Mental Health and Wellness

Your Name and Title:  Rachel Sher, Library Manager II 

Library, School, or Organization Name: Alameda County Library 

Co-Presenter Name(s): Blaine Wentworth 

Area of the World from Which You Will Present: California, United States 

Language in Which You Will Present: English 

Target Audience(s): All Library workers (all classifications), especially public libraries 

Short Session Description (one line): Lessons Learned in our staff Mental Health Interest Group supporting the mental health of library staff. 

Full Session Description (as long as you would like):  

In 2021, 50+ staff from the Alameda County Library came together when we recognized a need to support the varied mental health concerns of the public and staff.  We soon realized that we needed to address secondary trauma, burnout, biases, interpersonal conflicts, mission creep, and other issues experienced by staff to effectively support the community.  In this program, we’ll showcase how our group has evolved and how we’ve developed initiatives to promote well-being in the workplace including: 

1. Weekly Mindfulness Breaks which are 20-30 min mindfulness exercises led by staff and for staff 
2. Calming Corners: A pilot project to create mindfulness spaces in our locations  
3. Speakers and trainings addressing burnout, secondary trauma, non-violent communication and other mental health concerns for library staff 

Websites / URLs Associated with Your Session: None.  We would create a powerpoint presentation