Detaching self worth and productivity in library school
As we race towards the end of the year and our semesters come to a crashing close, I am reflecting on my relationship to rest, hard work, and what it means to be a good student.
How to identify and avoid study burnout
It’s something that most of us experience at some point in our lives, but may not have a name for. If you can, find a quiet moment to ask yourself, […]
Journaling in Grad School
Journal through library school to document your experience and lessons learned along the way.
The Question of Concentrations
THAT is the question. Although I feel like I’ve just started my journey as an MLS student, by the end of this week I will officially be one-third of the […]
Reflection and Rest: A Necessary Part of Learning
Wrapping up my second year of library school, I have finally had a little time to pause and reflect, which led me to wonder, did I actually learn anything? This […]
Reflections, Transitions, and Farewells
It’s hard to believe after 2.5 years of graduate school, I’m just a few final paper submissions away from completing my MA in Children’s Literature and my MS in Library […]
On Library School and Invisible Disabilities
Over the last 20 or so months, I’ve seen an uptick in conversations regarding mental health in academia. Current and former Hackers have written some excellent posts about navigating mental […]
Patrons with Mental Health Issues or Illnesses: Story + Tips
Recently, I’ve experienced something frightening and maybe even unusual for some, at the library. To give you some context, during the pandemic, our library first opened back up for computer […]
On Backing Off and Not Choosing All the Things
Tell me if any of this sounds familiar. You’ve got a job, a family, and a list of homework assignments filling up your calendar for the rest of the semester. […]
Rekindling My Joy in Library Work
The last fifteen months have been rough on all of us. Starting grad school during a pandemic was not easy, and a mix of personal problems and school-related issues made […]
LIS Mental Health Week 2021: A Summary
How has it already been a year of pandemic living? Readers, are you all doing okay? Personally, I’m doing better than before, but graduation right around the corner has brought […]
Practicing Compassion
One of the things that drew me to librarianship in the first place was the helpful and non-judgemental environment that many librarians throughout my life have created for me. While […]
Hope Is Not a Four Letter Word*
*Okay, it is. But you know what I mean. Three years and five months have passed since I graduated with my undergraduate degrees, but it seems like longer than that […]
Taking It Slow
Hello! My name is Lauren Bauer, this is my first article for Hack Library School, and I have something I’d like to get off my chest: it’s going to take […]
In my own little corner, in my own little chair (is where I’ve been for the past few months)
At this point, the fall semester is in full swing for many of us. For me, I’ve just wrapped up the third week of the semester and I’m gearing up […]
Online Learning, Mental Health, and a Positive Light
Earlier this month, I came across a tweet from a high school teacher: I think many students can agree that this past spring semester was not what we envisioned: between […]
Thoughts on Going Remote
It’s official: my Spring 2020 semester has come to an end – and I am halfway through my MLIS! Along with navigating the murky middle that comes with the mid-point […]
Staying Sane
So I’m gonna level with y’all: my mental health has been on a rollercoaster these past few weeks and I’m not sure I have anything super significant to contribute to […]
Work/Life Balance, Mental Health, and Rest for LIS Professionals and Students
These topics of mental health, burnout, work/life balance, and otherwise surviving library school and the profession have been frequent discussions this year. They keep coming up on the blog; Jane […]
Mindfulness
Whether you’re at the very beginning, middle, or nearing the end of your career as a graduate student, library school can be overwhelming. In this often liminal space, the lines […]
Reminders for the New Year
The end of the year is almost always a time for reflection, to look at the past and apply lessons learned to the future. For some reason, one past experience […]
To my fellow LIS Black, Indigenous, and People of Color [Series]: Imposter Syndrome, Mental Health, and Surviving Another Day
Nearly everyone in grad school has dealt or is currently dealing with imposter syndrome. Those who claim to have never suffered from it are either lying or actually are the imposters. Alyssa wrote about imposter syndrome in September so, for this post, I’d like to focus on imposter syndrome as a person of color and especially for those of us who also have mental illnesses.
Embracing Good Enough
There have been several posts on self-care in the past two months, as Kerri wrote about the separation of work and school and recognizing secondary traumatic stress; Katelyn started a […]
Burnout and Library School
Recently, LIS scholars have started exploring the potential connection between working in graduate school and burnout in librarianship. In the recently published article, “When Does Burnout Begin? The Relationship Between […]
Recognize Secondary Traumatic Stress
Society asks a lot of public library workers. Alongside our tasks of finding and providing books and other materials, leading programming for all ages, and answering all manner of questions, […]
Why You Should Attend Mental Health First Aid Training
If you currently work at a library, take a moment to think about your user base. Have you ever served anyone who: Is depressed or anxious? Experiences panic attacks? Is […]
Emotional Labor in Library School and Work
A typical day for me might include going to class, meeting with a professor or two, scouring LinkedIn, staffing the reference desk, grocery shopping, and talking to my mom. I […]
Trying New Things and Accepting Failure [Introduction]
For my first post with HLS, I want to talk about everyone’s favorite topic: failure. A few HLS writers have written about this topic, but for me failure in library […]
Friends, Waffles, Work [Farewell]
If you’re a regular reader of the blog, you may have noticed that I disappeared (pretty suddenly) a few months ago. I’ve discussed my unconventional path on the blog before, […]
Trauma and Belonging in Library School [Introduction]
A few times a week, I take a bus across campus to the university pool, where I swim for about thirty minutes before my job at Special Collections. Usually these […]
LIS Mental Health Week 2018: a roundup of student support
In 2016, Christina did a round up of all of the resources brought on by the first LIS Mental Health Week. This year marks the third annual #LISMentalHealth week and […]
LIS Mental Health Week 2016: A roundup of student support
We’re a couple weeks out from LIS Mental Health Week (January 18-23) but in honor of the brave and supportive discussions that emerged online (see co-organizer Cecily Walker’s compendium of […]
HLS 