Last school year was difficult for a variety of reasons. On top of national news that made me feel more unsure and less safe, my school community also went through some tough times that made staff members tend to isolate themselves. I worried about this coming year and wondered if there was anything I could do to help myself be in a healthier mental place.

I discovered that the answer was yes. The antidote to despondency and isolation in this new school year has become: connection. Connections with staff members and fellow librarians have been the balm to my soul that I’ve needed. Although I am an introvert (with social anxiety to boot), it has been the moments of connection with other people that have done the most to calm my nervous system and help me feel more like myself. This year, connections within my school, district, and beyond will be my focus and my resistance to an environment that is trying to isolate and discourage.

School Connections

As I mentioned, last year was hard for my school, and ultimately, the result was separation. I didn’t have the time or capacity to attend content meetings or to check in with teachers. Teachers, in an effort to save time, started canceling meetings with their team members and struggled to plan more than a couple of days ahead. Long-range planning suffered, and staff felt more pressure to do tasks themselves rather than reach out for help when overwhelmed. 

However, when new problems arose at the beginning of this year, I felt a different vibe. Instead of turning insular, staff members reached out to each other for support. People who had never spoken were trading supplies and problem solving to help make everything work for students as best they could. Meetings started back up, even amidst more than the usual back-to-school chaos, and provided much needed camaraderie and support. 

For my own mental health, I know that this year, I need to prioritize those connections with staff members. Going to content meetings, having conversational check-ins, and attending staff social events are not distractions from our work as librarians but instead necessary components of a healthy school community and library. I have even made some new connections for some promising new collaboration opportunities! The time and energy it takes to push myself out into the school community is not only worth it but pays me back mightily.

District Connections

Although I am extremely lucky to work with a team of librarians at my school, sometimes we need support, ideas, or feedback from others who have different perspectives. Enter…our district librarians! Across our large suburban district, we have more than 200 librarians, and when we get together, magic happens. The strategizing, problem solving, and commiserating with other local librarians can help pull me through whatever mental block I’ve been stuck in, and the benefit of the wisdom of more experienced librarians is truly invaluable. 

Though I do not regularly work with all 200 librarians, finding a group of 5-10 who can be my support system, sounding board, and (sometimes) bad influences has made all the difference for my own health. To find them, I tried to push myself from my comfort zone again. Talking to strangers at trainings and meetings, going to meetings and committees that interested me, and trying my best to be true to myself even among unknown people helped me find others who cared about similar issues. Even just asking a fellow librarian out for lunch after a professional development session or during the summer has done wonders for building those connections and lifting morale. Putting myself out there is scary, but the support of other local librarians is worth the courage.

National Connections

One of the complicated parts of librarianship is that no one really understands what we do except for other librarians. So when you are the only librarian in your school, district, or region, the loneliness can set in very quickly. Even if you have plenty of other librarians nearby, you can grow stagnant very quickly without a connection to librarians outside of your immediate context. Finding ways to connect with librarians outside of my particular state and region has helped me be a better librarian, providing a much wider perspective and a much bigger net of resources to tap for ideas and assistance. The best ways I have found to build my connections across the country (and the world) have been social media and AASL. Social media has been a major source of learning for me for a long time, and librarians frequently connect on BlueSky, Instagram, and more to share tips and advice. AASL, including the national conference coming up in October, is an excellent conduit for those trans-state connections. Another great place to start is School Librarians United, the podcast by librarian Amy Hermon with interviews with other librarians around the country. Give it a listen, reach out to a guest who is sharing about a topic that interests you, and see what happens!

Humans are social animals, and we are built to thrive in community with one another. So when the winds of difficulty start to howl this year, I will choose to lean into my communities-–school, library, and otherwise—to help me weather the storm.