For immediate release | November 10, 2016
New eCourse: Mindfulness for Librarians
91´«Ã½
Chicago—91´«Ã½ Editions announces a new facilitated eCourse, . Richard Moniz and Martin House will serve as the instructors for a 4-week facilitated eCourse starting on Monday, January 9, 2017.
Estimated Hours of Learning: 30
Certificate of Completion available upon request
Learning outcomes
After participating in this eCourse, you will:
- Understand the seriousness of burnout and why being aware of the causes and symptoms will help you stay engaged
- Understand what some librarians are currently doing related to mindfulness and stress
- Learn mindful strategies applied to library-related duties
- Understand the stressors affecting librarians and gain valuable tips and techniques to deal with them
Do you ever find yourself feeling overwhelmed or stressed at work? Throughout this four-week eCourse, you’ll learn tips and tricks to better handle stress and become more mindful in the workplace. Instructors Richard Moniz and Martin House will discuss burnout theory and the overall impact it has on you, library users, and your organization as a whole. You’ll be introduced to mindfulness, discuss its significance and how it relates to the library profession, and learn techniques to put theory into practice. The practical strategies you learn can be implemented right away to succeed in your position and thrive under pressure.
eCourse outline
Week 1: Understanding the Burnout Phenomenon and other “Occupational Hazards”
- What areas of library work cause you the most stress? What are common stressors in the profession?
- How do we deal with our compassion fatigue at the service desk and serve our patrons in these challenging times?
- What is burnout theory and what are its elements? • What are the ramifications for the burnout librarian (emotional and physical)?
- What are the organizational costs of burnout?
- What are the customer service costs of burnout?
- What can you do as part of your daily work to mitigate burnout and remain engaged?
Week 2: Introduction to Mindfulness
- What is mindfulness and why is it relevant to us?
- What do we know about mindfulness in relation to library work (results from a national study will be shared and discussed)?
- How do you practice mindfulness or what practices would you like to know more about?
- How can you start practicing mindfulness or enrich your mindful practice?
Week 3: Mindfulness, Burnout and the Social Environment in the Workplace
- What role does organizational culture have in impacting stress, burnout, and mindfulness (or lack of)? What can we do about it?
- How can the workplace become a social network that is supportive of mindfulness and reduces burnout? How can we be more intentional in applying mindfulness to specific library roles?
- Can mindfulness make our lives and work more enjoyable and challenges easier to handle?
Week 4: Reflection
- What are/were your experiences in practicing and discussing mindfulness? What works for you and what doesn’t?
- What was particularly hard about putting this theory into practice?
- Did you see any improvements? Personal or work life?
- What are you going to do now that you have this information and practice? How can we continue the process of learning more about mindfulness and stay on track in reducing stress in our roles?
About the Instructor
Dr. Richard Moniz has been the Director of Library Services at Johnson & Wales University's Charlotte campus since 2004. Since 2006, he has served as an adjunct instructor for the MLIS program at the University of North Carolina at Greensboro. He has taught classes in Information Sources and Services, Special Libraries, Library Administration, Information Sources in the Professions, and Online Bibliographic Information Retrieval. Dr. Moniz has published in numerous periodicals such as College & Undergraduate Libraries, North Carolina Libraries, Library Journal, and Library Leadership & Management. He has written extensively in the field and co-authored several books including The Personal Librarian: Enhancing the Student Experience (2014), The Mindful Librarian (2016) and Librarians and Instructional Designers: Innovation and Collaboration (2016). He is actively engaged in the profession and has held a number of committee and board responsibilities within 91´«Ã½ LLAMA, ACRL CLS, and Metrolina Library Association (including serving as President of this organization in 2007 and 2015).
Martin House currently serves as Assistant Director for Public Services at Central Piedmont Community College and joined the college in 2010. Prior to his work at the community college, House worked in a variety of roles at the Charlotte Mecklenburg Public Library, where he held a manager role for several years. Over the course of his career, he has always had an interest in user and staff engagement. Interested from the social sciences perspective, he is working to unravel the role of burnout and job demands and resources in the library workplace. Currently, in his dissertation phase of an Ed.D. from Northeastern University (Boston), Martin is examining possible causes of burnout among community college librarians. He has published two articles: “Dealing with Workplace Complexities and Engaging Staff” published in Leading the 21st-Century Academic Library: Successful Strategies for Envisioning and Realizing Preferred Futures and the forthcoming article “Implementing the Open-Source KOHA-ILS at the Deutsche Schule Charlotte” in Digital Library Perspectives.
Registration for this 91´«Ã½ Editions facilitated eCourse, which begins on January 9, 2017, can be purchased at the . Participants in this course will need regular access to a computer with an internet connection for online message board participation, viewing online video, listening to streaming audio (MP3 files), and downloading and viewing PDF and PowerPoint files.
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