Radical Self-Care and Wellness for Information Professionals

Audre Lorde states, Caring for myself is not self-indulgence; it is self-preservation and that is an act of political warfare.1 For librarians of color, the stresses of working and existing in the predominantly white spaces of libraries and librarianship, can be both physically and mentally exhausting.2 Currently, librarians of color are experiencing the impact of stress from ongoing systematic racism against the backdrop of the COVID-19 pandemic. Stress from this global pandemic is disproportionately impacting communities of color in the United States. Librarians who come from these communities are more likely to know people affected by COVID-19.3 This double pandemic of systematic racism and COVID-19 is best addressed with deliberate action. As such, members of the African American Medical Librarians Alliance AAMLA Caucus aim to create a webinar series titled, Radical Self-Care and Wellness for Information Professionals. The purpose of this wellness initiative is to help combat barriers often faced by communities of color including disparities in access to mental health and wellness resources, as well as stigma against receiving care. The importance of having wellness and radical self care/therapy resources readily available to Black, Indigenous, People of Color BIPOC helps to mitigate the impact of these added stressors. By providing a virtual wellness series, we will help to reduce the aforementioned barriers and in turn support the health and well being of our intended audience.