The document describes the stages a university library went through after losing experienced staff members. It discusses the 7 stages of grief: shock, pain, anger, depression, upward turn, reconstruction, and acceptance. The library felt shock, pain from lost knowledge, anger they couldn't replace positions, and depression about increased workloads. They developed a training program to redistribute work among remaining staff. While work is slower initially, staff are cooperating and the library hopes to analyze needs and consider reorganization.

1. Losing
Staff
The
Seven
Stages
of
Loss
and
Recovery
Elena
Romaniuk
eromaniu@uvic.ca

2. Context:
who
we
were.

3. Context:
where
we
are.

4. University
of
Victoria,
Victoria,
B.C.
• Medium-­‐sized
insHtuHon
• Approx.
18,
000
students
• Approx.
budget
for
serials
and
electronic
resources:
$
6
million

5. Context:
what
we
do
with
serials.
• Check-­‐in
• Processing
• Cataloguing
of
all
formats
• Physical
collecHon
management
• AcquisiHons
• Claiming
• Binding

6. Who
leT?

7. Assisted
with,
or
responsible
for:
• Supervision
of
check-­‐in
staff,
unit
management.
• ClassificaHon
and
original
cataloguing.
• Problem
solving.
• Project
management.
• Policy
decisions:
automaHon,
e-­‐journals.

8. Consequences
for
the
unit:
• No
experienced
support
staff
cataloguers.
• Two
support
staff
responsible
for
check-­‐in,
processing
and
physical
collecHon
management.
• One
support
staff
person
responsible
for
government
publicaHons.

9. 7
stages
of
grief:
• Shock
and
denial
• Pain
and
guilt
• Anger
and
bargaining
• Depression,
reflecHon,
loneliness
• Upward
turn
• ReconstrucHon
and
working
through
• Acceptance
and
hope
h]p://www.recover-­‐from-­‐grief.com/7-­‐stages-­‐of-­‐grief.html

10. Stage
1:
shock
and
denial
• Numbed
disbelief.

11. Stage
2:
pain
and
guilt
• Our
friends
leT
us.
• Remaining
staff
lost
their
resource
people.
• We
all
lost
knowledge,
experience,
insHtuHonal
memory
and
producHvity.
• Our
workload
increased.

12. Stage
3:
anger
and
bargaining
• We
could
not
be
angry
at
our
friends.
• Considered
asking
to
have
1
posiHon
filled.

13. Stage
4:
depression,
reflecHon,
loneliness
• Focused
on
reflecHon.
• How
has
the
work
changed?
• What
do
we
need?
• What
are
our
opHons?
• How
do
we
help
ourselves?

14. ReflecHon:
how
has
the
work
changed?
• Much
more
complex.
• More
diverse.
• Less
low-­‐level,
more
high-­‐level
work.
• Fewer
acHve
print
Htles.

15. ReflecHon:
what
do
we
need?
• We
sHll
need
to
get
the
work
done.
• We
need
staff
who
can
work
at
a
high
level.
• One
addiHonal
posiHon
is
not
enough.

16. ReflecHon:
what
are
our
opHons?
• Remaining
serials
staff.
• Extensive
serials
experience.
• Familiar
with
records,
processes,
rouHnes.
• Willing
and
able
to
be
trained.

17. ReflecHon:
how
do
we
help
ourselves?
• Reassign
the
work
to
remaining
serials
staff.
• Rewrite
job
descripHons.
• Fill
out
job
evaluaHon
quesHonnaires.
• Implement
an
extensive
training
program.

18. Upward
turn.
• Approved
to
go
ahead.
• Rewrote
job
descripHons/job
evaluaHons.
• Started
one-­‐on-­‐one
cataloguing
training.
• Booked
group
training
meeHngs
in
advance.

19. ReconstrucHon
and
working
through.
• Training
started:
April
2012-­‐
.
• Staff
are
cataloguing,
ongoing
record
review.
• Ongoing
clarificaHon
of
prioriHes.
• Postponing
RDA
and
some
projects.

20. Acceptance
and
hope.
• Have
both,
for
now.
• Staff
are
willing,
capable
and
cooperaHve.
• Backlogs
will
grow.
• Work
will
get
done
more
slowly
at
first.

21. What
worked
in
our
favour.
• Had
plenty
of
noHce.
• Time
to
ponder,
evaluate
opHons
and
plan.
• Time
to
prepare
documentaHon.
• Time
to
train
before
cataloguers
departed.

22. Coping
strategies.
• Providing
ongoing
problem-­‐solving
help.
• Constantly
clarifying
prioriHes.
• Procedures
documented,
revised
as
needed.
• Staff
consult
with
each
other.

23. Challenges.
• Need
to
provide
more
training.
• UnderesHmated
Hme
needed
for
problem-­‐
solving.
• Always
too
much
work.
• MulHple
simultaneous
demands.

24. Future
plans.
• ConHnue
to
ponder
our
situaHon.
• Analyze
where
we
need
help
now.
• Write
a
proposal
for
an
addiHonal
librarian.
• Provide
more
training.
• Evaluate
how
we
are
doing.
• Consider
possible
reorganizaHon.
• Consider
requesHng
help
from
another
area.

25. The
rainbow
and
the
worm:
the
physics
of
organisms,
by
Mae-­‐Wan
Ho.
“Organic
systems
are
truly
democraHc;
they
work
by
intercommunicaHon
and
total
parHcipaHon.
Everyone
acHvely
works
and
pays
a]enHon
to
everyone
else.
Everyone
is
simultaneously
boss
and
worker,
choreographer
and
dancer.
Each
is
ulHmately
in
control
to
the
extent
that
she
is
sensiHve
and
responsive.”

26. Thank
you.
eromaniu@uvic.ca