Congratulations to Jaedyn Maltimore, Reference & Education Services Librarian at the Southern Illinois University School of Medicine Library in Springfield, who is the 2025 recipient of the Syed Maghrabi Scholarship to attend the HSLI Annual Conference. Read Jaedyn’s reflections below on attending her first HSLI conference, including what she learned from both presenters and her fellow attendees.
I have been honored to participate in this year’s HSLI Annual Conference, “Navigating the Future Now”, thanks to the benefaction of the Syed Maghrabi Scholarship. This was my first HSLI conference, and I am deeply grateful for the efforts of the HSLI Conference Planning Committee and to all those who contributed to the Silent Auction, as this is what makes the Scholarship available. I also want to take this opportunity to honor Syed Maghrabi, to whom this Scholarship is dedicated.
Discussions at this year’s in-person conference reminded me of the common airline safety phrase “In the event of an emergency, secure your own oxygen mask before assisting others”. We are living in a time where everything feels like a constant emergency, and even as librarians, those who are meant to be the discoverers and custodians of reliable information for others, it can be a struggle to stay on top of it all. This was an issue highlighted by the keynote speaker, Dr, Janice Phillips, who discussed the value of librarians in heading the charge when credible health information becomes scrambled with misinformation or disinformation.
One topic of discussion that came up at Friday’s conference in Champaign was the fact that certain databases and government resources are no longer being updated, or present unnecessary warnings regarding standard, scientific health information. Some librarians weren’t yet aware of these issues, and many more weren’t sure where to find alternatives for databases and web resources. It was incredible to see so many librarians immediately stepping into their roles for each other, giving recommendations for alternatives and workarounds for regaining access to missing information. This act of gathering together and sharing concerns and solutions is itself a form of self-care. This is our way of securing our own safety masks before assisting others.
On the note of self-care, I was refreshed by Rena Machowa Lubker and Christine Andresen’s presentation, called “Navigating Wellness at Work: Using Mindfulness to Combat Burnout in Librarians”. Concepts like wellness and self-care get thrown around a lot, but these two presenters honed it for us librarians in a way that will help me balance my personal and professional workflows with forgiveness and patience. We learned that burnout does not happen in just the office, as it can affect many other facets of life. It takes community and self-reflection truly to know when we are being affected.
The second presentation of the day came from Holly Hudson, Tina Griffin, Cynthia Reynolds, and Carmen Howard from UIC, as they guided us through their incredibly-fun session, titled “How do you know?: Teaching Health Sciences Professionals How to Talk to Patients about Online Information”. These presenters were not afraid to have us get up and move around for some teaching activities. Much welcome after a day of sitting! I appreciated this class, as it was an elaborate refresher on instruction and gave me some new ways of thinking about creative, effective instruction delivery in online and in-person formats.
I was not able to attend the virtual lightning talks earlier in the week, but I have a colleague who presented some work he’s been doing on the gamification of learning in health sciences libraries. I’m grateful to be a part of an organization that creates opportunities like this to share the work we do in an environment that feels genuinely supportive and uplifting. As I’ve heard it said before, HSLI is a small but mighty organization, and I hope to be at the next conference.