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Lam, Nia
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Association of College & Research Libraries
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- Type:
- Document
- Description/Abstract:
- Fighting Post-Tenure Fatigue: Reclaiming Your Time and Redefining Leadership offers insights, strategies and personal examples of how the two mid-career librarians have managed to navigate academic librarianship as first-generation, BIPOC, cis-gendered women while also balancing parenthood on the road to achieving tenure. The chapter describes their bouts with post-tenure fatigue, a phenomenon familiar to many mid-career librarians. Early in their careers, academic librarians focus on fulfilling the requirements of the promotion process at their institution. These requirements often leave little room for personal fulfillment once day-to-day responsibilities and designated service requirements are met. This process can provoke feelings of stress and anxiety as they struggle to find their footing within the institution, and the larger areas of librarianship and academia. Most institutions provide a support system and other mentorship for professional growth and career development. Achieving promotion and/or tenure is an accomplishment to be celebrated and followed by a sigh of relief. However, in the days, months, and years afterward, tenured librarians can start feeling a lack of motivation, support, and career guidance. They often struggle to answer the question, “What next?” The co-authors will highlight strategies for dealing with this kind of post-tenure burnout. One strategy for mid-career librarians is to be intentional about how one wants to spend their time. Day-to-day responsibilities and leadership expectations tend to increase exponentially the longer one stays in a position. Therefore, mid-career librarians need to learn when and how to say no in some cases, in order to say yes to other possibilities. Readers will be encouraged to look beyond their core responsibilities and think about expanding their time into areas like strategizing, skill building, acting creatively, and strengthening relationships. The chapter will include questions the reader can use to reflect on how they are spending their time, as well as tips for examining and adjusting their time to align with their intentions. Another strategy for mid-career librarians is to take advantage of unexpected leadership opportunities. Rather than looking for a new position with formal leadership responsibilities, one can develop leadership skills by leading projects inside and outside of their institution. Examples include participating in initiatives with specific goals or professional service in the form of short-term committees. The chapter will include questions the reader can use to examine opportunities for new leadership roles. To illustrate these strategies, the co-authors will share their experience using the mid-career point as an inspiration to invest time into the BIPOC in LIS community. Through service on the ALA Spectrum Advisory Committee, the co-authors were able to lead projects, establish virtual networking events, support new librarians, and experience professional growth. As a result of this work, they were also introduced to new opportunities and professional relationships. This experience models how one can be more intentional about time and energy and grow leadership skills without changing jobs and moving into a leadership or management position.
- Creator/Author:
- Lam, Nia; McKinney, Michelle; West, Brandon K. (editor), and Galoozis, Elizabeth (editor)
- Submitter:
- Michelle McKinney
- Date Uploaded:
- 01/24/2023
- Date Modified:
- 05/16/2023
- Date Created:
- 2023-01-06
- License:
- Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 4.0 International