Kaetrena Davis Kendrick is Dean of the Ida Jane Dacus Library and Louise Pettus Archives & Special Collections at Winthrop University (SC), where her research interests include professionalism, ethics, racial and ethnic diversity in the LIS field, and the role of communities of practice in practical academic librarianship. In 2019, she was named ACRL Academic/Research Librarian of the Year for her research into the phenomenon of low morale, and taking a deeper dive into the subject, Kendrick has now documented behavior and cultures that specifically enable the low morale experiences of racial and ethnic minority academic librarians.

Nicole A. Cooke talks with Amanda Leftwich, the Student Success Librarian at Montgomery County Community College (PA). Leftwich's work focuses on utilizing reflective practice and mindfulness to help navigate microaggressions, prevent burnout, and find community. She is the founder of the “Mindful in LIS” virtual communities on Instagram and Twitter and she is also co-creator ofLibVoices a podcast that shares stories of librarians of color.

Dr. Abigail Phillips is an Assistant Professor in the School of Information Studies at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, where her research interests include cyberbullying, youth, social media, empathy, librarianship, libraries, making, critical librarianship, neurodiversity, and mental health advocacy. She is a member of the #LISMentalHealth team. The #LISMentalHealth initiative aims to raise awareness of mental health among library and archives workers through online discussions, blog posts, resource-sharing, and the “Reserve and Renew Zine” series.

Dr. Noah Lenstra is an Assistant Professor of Library and Information Science in the School of Education at the University of North Carolina at Greensboro where he brings a community engagement approach to the study and teaching of libraries. Notably, Noah founded the Let’s Move in Libraries Initiative, which focuses on supporting healthy living in public libraries. The project was inspired by Former First Lady Michelle Obama’s Let’s Move! initiative, which focused on increasing Healthy Eating and Active Living (HEAL) among Americans. Let’s Move in Libraries continues Obama's legacy by working to increase physical activity through libraries in the U.S., Canada, and other places in the world.

Nicole A. Cooke talks with Forrest Evans, reference librarian at the Auburn Avenue Research Library, a branch of the Fulton County Library System in Atlanta, Georgia, dedicated to African American history, culture, and literature. An experienced librarian and a published poet, Evans has been building a thriving community on social media with her “Favorite Librarian” accounts, where she highlights the beauty of Black literature.

In this short explainer, co-host R. David Lankes talks about what listeners can expect from Season Two of The Skillset Podcast, which will focus on community health and staff well-being as librarians continue to wrestle with the immediate threat from Covid-19, and the longer term changes the pandemic will necessitate. 

In this second special episode of The Skillset Podcast, R. David Lankes and Mike Eisenberg continue their conversation on how libraries can lead in creating our post-pandemic new normal. In this followup, Mike and Dave discuss vaccines and how libraries can support the rollout, along with other interesting bits from the week’s library news.

This special episode of The Skillset Podcast features a wide-ranging discussion between R. David Lankes and Mike Eisenberg, Professor and Dean Emeritus and the founding dean of the Information School at the University of Washington. The discussion will give you a taste of a special periodic discussion that will take place in Season Two of the Skillset Podcast, dubbed Libraries Lead in the New Normal. The new season kicks off soon and will offer additional analysis and discussion of how libraries can take the lead as we begin to consider life after the pandemic. Be sure to subscribe so you never miss an episode!