{"id":4369,"date":"2021-10-17T14:02:37","date_gmt":"2021-10-17T22:02:37","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/ischoolgroups.sjsu.edu\/slasc\/?p=4369"},"modified":"2023-06-05T18:08:41","modified_gmt":"2023-06-06T01:08:41","slug":"finding-joy-with-dr-stephens","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ischoolgroups.sjsu.edu\/slasc\/finding-joy-with-dr-stephens\/","title":{"rendered":"Event Recap: Dr. Stephens on Finding Joy"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Written by Sereen Suleiman<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Edited by: Max Gonzalez Burdick & Sarah Walters<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Joy can be difficult to experience these days, even for just a brief moment. COVID-19 has kept us apart, the state of the economy is still up in the air, and the future remains uncertain. Librarians understand the struggles that everyone is facing. If anything, libraries of all types of varieties–regardless if they are public, academic, of specialty–were (and still are) some of the sectors that have been hit the hardest during the COVID-19 pandemic. Layoffs were happening left and right; funds for libraries provided by local, state, and federal governments have been slashed tremendously; and hiring freezes have been installed for months. Only recently have librarians been able to reopen again, albeit with scarcity in funds. At the same time, they are suddenly faced with receiving endless requests from users to obtain more digital products than they can actually afford.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Nevertheless, one remarkable librarian has been reflecting over these predicaments during the pandemic and always tried to search for the positives in every situation: Dr. Michael Stephens. For current and graduating students from San Jos\u00e9 State University\u2019s School of Information, you may have had a class with him (perhaps INFO 200: Information Communities),  or you might have at least come across his name. That being said, Dr. Stephens is an Associate Professor in the School of Information at San Jos\u00e9 State University<\/a>. His teachings center around information communities, evolving library service, and reflective practice for librarians. Moreover, he is inspired by continuously adapting library spaces to promote education, instruction, and learning throughout communities all over the world (makerspaces would be an example of this).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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This brings us to the topic of Dr. Stephens\u2019 September 12, 2021 presentation, \u201cFinding Joy Again\u201d<\/a>, in which he discusses how libraries must bring back the idea of joy<\/em><\/strong> to patrons whilst they are going through new obstacles in a post-quarantine world (not post-pandemic, as the pandemic is still ongoing, unfortunately). By encouraging the sharing of ideas, the excitement of creation through instruction, and the kindness of providing help to those in need, librarians can truly show how libraries are a place of joy<\/em><\/strong> for everyone. During the presentation, Dr. Stephens designed activities in which attendees were asked to \u201cengage with participants around these concepts and get us all thinking about what it means to offer joyful library services” (Kremzner-Hsing, personal communication, August 23, 2021). In fact, one of the first questions he asked was what the idea of \u201cjoy\u201d represented to everyone. Answers varied, however most people responded with \u201cpeace and happiness\u201d. Other questions include, \u201cHow do we create learning experiences through art?\u201d, \u201cHow can we feel something?\u201d, and \u201cWhat types of joyous experiences can we provide to our communities?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A main topic Dr. Stephens constantly emphasized is the importance of storytelling<\/em>. He loves to tell stories, as he sees stories as representations of the way people view the world. Moreover, he believes sharing stories can bring joy. Remember seeing scenes in movies of campers around a campfire, sharing stories<\/em> and laughing? Ever read in history books how history was passed down from generation to generation through stories<\/em>? Storytelling clearly has the power to bring people together and engage with one another. As a matter of fact, attendees eagerly shared their library stories, such as night at the library sleepovers, playing games, treasure hunts, petting animals, connecting patrons to help each other, self-care (we can\u2019t have joy without taking care of ourselves), and outdoor activities. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

A fascinating idea was mentioned: hygge. It\u2019s a Danish concept of feeling warm, cozy, and comfortable, as well as the motto the Danish used when constructing their libraries. However, a more important message was discussed: be kind!<\/strong> If we approach everything with kindness, it will help us navigate these COVID times. Remember these three words: compassion<\/strong>, mindfulness<\/strong>, and empathy<\/strong>. That way, you can strive towards doing kindness in everything you do in no time. Kindness brings joy<\/em><\/strong> to others, and the primary reason patrons return to libraries is not because of library services but because of the kindness librarians provide, in turn bringing joy<\/em><\/strong> to patrons and spreading joy<\/em><\/strong> throughout the entire library.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Missed Dr. Stephens’ September presentation, “On Finding Joy”? No problem! This blog recaps all the important details from that event! There’s enough joy for everyone!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":74,"featured_media":4370,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"gallery","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[78],"tags":[145,43,83,10],"class_list":["post-4369","post","type-post","status-publish","format-gallery","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-ischool-sla","tag-joy","tag-sjsu-slis-sla","tag-slasc","tag-special-libraries","post_format-post-format-gallery"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/ischoolgroups.sjsu.edu\/slasc\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4369","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/ischoolgroups.sjsu.edu\/slasc\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/ischoolgroups.sjsu.edu\/slasc\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ischoolgroups.sjsu.edu\/slasc\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/74"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ischoolgroups.sjsu.edu\/slasc\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4369"}],"version-history":[{"count":8,"href":"https:\/\/ischoolgroups.sjsu.edu\/slasc\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4369\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":5065,"href":"https:\/\/ischoolgroups.sjsu.edu\/slasc\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4369\/revisions\/5065"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ischoolgroups.sjsu.edu\/slasc\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/4370"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/ischoolgroups.sjsu.edu\/slasc\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4369"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ischoolgroups.sjsu.edu\/slasc\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4369"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ischoolgroups.sjsu.edu\/slasc\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4369"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}