Wellness

Covid-19 has disrupted all workplaces with constantly changing procedures and government restrictions, no doubt adding more stress to people’s lives. With this, mental health and self-care has become a more prominent part of our lives.
At our most recent professional development day, we were asked to present on the Enneagram and it was well-received because it shows you how to better understand yourself, deal with your emotions, and how to take care of your mental health.
The Enneagram is a personality typing system that puts people into one of nine types. Unlike many personality systems it focuses on the motivations of a person—rather than their behaviours—and by looking at that we can learn why we do what we do and we can understand why others do what they do. Based on your type it provides you with insight into your strengths and also personal challenges that you might deal with day to day. The Enneagram looks at how you behave when you’re stressed and when you’re in a healthy state of mind. This is beneficial to the workplace because understanding that everyone has different motivations can help you navigate different working styles, prevent conflict, and strengthen team morale. On a personal level, it provides self-awareness, teaches you when to take a break in order to avoid work-related burnout, and show you what strengths you can bring to the workplace.
During our session we will give a brief overview of the nine types in the Enneagram and will show you how to identify when you’re going into stress. We will also be providing ways to manage that.
If you're planning to attend this session it's recommended that you do the Enneagram personality test in advance. We recommend the truity test at this link: https://www.truity.com/test/enneagram-personality-test-eml. It will prompt you to pay for your full results, but there no need as we will explain each type in depth during our presentation.

Beyond addressing basic literacy skills, many libraries are teaching financial, digital, and physical literacy, as well as offering medical, legal, and mental health services, in an effort to meet the needs of the whole person, during the entire lifespan. Barring a few exceptions, most services are free. This is a daunting, complex undertaking. Some argue we should "stay in our lane" and others are cursing the "vocational awe" that leads us to try to be all things to all people. We are burning out in rapid numbers. Meanwhile, as mounting fears and realities around climate change, pandemics, economic recession, and political corruption overwhelm our citizens they are increasingly turning to their libraries for information, shelter, and support. This talk will address those concerns and show how we can lead with compassion. It will argue that the proven solution to keeping librarians sane and service needs met during these turbulent times is by first taking care of ourselves, and then forming partnerships between outside non-profit organizations, government, local businesses, and citizens. More importantly, we will discuss positive steps we can take towards healing, while also acknowledging the grief, trauma, and guilt librarians experience every day on the front lines.

Join urban agriculturalist and horticulture therapy practitioner, Nicola Gunter from Good Worm Garden Programs, as we learn more about the evidence-based "power of plants". Nicola will discuss how to bring nature indoors into your office setting and why this is beneficial. No green thumb needed!