Wellness and Our Work 

Wellness, including mental, physical, social, financial, environmental, and vocational, can be challenging to achieve. Ettarh’s (2018) description of vocational awe is a warning to the modern library worker not to conflate the importance of one’s profession and the joy of work with overall wellness and meaning in one’s life. Librarians often overstate the importance of their vocation, describing it as a calling “because the sacred duties of freedom, information, and service are so momentous.” Which leads us to ask – How does our work in libraries impact our wellness? How can we center wellness in our interactions with colleagues? Patrons? Local communities? How do library spaces contribute to wellness?

For this year’s Spring Program, DVC welcomes submissions on any area related to wellness, but encourages you to consider our 2022-2023 guiding questions:

• How do you find meaning in your role/work? How do you disengage in extraneous work that you don’t find meaningful?
• How do you feel about the idea of “quiet quitting?” Does periodic reassessment of how much time that you devote to work versus other important factors in your life (e.g. family, health, etc.) automatically constitute abdicating your job responsibilities?

Reflect on the ways that your work intersects with your well-being (or doesn’t). We welcome public reflection in the form of stories, presentations, panel discussions, lightning rounds, prompts for play and inspiration, or facilitated community conversations.

9:00 AM          Registration and Library Tours

9:30 AM          Welcome
Nick Cunningham, ACRL DVC Vice President
Joe Lucia, Dean of Libraries at Temple University

9:45 AM          Lightening Round: Library Staffing
How Vocational Awe Taught Us to Prioritize; Heather Dalal, Instruction & Emerging Technologies; Dr. Sharon Whitfield, Electronic & User Access Librarian; Marissa Stinson, Instructor-Librarian; Melissa Hofmann, Bibliographic Control Librarian at Rider University

Managing Oneself in the Face of Downsizing: Strategies for Empowering Academic Librarians; Russell Michalak, Library Director at Goldey-Beacom College

(Re)Write Your Job Description; Tina Hertel, Director at Muhlenberg College

10:45 AM        Break and Tours

11:30 AM        Lightening Round: Library Space and Services
Play and Belonging through Making; Hannah Tardie, Makerspace Manager at Temple University

Wellness Benefits of Community Services in an Academic Library Environment; Justin Hill, Head of Access Services; Emily Schiller, Circulation Supervisor; John Oram, Stacks Supervisor at Temple University

Student Use of Academic Libraries to Cope with Stress; Brendan Johnson, Outreach and Engagement Librarian at Penn State Abington

Impact of Green Roof on Student Study Space Preferences: Does Biophilic Design Matter?; Steven Bell, Associate University Librarian at Temple University

12:30 PM        Lunch
BYO/Food Trucks

1:15 PM          Keynote Presentation
James Templeton, Assistant Vice President and University Architect at Temple University
John Cearley, Associate at The S/L/A/M Collaborative

2:15 PM          Roundtable Discussions

3:30 PM          Closing and Final Opportunity for Tours