Head, Digital Resources & Discovery Services Oklahoma State University Library
“I don't particularly like my job and have struggled to find meaning in what I do…” Or what about, “I love what I do, and I like almost all of my co-workers and staff.” If you had to pick which quote fits you best, which one would you choose? When we talk about work, most of us have a love-hate relationship with it. Or maybe we just tolerate it. Work plays a significant role in our daily lives. But what if we can redesign our jobs and improve our overall work-life environment? The changes employees make to everyday tasks, relationships, and perceptions within work boundaries can be described as job crafting. Job crafting provides a mechanism to help those struggling with work-life, or even those experiencing positive work environments, focus on job redesign from the bottom-up, where the power rests with individual employees. This poster will delve deeper into job crafting based on the literature and the author’s research conducted before and during the COVID-19 pandemic among academic librarians (n=1,330) in the United States. Qualitative and quantitative data from academic librarians, along with practical implications for libraries regarding job crafting, will be shared.