VLA College and Research Libraries VLA-College and Research Libraries Chapter (VLACRL) 

VLACRL Officers 2022-23

Past Chair: Stephanie Hardy, Southern Virginia University, [email protected]
Chair: Christine Woods, Saint Leo University, [email protected]
Co-Chair: Jennifer Stout, Virginia Commonwealth University, [email protected]
Secretary/Treasurer: Robert Pillow, Virginia Tech,  [email protected]

Chapter Information

Purpose: To provide a forum for the exchange of information and ideas to promote service to the academic community.
Objectives:

  1. To provide continuing education annually for interested library personnel.
  2. To serve as the Virginia chapter of the Association of College and Research Libraries.

Are you interested in suggesting a program for us to plan? E-mail any member of the Executive Board. 

VLA (ACRL) Summer Program 

Wednesday, July 19, 2023 at 11am EST

Escaping Toxic Positivity: How Vocation and Resiliency Narratives Challenge Librarianship

Presenters

Talia Nadir
Research and Instruction/Social Sciences Librarian
Macalester College

 

Ginny Moran
Research & Instruction Librarian, Rare Books & Special Collections
Macalester College

Building on Fobazi Ettarh’s premise of “vocational awe,” Miya Tokumitsu’s interrogation of the “do what you love” narrative, and Barbara Ehrenreich’s examination of positive psychology, our presentation will center on how these forces within librarianship manifest in our workplaces. In our research, we considered radical vocational critique to investigate expectations of labor and emotional regulation in our field. Our survey aimed to gauge the experiences of library workers in academic libraries in order to evaluate contemporary attitudes and values toward choosing academic library work. Following an overview of our research, we invite you to join a discussion surrounding issues of service vs servitude, the expectations for emotional modulation, the role of individual resiliency narratives at the expense of collective action, burnout, low morale, toxic positivity, and thoughts about critical management strategies as potential solutions. We hope to spark a conversation on how job class, educational attainment, gender, race, and other social identities impact individual abilities to critically examine workplace practices. 

 

Registration click on this link to register. 

Contact Jennifer Stout [email protected] with any questions or problems regarding registration. 

 


 

Partner Organizations

VASCIG