Reading Round-Up 11.21.2026 – Supervisors, Neuroinclusivity, Queer Safe Spaces, Psychological Safety, and Feedback

A little round as I work to get back into the habit of writing regularly. I have been busy. I ran for and won a seat on the Board of Directors for the Iowa Library Association. I’ll step into this role in January, which also means I will step down from the Government Access Committee and the Leadership Development Committee.

The white paper I wrote for the Public Library Association abut adult learners and public libraries was released. You can watch a recording of the webinar here. It was wonderful to learn so much about what amazing work is happening on the frontlines of public libraries.

I’m putting together a list of coaches to recommend to librarians and library managers. If you have worked with a coach and would recommend them, please share. Feel free to send me an email.

I am writing a post based on a question I saw on Facebook this week: “How do you navigate burnout when the root problems aren’t within your control?” I plan to have it out the week after Thanksgiving (US).

I’ll be spending Fall break getting started on the new book and working on ThriveLib 2026!

Here are some things I’m reading and thinking about right now.

When the Support Isn’t There: Navigating the Silent Supervisor from Trevor Dawes

Working without adequate supervisory support creates a peculiar kind of professional isolation. It’s not always dramatic—there’s rarely a single catastrophic moment. Instead, it’s the accumulation of unanswered emails, the scheduled one-on-ones that keep getting postponed or canceled, or the completed project that receives neither acknowledgment nor critique. Over time, these absences compound into something more corrosive than simple neglect.

Bellamy, L., Flores Glosson, A., Glosson, J., Oberlies, M., Runyon, M., & Showalter, P. (2025).Are we implementing neuroinclusive hiring practices?: An investigation for academic library positions. In the Library with the Lead Pipe.

The application and interview process for academic library positions, especially those at the non-staff, librarian level, are often quite demanding and frequently require candidates to engage in processes that are particularly distressing to those with certain neurodivergent conditions, such as ASD or ADHD. As such, the barriers to entry into the profession are often larger for this population, and this can lead to underrepresentation within the academic library workforce. With fewer neurodivergent voices at the table, academic libraries will find it harder to identify the particular challenges that neurodivergent individuals face and the accommodations that could increase their recruitment, thus perpetuating a cycle of exclusion.

Coltman, Z. (2025). Small acts to make safe space: a case study of the Queer Liberation Library as a queer space. Information Research an International Electronic Journal, 30(CoLIS), 366–374. https://doi.org/10.47989/ir30CoLIS52246

Though there is much that could, and should, be done to build queer space into public libraries, especially for multi-minority individuals, this paper argues that small acts can and should be implemented before tackling larger tasks that require excess manpower, funding and time. Though these small acts do not replace the need for larger change, they can be implemented quickly and work to make public libraries safe spaces while larger changes are slowly implemented.

6 Defensive Behaviors That Show Up at Work—and How Psychological Safety Can Help

The language of “fight, flight, or freeze” to describe the body’s instinctive survival responses to perceived threats is commonly understood. But some clinicians and researchers now recognize six distinct threat responses: fight, flight, freeze, please/appease (sometimes called fawning), attach/cry for help, and collapse. While our threat responses originate in our earliest experiences of safety and danger, they don’t disappear when we grow up. They remain deeply wired survival strategies—patterns we unconsciously carry with us into adult life.

And unsurprisingly, we bring these responses to work.”

From a LinkedIn post by Dr. Victoria V

If your “feedback” is about my tone, personality, or how I “make you feel” when I speak up—it’s not feedback. It’s your discomfort with my presence.

#adultLearners #burnout #careerCoaches #feedback #managers #personality #psychologicalSafety #publicLibraries #queersSafeSpaces #supervisors #tone

Join Us for PLA’s Free Webinar on Adult Learning in Public Libraries

I’m excited to invite you to a free webinar hosted by the Public Library Association: Expanding Possibilities: Public Libraries and Adult Learning – Insights from the Field.

As part of my consulting work I had the pleasure of collaborating with the PLA team to develop the research questions, analyze the data, and write the final report. The process was both inspiring and eye-opening, revealing the wide range of ways public libraries are supporting adult learners and, just as importantly, the challenges they face in doing so. I’m especially thrilled that Maricela Leon-Barrera and Carrie Goodall will be joining the webinar. Learning about the work they and their teams are doing during our case study interviews was truly inspiring, and I can’t wait for others to hear their insights.

The paper will be available after the webinar.

Description: Public libraries are at the forefront of adult learning in the United States, serving as trusted, accessible programming providers. In a new report, “Expanding Possibilities: Public Libraries and Adult Learning – Insights from the Field,” PLA provides insights and innovations from the field based on a national survey of more than 350 public libraries, literature review, and case studies. Join this webinar to hear about key findings related to priority needs, barriers, and program responses; funding and evaluation; and partnerships. The report and webinar are sponsored by Gale, part of Cengage Group.

Learning Outcomes. At the conclusion of this webinar, participants will be able to:

• Understand the current landscape of public library adult learning topics and trends;
• Identify barriers and implement strategies to address these with adult learners; and
• Improve outreach and partnerships to better reach adult learners.

#adultLearners #plaWhitePaper #publicLibraries #webinar

I'm learning Clean Interviewing - skills of not letting your own biases shape the other person's answers - and I want to do an assessment thing to get a qualification in it, which means I need a few people to "practise on"!

Would anyone like to volunteer to be interviewed over Zoom for 20 mins or so? about their musical journey as an adult, or current wish for that?

I could pick _any_ topic, but I thought this would be a good theme to go with, because creating adult-learner music groups, or just encouraging people to have a go and enjoy it, are things I'm planning to do more of! So your thoughts and experiences along the way could feed in to better support for other people on similar paths :-)

For example,
•you could be just now resolving "I want to be playing music"
•you could've recently acquired an instrument or dusted one off, or joined a group or started looking into possibilities
•it could be you're playing regularly now.

Doesn't matter what kind of music!

And you could be starting fresh with pretty much no experience yet, or you could be coming back to music a bit "rusty" after leaving off in childhood.

(Or maybe you _did_ get into music as an adult, a while ago, and you'd be happy to think back about that. Or maybe you're someone who's supported _other_ people to get into music.)

Time zone considerations: I'm in England, so people on the America/Canada side of the world would probably need to be available in a morning or early afternoon.

I'd like to find at least one or two people who wouldn't mind their interview being recorded, so that I can pick one or more of the recordings to use for being assessed for the qualification. This would only be seen/heard by me and the people reviewing it - who'd be interested primarily in my interviewing-skills, rather than your actual answers :-)

Or, if you don't want to be recorded, I'd still potentially be up for one or two unrecorded ones, just as practice and for the interest of the topic.

Let me know if you might be up for it, or feel free to pass the info on to a friend!

Boosts appreciated :-)

#music #learning #AdultLearners #AskFedi

The Power of Late Blooming: A New Perspective

I have been on hiatus from my coaching and tutoring business for the first part of this year. I have a new project that requires my undivided attention. Today’s post is just to share some updates to add value to your day on the topic of late bloomers. Thank you, in advance, for reading.

Spring is starting to bring us new flower blossoms. I am thinking about renewal and newness in my own life. I am also thinking about the fact that we had late blooms this time. This was due to colder than usual weather patterns in the Southeastern USA.

Do you know someone who is a late bloomer? Are you a late bloomer?

I would love to hear your story, if you’d like to share: Contact me.

Sometimes late bloomers can feel less-than or devalued. I believe that late is better than never at all, and that has great value. There are many adult learners who experienced trauma or major crisis when they were younger. This delayed them going after their goals. They still pursued their academic and career goals later in life, in their 30’s. Some, like me, went back to school even later, in their 40’s and 50’s.

The project I am now working on involves a team of mostly women. These women are of all ages and support patients of a pharmaceutical company. Each and every one of us has their own reason for joining this project. Some of us are, like me, parents of young adult children that don’t need us as much. So, now later in our lives, we’re blooming by developing careers that we feel are fulfilling both financially and emotionally.

Currently, we are in the middle of the training phase. I have had the pleasure of supporting some team members by sharing study notes and tips. So, I have no room in my schedule to do the writing tutoring and coaching, yet.

In the meantime, I’ve been thinking of how I can add more value through my newsletter. If you have any feedback for me on this, I’d love to hear it. Use my contact form to reach out any time. I actually do read my email.

COMMUNITY UPDATE

Also, I have an important update: I had to close my discord server for The Village. I discovered that discord is being sued due to creating an unsafe space for children. So, for now I’ll just be using my website and blog to communicate. If I choose to create another community space in the future, I will share updates here via my newsletter.

#adultLearners #blog #blogging #coachDonnaMarie #featured #lateBloomers #laterInLifeCareers #life #newsletter #remoteWork #women #writing

Explore 15 Non-Traditional Student Scholarships in 2025!

Are you returning to college after a break? Balancing education with work or family?

Here are 15 scholarships designed for adult learners, career changers, and part-time students. Whether you're over 25, a parent, or pursuing a second degree, these opportunities can help you succeed!

Read more & apply now: https://scholarinfohub.com/non-traditional-student-scholarships/

#Scholarships #HigherEducation #AdultLearners #CareerChange

2023 #Educause #HorizonReport® – #Teaching #Learning

#Trends
#Social
#Technological: #AI
#Economic
#Environmental
#Political: #disinformation #Nationalism

Key Technologies and Practices
#GenerativeAI
#HyFlex
#Microcredentials
#Belonging #Connectedness

#Scenarios
#Growth #CriticalInfrastructure
#Constraint
#Collapse
#Transformation

#Implications
#LearningSpaces
#Equity #Accessibility
#DigitalConnectivity
#AdultLearners
#UnderResourcedInstitutions

https://library.educause.edu/-/media/files/library/2023/4/2023hrteachinglearning.pdf

@knitting #knitting #AdultLearners

Instead of accepting the usual offer of a #handmade accessory for Christmas, my #knitworthy adult friend has asked me to teach her to knit.

She has vague childhood memories of knit and purl: a beginner.

Is a simple hat, worked in the round, too ambitious for a first project? My reasoning is a one-skein project, wearable, several learning points.

#Opinions and #suggestions welcome :)

ETA: She is a professional artist/illustrator, so has great dexterity.