The Library Worker Podcast Episode One available now!

Episode one available now on Apple Podcasts.

Welcome to the Library Worker! We’re glad you found us.

We’ve just released our first podcast episode on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Podbean, iHeart Radio, and a few other platforms. In it, we introduce ourselves, The Library Worker project, and what we hope to accomplish with it.

Keep an eye on our website—we are hoping to post bi-weekly articles and/or podcast episodes exploring topics around public libraries and workplace safety. Our goal is to create a resource for other people working in public libraries, and foster dialogue at the worker level between organizations.

There is lots of good work out there, and that can be hard to remember when your workplace is struggling with understaffing, overwork, and a lack of support when it comes providing appropriate services to patrons with complex needs. We approach this problem with kindness and empathy, while also recognizing the limits to what library workers can do when the appropriate social supports don’t exist or are overburdened.

FYI: our recorded conversation has better sound quality than the introduction! The beauty of a library makerspace is that you have access to good quality equipment, but if you have to record an intro at home, you quickly realize the gap in quality of your own equipment in an apartment that might not be that quiet or soundproofed.

We hope you enjoy this starter conversation. This is our first attempt at making a podcast and we can only hope to get better. Let us know what you think by emailing us at thelibraryworkers@gmail.com . We’d love to hear back from you and we’d love it if you would share this resource with anyone you think would enjoy it.

We are hoping to release short articles every two weeks; more podcast episodes to come!

In solidarity,

alissa

New Podcast Episode Out!

Audrey and I sit down to talk about what public library work looks like and how it has changed in the last 10-15 years. We went long, so we are releasing it in doses—the first part delves into patron expectations and how that impacts what our work looks like.

'Frontline', 'Crisis' and Other Terms That Don’t Seem to Have Anything to do With Libraries

We have already touched on how the perception of public libraries differs between a worker’s perspective and the academic or general public’s perspective. To illustrate this, a part of the library worker’s day contends with the lack of access to basic services such as washrooms, showers and

Outdoor mural of geometric shapes with shadows of a chainlink fence.

How Do We Begin?

Frontline workers in public libraries deserve a safe workplace. This article discusses some of the issues facing workers and goes over some of the resources that currently exist.

What Are We Doing Here?

This platform exists because there is a gulf between the understanding of what library workers do everyday, and everyone else’s impression of our work. This isn’t surprising, because librarianship as a profession struggles with representation and diversity. Another factor is society’s perpetual discomfort with looking too closely

Episode one available now on Apple Podcasts.

Read more

New Podcast Episode Out!

'Frontline', 'Crisis' and Other Terms That Don’t Seem to Have Anything to do With Libraries

How Do We Begin?

What Are We Doing Here?