Moral Injury in Libraries: Nurturing Staff Well Being

Session archive

Session handout

Other resources shared during the session

• CAL Intellectual Freedom Committee
• Urban Library Trauma Study
• Our Epidemic of Loneliness and Isolation

Note: the recording was turned off for the Q&A portion to allow staff to feel comfortable asking questions.

Join us for a thought-provoking panel discussion on creating a workplace where everyone feels like they belong and matter.

Our public and academic library panelists will provide a foundational overview of moral injury as well as offering solutions to cultivating a supportive environment.

Moral injury is a term originally rooted in the realm of psychological and emotional distress arising from the violation of one’s deeply ingrained moral and ethical values.

About the panelists:

Shannon Brennan (she/her/hers), is a children’s librarian at Bemis Public Library. In addition to planning and implementing programming for children with her ukulele, she is also the collection development librarian for JFICTION, E-READER, and the Parenting collections of Bemis. Shannon is passionate about early literacy and connecting libraries on a global level as co-chair of CAL’s International Library and Cultural Exchange (ILCE) Interest Group.

Beth Garboczi is a Customer Experience Librarian at Douglas County Libraries (Castle Pines & Roxborough) working primarily with adult services. She specializes in working with older adults and spends a lot of her time teaching new technology to fellow staff and patrons. Beth has been working in public libraries since the age of twelve and is passionate about intellectual freedom and mental health in library work.

Kara Lucas is a Public Services Librarian at Front Range Community College Westminster.  She has a Master’s degree in Philosophy and enjoys philosophical discussion.  She is interested in intellectual freedom, information literacy, and student engagement through outreach.

Alejandro Marquez (he/him), is a Collection Development Librarian at Auraria Library which provides academic resources for the University of Colorado Denver, the Metropolitan State University of Denver, and the Community College of Denver. He also served in the Peace Corps in El Salvador where he worked as a Municipal Development volunteer. His research interests include open scholarship and underserved communities.

Teresa McGinley (she/her/hers) is a collection development librarian at Auraria Library, which serves the Community College of Denver, Metropolitan State University Denver, and CU Denver. Prior to her position at Auraria, she worked as a librarian in the health sciences, focusing on health services research and public health. Her interests include open access, public health misinformation, and burnout in the helping professions.

Salah McKloskey (he/him) is a Collection Development Librarian at Auraria Library which serves the University of Colorado Denver, Metropolitan State University of Denver, and the Community College of Denver institutions. He specializes in STEM focused subject matter and has interests in emerging technologies, popular culture in media, and immigration and citizenship. Prior to his position at Auraria, Salah was an Outreach Librarian at the High Plains Library District.