Learning from the Pandemic

The ALSC blog recently ran a reflection by a mentorship team of how they coped in each of their libraries with the many changes COVID brought to them. The article shares both the mentor and mentee's experiences and ends with some research that the two found about changes in library work and our reactions to them.  

Stop here to read this thoughtful post. [Using the COVID Experience to Help Us Grown in Our Work. Brewer, Maeve and Mary Voors. ALSC blog. May 12, 2022]

Also, brand new from Rowman and Littlefield Publishers in their Practical Guides for Librarians series is a book by my former ALSC mentee Molly Virello, entitled Working Remotely. It is a library-specific guide to help managers and staff navigate the ins and outs of continuing work remotely either full-time or part-time as the pandemic wears on. It is another resource that has grown from the need for libraries to change and grow during the pandemic.

Working From Home During COVID-19

For many of us, it has been over a month since we began sheltering in place - working from home; parenting and schooling our kids from home; learning ALL.THE.THINGS. to program virtually or remotely; missing our other friends and family members we can't see in person. During that time we have had moments of grace and gratitude and stress and anxiety as the pandemic wreaks havoc on what once passed for normal in our lives and world. Many of us are now facing reduced hours and furloughs creating more stress.

While we don't have answers, we do want to share some excellent resources and thoughtful blog posts we came across this weekend and hope they help you get centered and find a few solutions to your work from home.

• The above graphic is based on a screen capture from Tessa Michaelson Schmidt's 4/17/20 Friday FAQs update that she received in an email attachment. She shared it and it's worth sharing again (thanks to Wina Mortenson of Galesville (WI) Public Library who re-did it as a PDF)

• Jamie Matzcak who works from her home in Green Bay for WI Valley Library Service (based in Wausau) shares great tips in this TV interview: Working From Home: Fixing Your Workspace to Improve Efficiency and Wellness from Monday 4/20/20

• The always wise Karen Jensen who blogs at Teen Librarian Toolbox for SLJ has a moving and honest assessment of what the past month has been like for her and for her teens: It's Okay Not to Be Okay in a Pandemic.  She has two outstanding resources to share in this post as well.

• Rose Hopkins-LaRocco shares some important tips when you are managing staff remotely during this time. Her thoughtful, supportive approach is a must-read in Managing From Afar on the ALSC blog.

• Finally, Jennifer Brown also shares supportive information about the similarities and approaches between your live programming and virtual programming in her post on the ALSC blog: Transitioning to Virtual Programming: You Already Know the Basics.. It's some of the calmest advice I've seen shared.

Remember, you got this from whatever place you are coming from.

Be well.

For more information on learning opportunities/webinars, please see earlier posts in our 

Professional Development YSS COVID-19 series:

Webinar - Summer Learning Through Our Public Libraries in a Time of COVID-19  5/18/20

Confronting Xenophobia and Supporting Asian and Asian/Pacific Communities Webinar 4/21/20

Working From Home During COVID-19 4/19/20

Need to Keep Up? Free Online Professional Development  3/21/20

Webinar -Remote and Online Services & Resources for Youth Librarians  3/25/20

Free Children’s/Teen Professional Journal Access 3/28/20

Creating Accessibility in Your Online Programming 4/15/20; updated 4/23/20