Author: circideas

Circulating Ideas facilitates conversations with the innovative people and ideas inspiring libraries to grow and thrive in the 21st century.

285: Well-Being in the Library Workplace: A Handbook for Managers, with Bobbi L. Newman

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In this episode, Steve chats with Bobbi Newman, editor of Well-Being in the Library Workplace: A Handbook for Managers, about her path to librarianship, the importance of fostering a wellbeing-centric culture in libraries, and topics including vocational awe, emotional and invisible labor, the key role of communication, recognition and appreciation, addressing loneliness, fostering trust and connection, and tackling burnout and moral injury.

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From this essential guide, managers will learn concrete steps for creating and maintaining a supportive, productive work environment that supports well-being among library staff.

Fostering well-being in today’s library workplaces is no longer a luxury but a necessity, particularly for managers tasked with guiding and supporting their teams. Amidst budget cuts, attempts to ban or restrict books, attacks on library staff online and in-person, and potentially hostile and aggressive patrons, taking care of ourselves and our staff by putting good policies and practices into place is more important than ever. In this book, Newman and her expert contributors will lead you through creating an environment that nurtures the health, satisfaction, and well-being of its workers and helps prevent or reduce the internal factors that create an unhealthy workplace. You will receive actionable advice on

  • navigating the pitfalls of vocational awe, which can lead to unrealistic expectations and self-neglect;
  • setting and recalibrating healthy boundaries;
  • approaching difficult conversations by creating spaces for positive staff communication;
  • overcoming limited budgets;
  • the proper mindset for encouraging realistic performance expectations among employees;
  • using recognition, appreciation, and staff professional development as tools for wellness;
  • nurturing social connections and collaboration to combat loneliness;
  • effective techniques for addressing sensitive issues such as disabilities, confronting anti-fat bias, and moral injury;
  • emotional and invisible labor mitigation; and
  • self-care methods for library leaders at risk of burnout.

Bobbi L. Newman (she/her) is a librarian, Certified Wellness Practitioner, and workplace well-being expert dedicated to helping libraries create environments where individuals feel empowered, supported, and free to bring their best selves to work. Bobbi specializes in evidence-based strategies to cultivate psychologically safe workplaces that foster trust, collaboration, and open communication. As a consultant, speaker, instructor, coach, and well-being advocate, her comprehensive approach includes workshops, keynote presentations, strategic consulting, and coaching to help organizations establish sustainable practices that reduce burnout, increase engagement, and ensure team members feel genuinely valued. She also writes about workplace well-being on her blog, Librarian by Day, and is a sought-after speaker at state, national, and international conferences.

SHOW NOTES:

Well-Being in the Library Workplace: A Handbook for Managers
Librarian By Day

284: Stories on Skin: A Librarian’s Guide to Tattoos as Personal Archives

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Steve chats with Terry Baxter and Libby Coyner-Tsosie, authors of Stories on Skin: A Librarian’s Guide to Tattoos as Personal Archives, about the cultural and historical significance of tattoos, how body art intersects with themes like gender, queerness, and community memory, and broader topics related to archival practices, community engagement, and the evolving nature of libraries and archives in preserving diverse lived experiences.

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Tattoos are not merely decorative; they contain deep meaning for individuals and communities. They document their wearers’ personal histories and position in families or society, and they engage with a communal understanding of symbols.

This unique book makes the case that archivists who want to preserve as full a human story as possible must recognize the rich documentation provided by tattoos. It also argues, in a broader sense, that traditional archives are not representative of the ways human beings transmit information through time and that they must be augmented by other types of storytelling to provide a more complete record of our species.

Authors Baxter and Coyner touch on timely topics such as historical narratives, storytelling, cultural traditions, the body as a text, social control, and memorialization by considering tattoos as a personal and community archive. Discussing tattoos as a storytelling tool, the authors also challenge how history is kept and who gets included. Stories on Skin is committed to the rights of communities to tell their stories in their own way and to the power that right brings.

Terry Baxter (he/him) has been an archivist for almost 40 years, the last 25 with the Multnomah County (OR) Archives, USA. He helped establish the County Archives in 2001 and continues seeking ways to use it to assist information seekers of all sorts. Baxter is a member of and has served in a variety of leadership positions in Northwest Archivists; Society of American Archivists; Association of Tribal Archives, Libraries and Museums; Archives Leadership Institute; and The Academy of Certified Archivists.

Libby Coyner-Tsosie (she/they) is the University Archivist at UMass Amherst in the W.E.B. Du Bois Library, USA, where she primarily cares for collections related to the history of the university. She was trained in archival studies and library science at the University of British Columbia and is a member of the 2016 cohort of the Archives Leadership Institute. She is a cancer survivor whose life has been reshaped by disability. Libby lives with her partner Shepherd and their five cats.

SHOW NOTES:

Stories on Skin: A Librarian’s Guide to Tattoos as Personal Archives

283: Overdrive Content Strategy with Jason Tyrrell

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Steve chats with Jason Tyrrell, Executive Vice President, Content at OverDrive, about Jason’s personal experiences with libraries, his journey to Kanopy and then to Overdrive, the impact of streaming services on libraries, and future applications of AI to enhance library services while ensuring data privacy.

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Jason Tyrrell is the executive vice president of content at OverDrive, the leading digital media distributor for libraries, schools, and corporations. He oversees the growth and development of its platforms: Kanopy, Libby, and Sora. With over 15 years of experience in film and TV marketing and distribution, he plays a key role in expanding OverDrive’s presence while championing accessibility for partners and communities globally.

SHOW NOTES:

OverDrive
Kanopy

282: Battle Mountain by C. J. Box

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Steve chats with C. J. Box, author of BATTLE MOUNTAIN, the 25th novel in the Joe Pickett series, about how the story picks up from the previous book in the series, Nate Romanowski’s journey of revenge, how the story mirrors real-world suspicions about the government, and what’s next for the Joe Pickett series. And stick around for The Circ Desk, where Rebecca Vnuk from Library Reads and NoveList librarian Yaika Sabat provide readers’ advisory suggestions for fans of C.J. Box, highlighting similar authors and series.

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The campaign of destruction that Axel Soledad and Dallas Cates wreaked on Nate Romanowski and Joe Pickett left both men in tatters, especially Nate, who lost almost everything. Wondering if the civilized life left him vulnerable to attack, Nate dropped off the grid with his falcons in tow to prepare for vengeance.

When Joe gets a call from the governor asking for help finding his son-in-law, who has gone missing in the Sierra Madre mountain range, he enlists the help of a local, a rookie game warden named Susan Kany.

As Nate and fellow falconer Geronimo Jones circle closer to their prey, Joe and Susan follow the nearly cold trail to Warm Springs. Little do Nate and Joe know that their separate journeys are about to converge . . . at Battle Mountain.

C. J. Box is the author of twenty-five Joe Pickett novels, eight stand-alone novels, and a story collection. He has won the Edgar, Anthony, Macavity, Gumshoe, and two Barry awards, as well as the French Prix Calibre .38, the Western Heritage Award for Literature, and two Spur Awards. An avid outdoorsman, Box has hunted, fished, hiked, ridden, and skied throughout Wyoming and the Mountain West. He has been executive producer on television series based on his books, including ABC TV’s Big Sky and Joe Pickett on Paramount+.

SHOW NOTES:

Battle Mountain

281: ALA Presidential Candidates (2025)

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Steve chats with Lindsay Cronk and Maria McCauley, the 2025 candidates for President of the American Library Association, about how they got started in librarianship, their visions of leadership, why they wanted to run for ALA President, digital equity and advocacy, and who inspires them.

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Lindsay Cronk currently serves as a member of Core: Leadership, Infrastructure, Futures. She’s a member of the Core Five-Year Fundraising Team and served as 2021–2022 president of Core. She led the Core Communications Working Group and has also served on ALA Council, coauthoring ALA’s Resolution to Condemn White Supremacy and Fascism as Antithetical to Library Work. Before that, she served on the board of the Library Information Technology Association and edited its popular LITA Blog. She is the first woman to serve as dean of libraries at Tulane University.  

Cronk is 2024–2025 vice chair of the Association of Research Libraries’ (ARL) Advocacy and Public Policy Committee. She also serves on the Association of Southeastern Research Libraries board, Clarivate North American advisory group, and editorial board of The Serials Librarian journal. She is cocreator and founder of PeMento: Peer Mentoring for Mid-Career Library Workers. Her past keynotes have covered a variety of topics, from leadership to team building to systems migrations, while her research has focused on scholarly communication.

Cronk holds an MLIS from Valdosta (Ga.) State University, an education specialist degree from Georgia Southern University in Savannah, and a bachelor’s from Agnes Scott College in Decatur, Georgia.

“I’m honored and thrilled to be nominated for ALA president—thank you for this opportunity. Libraries are a collective superpower for learning, research, and discovery. We empower individuals and strengthen communities. The American Library Association champions and advances this vital work, offering all library professionals a shared home, a united voice, a thriving community of practice, and a values-driven foundation of policy. We have deep strengths and spectacular talent, and I am the loud librarian ready to amplify and advocate it,” Cronk said. “With a proven record of building teams and coalitions—within ALA and beyond—I am prepared to guide the Association through this pivotal moment of challenges and opportunities. Libraries are indispensable—not only providing resources but also fostering curiosity and inspiring a love of knowledge. When libraries lead, communities succeed.”

Maria McCauley, who was an ALA Spectrum Scholar, is a current member of Core: Leadership, Infrastructure, Futures; the Public Library Association (PLA); and the Association of College and Research Libraries (ACRL). She is also a member of the Rainbow Round Table, Sustainability Round Table, Intellectual Freedom Round Table, and the International Relations Round Table. She is also a member of the Asian/Pacific American Librarians Association, Chinese American Librarians Association, BCALA, Reforma: The National Association to Promote Library and Information Services to Latinos and the Spanish-Speaking, the American Indian Library Association; the Freedom to Read Foundation; the Massachusetts Library Association; and New England Library Association.

McCauley has held several leadership positions, including at-large councilor of ALA Council, ALA Executive Board member, and member of ALA’s Fiscal and Audit Committee. She was the 2022–2023 PLA president and a PLA board member.

McCauley holds a PhD in managerial leadership in the information professions from Simmons University in Boston; an MLIS from University of Pittsburgh; a bachelor’s in theater from Ohio Wesleyan University in Delaware, Ohio; and a leadership certificate from Northeastern University in Boston. She also completed ARL’s Library Leadership for New Managers Program.

“It is an honor to stand for the 2026–2027 ALA presidential election. ALA is a vital organization that is a lifeline for so many in the areas of professional development, advocacy, and connection. This includes me, from being a Spectrum Scholar, working in academic libraries, and serving for the past 13 years as a public library director, former ALA Executive Board member, and Public Library Association president,” McCauley said. “I am excited to bring my executive leadership and governance experience, knowledge, and passion for libraries to the presidential role. With my inclusive leadership practices and facilitation skills, I will work across the Association to strengthen ALA, inspire, guide, and connect members, and advocate for intellectual freedom, equity and inclusion, sustainability, and the public good of libraries.”

SHOW NOTES:

Cronk the Vote
Maria for Libraries

280: The Quiet Librarian by Allen Eskens

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Steve chats with Allen Eskens, author of The Quiet Librarian, about Eskens’ personal experiences with libraries, his journey into becoming an author, a deep dive into the inspiration and research behind his new novel, the Bosnian War, and Eskens’ writing process. Plus, Rebecca Vnuk from Library Reads and Yaika Sabat from NoveList return to The Circ Desk to offer insightful read-alikes for The Quiet Librarian!

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Hana Babic is a quiet, middle-aged librarian in Minnesota who wants nothing more than to be left alone. But when a detective arrives with the news that her best friend has been murdered, Hana knows that something evil has come for her, a dark remnant of the past she and her friend had shared.

Thirty years before, Hana was someone else: Nura Divjak, a teenager growing up in the mountains of war-torn Bosnia—until Serbian soldiers arrived to slaughter her entire family before her eyes. The events of that day thrust Nura into the war, leading her to join a band of militia fighters, where she became not only a fierce warrior but a legend—the deadly Night Mora. But a shattering final act forced Nura to flee to the United States with a bounty on her head.

Now, someone is hunting Hana, and her friend has paid the price, leaving her eight-year-old grandson in Hana’s care. To protect the child without revealing her secret, Hana must again become the Night Mora—and hope she can find the killer before the past comes for them, too.

Allen Eskens is the USA Today bestselling author of The Life We Bury, which has been published in twenty-six languages, and eight other novels, most recently Saving Emma, Forsaken Country,The Stolen Hours, The Shadows We Hide, and Nothing More Dangerous. His books have won the Barry Award, the Rosebud Award, the Silver Falchion Award, and the Minnesota Book Award. Eskens is a former criminal defense attorney and lives with his wife, Joely, in greater Minnesota.

SHOW NOTES:

The Quiet Librarian

THE CIRC DESK RECOMMENDS:

The Return of Ellie Black by Emiko Jean
Long Bright River by Liz Moore
How Can I Help You? by Laura Sims
Long Black Veil by Jennifer Finney Boylan

279: Revolutionize Youth Book Clubs by Stacy Brown

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Steve chats with Stacy Brown, Director of Innovation and Professional Learning at The Davis Academy and author of Revolutionize Youth Book Clubs, about her extensive experience overseeing library and technology programs, how and why she established numerous book clubs for students, parents, and faculty, and her advice on creating successful book clubs, including how to engage reluctant readers.

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Learn to facilitate modern book clubs devoted to elevating the reading experience through active engagement, resulting in long-term commitment to book club events.

How do you get the kids in your library to read? The benefits of reading are plentiful, especially for youth – it improves vocabulary, helps them become more empathetic and inclusive, and expands exposure to academic opportunities. In an age of digital distractions, book clubs can be a catalyst for encouraging youth to prioritize reading.

These tried and tested strategies help even reluctant readers develop a love of reading through book club participation. Author Stacy Brown, who has facilitated book clubs for more than twenty years, shows you how to build active engagement through hands-on activities, reflective discussions, and theme-related tips and tricks, even in the face of time and budget constraints. Learn how to attract participants, brand and market your book clubs, and keep attendees returning for more. You’ll be changing the world – one book club at a time.

Stacy Brown is the Director of Innovation and Professional Learning at The Davis Academy in Atlanta, GA, USA, where she previously worked as the 21st-Century Learning Coordinator.

SHOW NOTES:

Revolutionize Youth Book Clubs: Strategies for Meaningful and Fun Reading Experiences
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278: Fighting for Academic Librarians: the Impact of Underfunding 

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Guest host Troy Swanson chats with guests Elizabeth Kamper, Gail Porter, and Hunter Dunlap about the ongoing challenges faced by higher education in Illinois due to decades of underfunding, including the devastating impact on librarian positions, particularly at Western Illinois University, which recently eliminated all its faculty librarian roles.

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Elizabeth Kamper has been teaching information literacy in libraries for 10 years and received their MSLIS from the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee. They are currently the Information Literacy Librarian and an Associate Professor at Southern Illinois University Edwardsville. Elizabeth also teaches in the University Honors Program on ‘Questions and the Spirit of Inquiry’ and ‘the Nature of Liberal Education’. Elizabeth has served on several university and national committees focusing on information literacy in university curriculum and held faculty fellowships supporting the campus freshman experience. Their research interests include criticality in information literacy, LGBTQIA+ librarians, wonder-led inquiry for research and writing, as well as using tabletop gaming to roleplay empathy in the classroom.

Gayle Porter holds the rank of Assistant Professor in the Gwendolyn Brooks Library at Chicago State University. She earned a Master’s degree in Library and Information Science from Brigham Young University and a Master’s degree in History from Chicago State University.  As an academic librarian, her specialty is cataloging materials in all formats. Her research interests include cataloging and metadata description.

Hunter Dunlap is a tenured professor and systems librarian at Western Illinois University, where he serves as the Coordinator of Resource Management Services. Dunlap has written widely about technology and academic libraries over his 28-year career, including authoring the widely held book “Open Source Database Driven Web Development” (Chandos). The senior member of the (all) nine librarian faculty eliminated at Western (effective May 2025), he created the savewiulibrarians.org website to help mobilize support for academic librarianship at WIU, and beyond.

SHOW NOTES:

Save WIU Librarians
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277: Inclusive Cataloging: Histories, Context, and Reparative Approaches

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Steve chats with Billey Albina, Elizabeth Nelson, and Rebecca Uhl, editors of Inclusive Cataloging: Histories, Context, and Reparative Approaches about their journeys into librarianship, the importance of inclusive cataloging, and how to implement inclusive practices even in small libraries.

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Filling a gap in the literature, this volume provides librarians and catalogers with practical approaches to reparative cataloging as well as a broader understanding of the topic and its place in the technical services landscape.

As part of the profession’s ongoing EDISJ efforts to redress librarianship’s problematic past, practitioners from across the field are questioning long-held library authorities and standards. They’re undertaking a critical and rigorous re-examination of so-called “best” practices and the decisionmakers behind them, pointing out heretofore unscrutinized injustices within our library systems of organization and making concrete steps towards progressive change. This collection from Core details the efforts of some of the many librarians who are working to improve our systems and collections, in the process inspiring those who have yet to enact change by demonstrating that this work is scalable, possible, and necessary. From this book, readers will

  • gain an understanding of the theoretical underpinning for the actions that create our history and be challenged to reconsider their perspectives;
  • learn about the important role of the library catalog in real-world EDISJ initiatives through examples ranging from accessibility metadata and gendered information to inclusive comics cataloging and revising LC call numbers for Black people and Indigenous people;
  • discover more than a dozen case studies drawn from a variety of contexts including archives, academic and public libraries, and research institutions; and
  • see ways to incorporate these ideas into their own work, with a variety of sample policies, “how to” documents, and other helpful tools provided in the text.    

Billey Albina (née Amber Billey) served as the Chair of the Leadership Team for the Core Metadata & Collection Section and Co-Chair of the Core Diversity and Inclusion Committee. She is a member of the PCC Advisory Committee on Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion, and was Chair of the PCC Ad Hoc Task Group on Gender in Name Authority Records. She serves on the Advisory Board for the Digital Transgender Archive, and the editorial board for the Homosaurus – a linked data thesaurus for the LGBTQ+ community. Previously, she was the Associate Director for Bibliographic Services at Bard College.

Elizabeth Nelson is the Cataloging and Collection Development Librarian and Library Department Chair at McHenry County College, where she has worked since 2008. Prior to working in academic libraries, she started her career in public libraries and then spent seven years in special libraries. She is also the current editor of Library Leadership & Management.

Rebecca Uhl has over 30 years’ experience as a catalog and authority control librarian at Arizona State University. Currently serving as the Principal on the Acquisitions and Metadata Services team, she has experience as a manager, supervisor and department head, in addition to copy and original cataloging in all formats.

SHOW NOTES:

Inclusive Cataloging: Histories, Context, and Reparative Approaches
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276: The Christmas Cookie Wars by Eliza Evans

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Steve chats with Eliza Evans, author of The Christmas Cookie Wars, about Evans’s experiences with libraries, her inspiration for the book, the influence of her journalism background on her writing, and her process of getting into the Christmas spirit during non-holiday seasons. And Rebecca and Yaika return to The Circ Desk with recommendations for similar holiday-themed reads!

Read the transcript!

Eliza Evans pens heartwarming holiday rom-coms. When not writing, Evans can be found teaching Pilates or exploring the great outdoors. A lifelong Colorado girl, Evans lives with her husband, two sons, and two fur babies. She is also the author of The Christmas Café.

SHOW NOTES:

The Christmas Cookie Wars
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