For the last 3 years, our institution has sent out e-mails each January begging faculty & staff to use sick days or to WFH because *entire departments* would be taken out when 1 person showed up feeling "a little off".
Slowly getting the sense that the good news I was hoping for isn't going to come through this time, but the waiting continues…🥲
Feeling so nervous and worried and hoping for some good news this week 🤞🤞🤞
Every library worker has benefitted in some way from @fobettarh.bsky.social's work, and if you can afford to, please pay it forward: www.gofundme.com/f/support-fo.... If you can't donate, please share.
Wildfires are raging across Canada causing poor air quality for much of Canada and the north eastern US.
If wildfire smoke makes your chronic illness worse, I’ve got tips for you!
Managing bad air sometimes feels like a full time job, but improving indoor air can have major health benefits
Wow, thanks for the support, folks! (Also thank you for your patience with the typos, I was clearly very tired when I wrote this!)
Disheartening to see this. As someone who developed POTS after a covid infection, I can say that it's life-altering illness, and it's one I wouldn’t wish it on anyone.
There’s also clear evidence from many studies indicating that masks help reduce the spread of respiratory illnesses! 🙃
Currently hiring for a staff position in an academic library. Way more applicants than we got for a similar position posted just last year, and the applicants are far more overqualified than last year’s. It was frightening to see. Folks with 20+ years as librarians, former library directors, etc.
Ontario colleges have lost 600 programs and 10,000 workers over the past year. Here’s where the axes fell
So, the Universe was listening to me—I've just been interviewed for another national news segment on the wildfire smoke and what it's doing to asthma patients, lol!
As of 10:25 AM, Toronto now has the second worst air quality in the world 🫠
Fingers crossed that my aggressive inhaler use during this wildfire smoke event will prevent another hospital run for me!
www.iqair.com/ca/world-air...
Hospital trip on Friday turned into a 5-day RX of Prednisone, so at least the flare up is resolving 🫠
So, 15 minutes outside in the heat dome yesterday led to an asthma attack 🫠
Anyone have advice on surviving outside when humidity is a big trigger?
Most advice seems to be "stay inside", but what happens when you do need to, like, go outside?
"I felt like I was falling apart, but was still showing up and trying to do my best. This colleague didn’t know that, but they shouldn’t have had to."
I've felt this too—I've also had people who know the details and still want more proof. I wish there was more room for empathy at work.
I just signed up! So excited to participate in this experience! 📚
I needed to hear this today ❤️ Thank you for all the support, guidance, and care you offer to all us job-hunting librarians!
Live chart of most polluted major city ranking taken at 9:46 am on June 6, 2025 from the IQAir website. Montreal's air quality is the second worst at 166, which is unhealthy for everyone. Toronto's air quality is the fifth worst at 135, which is unhealthy for sensitive groups.
This morning, both Montreal and Toronto are ranked in the top 5 most polluted major cities in the world, according to IQAir.
Wildfire smoke is here—please make sure to wear N95 masks outside, stay indoors as much as possible, and set your car's air to 'recirculate'!
www.iqair.com/ca/world-air...
I registered this morning! 😄 Looking forward to hearing about great projects and initiatives for making libraries accessible!
"At present, no miracle has happened. The WIU Librarians will be gone in under a month, as our layoffs take effect May 14."
Western Illinois University will attempt to be a university without a library.
It doesn't take a red state to destroy a public good.
savewiulibrarians.org/message.php
I'm newly disabled, and I've had some visceral responses from folks when I say that.
I find the people who have known me longest are the ones pushing back the hardest too (?) Even though they're best equipped to see the before vs. after.
I'm more struck by the fact that I've felt uncomfortable talking about some of these issues, even though I know this is happening at other libraries (?)
I'm not sure where it's coming from, though—like, are we collectively feeling pressure to not advocate because cuts are hitting all depts?
I wonder if our institution is a bit deeper into the cuts right now—we announced 40 program suspensions last winter, and we're anticipating 500-700 full-time equivalency job losses in the coming years.
Our president also just left for a new role, which doesn't feel like a good sign, lol
I'm late to this news, but so excited to see this kind of embedded Long COVID advocacy!
"In-game characters feeling the symptoms of Long COVID while playing a popular video game is now a reality thanks to a campaign raising awareness of the debilitating effects the new chronic illness can bring."
"Living with Long COVID means facing new levels of difficulty every day. Gamers love new challenges in their favourite games. We simply connected these dots to create a vivid simulation of a life with Long COVID"
"Long COVID Mode" in Minecraft and more: www.euronews.com/culture/2023...
Oh, thank you for reaching out! 😄 You did a great job of capturing the multiple levels of stress right now—as I said, I'm seeing similar issues at our library, but was so curious about what was happening elsewhere.
I'm curious, how is your leadership approaching these issues with your campus?
So exciting to see such fantastic mitigation strategies used at a conference! 🎉
And the real-time air quality monitoring!! 😍
It strikes me that there's a culture of silence in so many academic libraries, where we're too scared to advocate for our needs out of a fear of retaliation (from leadership teams? Executives? Faculty? Students? Colleagues?)
I'm curious to unpack this
I'm also caught by the language of fear in this post, especially as it relates to the working culture.
I see the "grudging acceptance" of shrinking budgets, and reluctance of "getting too deeply into the specifics" of resource and service cuts at my own library too.
"I do not want the library to end up shouldering more of the cuts because we are cooperative."
True for my library too—we're making collection cuts that will genuinely put student learning at risk.
