazur was happy to discover most of their technical services department's duties could translate smoothly into off-site work arrangements but quickly found communication to be an important area of needed focus. 11 Mazur notes that informal communications are an important part of technical services departments and a lack of visual clues (e.g., body language) can be a communication tool that managers lack in the virtual environment.…”

“…Hudson-Vitale and Miller Waltz report the need for managers "to think creatively to develop a supportive work environment for remote personnel" during this difficult period. 22 Trust is a theme that comes up numerous times in the COVID-19 library literature. 23 Although trust is an important part of any aspect of the supervisor-employee dyad relationship, trust that an employee can and is doing their job, especially in the remote work setting, is critical.…”

“…Hudson-Vitale and Miller Waltz give wellness and support strategies including meeting free Fridays, limiting meetings to forty-five minutes or less, and taking action when team members express needs that would reduce their stress such as schedule flexibility. 27 Some departments were better prepared than others to go remote. In Corbett's case, all employees went home with their office computers or laptops, other needed equipment, and office chairs so that they were prepared for success working from home.…”

Remote cataloging productivity: an exploratory study in a national library

“…Remote cataloging could prove to be harsh since many librarians struggle to separate their work life from their home life when working at home (Hudson-Vitale and Waltz, 2020). Remote cataloging has created a virtual working environment without providing adequate ways for the librarians to isolate themselves from home life demands.…”