Reading & Resource List

The foundational piece on how treating archives and libraries as sacred missions leads to burnout, undercompensation, and scope creep. Required reading for anyone trying to understand why self-advocacy feels so hard in this profession. Written by a brilliant scholar whose work continues to shape the field.

A thorough examination of burnout in academic libraries and archives, with chapters covering contingent labor, organizational culture, intersectionality, and prevention strategies. Includes a specific chapter on archivists and the impact of precarious employment.

A study using diary methodology with 15 archivists that maps the full range of emotional triggers in archival work — from traumatic collections to colleague relationships to organizational climate and leadership behavior.

Reframes the archivist's relationship to records, donors, and communities through an ethics of care — essential context for understanding why archival labor is inherently relational, emotional, and ethically significant.

A readable overview of how repeated exposure to traumatic archival materials affects archivists — and how trauma-informed care principles can be applied to archival practice and institutional culture.

A collection of articles centering the argument that burnout is a systemic problem, not a personal failing. Directly applicable to archivists and collections workers navigating the same pressures as museum educators. Includes perspectives on race, disability, and institutional accountability.

A direct examination of the invisible labor of archivists — the work that goes unseen and uncompensated — and a call to document, name, and advocate for its value within institutions and the profession.

A practical overview of burnout, emotional labor, and imposter syndrome as they specifically affect archivists — with a clear argument that burnout is a structural labor issue rather than a personal failing.

A science-based, readable guide to understanding how stress accumulates and how to actually complete the stress cycle — not just manage it. Widely recommended in library and archival communities. Especially resonant for those in care-intensive roles.

A deeply researched look at the invisible, uncompensated emotional work many professionals perform every day — and a call to name it, recognize it, and advocate for its value. Connects personal experience to structural inequity.

For archivists whose professional identity is tightly wound into their work — a thoughtful, interview-driven case for decoupling your sense of worth from your output, and reclaiming the parts of life that work has crowded out.

A practical handbook taking a holistic approach to wellness in library and archival workplaces — covering physical environment, organizational culture, diversity and inclusion, and how institutions can build genuinely supportive conditions for their workers.