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Pre-Conference Workshop (Optional)

Navigating the Impeded Stream: How Instruction Librarians Can Develop Strategies to Cope with Burnout and Transform Their Work
Maria Accardi (Coordinator of Instruction and Reference) @ Indiana University Southeast

Thursday, May 11, 1:00 - 4:30 p.m.
The Hyatt Regency Lexington
$115 per person

***Registration for this workshop is now open! Click here to register***

Kentucky poet Wendell Berry states in his poem "The Real Work": "It may be that when we no longer know what to do we have come to our real work . . . The impeded stream is the one that sings." Librarians who teach often find themselves in a kind of impeded stream, a place where there are obstacles that seem insurmountable. But viewed from a different perspective, these obstacles can be reframed as rich opportunities for growth and transformation. Instruction librarians face impediments such as marginal status in the campus community, faculty who do not understand information literacy and why it matters, the repetitive nature of one-shot library instruction, and a general lack of time and resources. These conditions can lead to the emotional distress, exhaustion, and cynicism that characterize burnout.

Participants in the workshop will be able to:

  1. Define burnout
  2. Identify common causes of burnout for instruction librarians
  3. Describe approaches for coping with burnout
  4. Develop strategies for coping with and resisting burnout in their own personal contexts.

The strategies explored in this workshop will include an emphasis on empathy, compassion, and self-care, so that participants are empowered to bring about change in their own lives and the culture of library instruction.

Payment

Payment can be made by check, Visa or MasterCard.

  • Mail or fax (734-561-4527) the LOEX 2017 Pre-Conference Workshop Payment Form.
  • To pay with a credit card by phone, call 734-487-2633.
  • There is no online payment option for the pre-conference.
  • You will not be sent a formal invoice; once you are registered, just please pay using the form.