Contemporary archives leaders contend with long-standing concerns about sustainability, access, and advocacy, in addition to the challenges and excitement of traditional and developing workflows and programs. However, ongoing, and recently pressing shifts in the profession highlight the need for leaders to reconsider “softer” concerns that impact their - and employees’ - decision-making and collaborative capacities. Many of these issues center on emotional labor, precarity, and inequitable workload. In this webinar, experts on morale, designing ethical project positions, early career archivists, and workplace ableism will explore these concerns through conversation and open the floor to attendees.
Upon completion of this course, you'll be able to:

• Identify factors and systems that affect morale and compromise employees’ approach to daily archival practice.
• Implement more inclusive hiring practices.
• Recognize exploitative and ableist job structures.
• Implement daily work practices or strategies supporting the employee growth.
• Reflect on the structures of institution and identify ideal labor divisions.

Who Should Attend?
While early-career archivists may benefit from points of discussion and knowing what minimum standards to advocate for, this presentation is primarily designed for mid- and upper-tier managers, and those in a position to make changes and advocate for the well-being of the employees they supervise.
Suggest readings below:

• Cultural Humility as a Framework for Anti-Oppressive Archival Description by Jessica Tai
• Best Practices for Archival Term Positions
• Stephanie Bredbenner et al., “‘Nothing About It Was Better Than a Permanent Job’ Report of the New England Archivists Contingent Employment Study Task Force” (New England Archivists, February 2022).
• Total Cost of Stewardship: Responsible Collection Building in Archives and Special Collections from OCLC Research Library’s Partnership’s Collection Building and Operational Impacts Working Group
• Critical Hope by Kari Grain
• The Low Morale Experience of Academic Librarians: A Phenomenological Study by Kaetrena Davis Kendrick