Summit Research Repository (Simon Fraser University)

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Presented at the BC Library Conference 2024, Vancouver, BC, Canada. April, 2024

Brons, Adena

Riley, Chloe

RESISTING 
PRECARITY: 
BUILDING COLLECTIVE 
STRATEGIES
Adena Brons (she/her)
Chloe Riley (she/her)
PRECARITY IN LIBRARIES
The Precarity in Libraries research project was started in 2017 
by 4 precariously employed librarians. Our goal is to provide 
information on the extent and effects of precarious work in 
Canadian libraries.
Published works available at https://osf.io/ybczx/
Thanks and acknowledgement to our research collaborators 
Ean Henninger and Crystal Yin.
Resisting precarity 2
AGENDA
What is precarity?
Effects of precarity
Actions and strategies
Activity
Questions/Wrap up
WORD CLOUD: 
WHAT DOES PRECARITY MEAN TO YOU?
JOIN AT MENTI.COM / CODE XXXXX
4
WHAT IS:
PRECARIOUS EMPLOYMENT
5
STANDARD VS. NON-STANDARD EMPLOYMENT
• Standard employment is “access to a full-time, permanent job with a 
single employer and that includes at least some benefits” (“But is it a 
good job,” 2023)
• Non standard work includes:
• Part time
• Variable hours
• Temporary/contract
• Auxiliary
• Gig work
WHAT IS:
PRECARITY?
6
WORKING CONDITIONS CHARACTERIZED BY:
• (Lack of) access to employment protections
• (Lack of) access to collective representation
• Income variability
• Scheduling variability
• (Lack of) access to employer-provided benefits
• (Lack of) ‘voice’ at work
• Conditions of “material or psychological vulnerability” (Topp & 
Lubowiz, 2019)
PREVALENCE OF PRECARITY
Resisting Precarity 7
PREVALENCE OF PRECARITY
Resisting Precarity 8
In Libraries and Archives:
• 42.8% of jobs posted to the Partnership Job Board were precarious 
(2017-2019)
o 29% Contract, 6.9% On Call, 22.7% Part-Time
• Precarious jobs not more likely in one type of library than any other
• BC libraries 45.7% of jobs were precarious - higher than Canada 
average (42.8%)
• Library assistant and technician postings most likely to be precarious; 
manager positions the least likely
Henninger, Ean, Adena Brons, Chloe Riley, and Crystal Yin. “Factors Associated with the Prevalence of 
Precarious Positions in Canadian Libraries: Statistical Analysis of a National Job Board.” Evidence Based 
Library and Information Practice 15, no. 3 (September 15, 2020): 78–102. 
https://doi.org/10.18438/eblip29783.
IN THE ROOM:
ARE YOU CURRENTLY PRECARIOUSLY 
EMPLOYED IN LIS?
JOIN AT MENTI.COM / CODE XXXXX
9
EFFECTS OF PRECARITY
Resisting Precarity 10
ON LIBRARY WORKERS
• Increased stress
• Financial vulnerability
• Negative physical and 
mental health effects
• Reduced ability to make 
long term plans
• Less likely/able to report 
harassment
ON LIBRARY WORKERS
• Harming or slowing career 
development
• Unequal access to 
professional development
• Minimal employee 
investment, retention
• Compounds existing 
inequities
ON OTHERS
• Reduction in 
extracurricular or volunteer 
activities
• Reduction in political 
engagement
• Lower service quality
IN THE ROOM:
DUE TO PRECARITY, HAVE YOU 
EXPERIENCED...
*SELECT ALL THAT APPLY
JOIN AT MENTI.COM / CODE XXXXX
11
RESISTING PRECARITY
What can be done? (in libraries)
ACTIONS & STRATEGIES
Resisting Precarity 13
SURVIVAL
• Individualized
• Self care
Eg: Financial Instability
Ø Budgeting
Ø Additional job
RESISTANCE
• Small groups / local 
communities
Eg. Financial Instability
Ø Mutual aid groups
Ø Financial planning advice
CHANGE
• Professional / Societal
• Collective efforts
Eg. Financial Instability
Ø Bargaining for higher pay
Ø Pay gap analysis & 
adjustments
ACTIVITY
Resisting Precarity 14
We now want to facilitate an opportunity for you to 
share your experiences and thoughts about precarity 
in libraries, and strategies for how we can address its 
harmful effects.
What is shared in this session should be treated as 
confidential. Please don't share beyond the session.
15
SMALL GROUP ACTIVITY
Work together at your table. You will be assigned a theme related to precarity, 
which will include several examples of harmful effects.
• Select one person to report back to the room
• Review the effects associated with your theme, and identify strategies or actions to 
address these examples (or other effects related to your theme).
• Considerations:
• If your answer is "more pay" or "more benefits" – yes, we agree! But dig a bit deeper, and 
consider the mechanisms for how to make this happen.
• Think about the different circles of influence and levels of action (individual,  small groups of 
colleagues, our profession, societal change). Some effects may have strategies at multiple levels. 
• Use your post-its to write down strategies (we’ll collect them!)
• Timing:
• 2. minutes for private reflection / thinking
• 10 minutes to discuss as a group at your table
• 10 minutes to share back to the whole room (1 idea per group!)
FOUR THEMES WITH EXAMPLES OF EFFECTS
Theme 1: Burnout & mental load
• Learning and applying workplace policies and 
procedures at new (or multiple) jobs
• Scheduling on-call shifts or juggling multiple positions 
(on own time)
• Constant job seeking (on own time)
• Constant orientations / onboarding of employees
• Unrealistic expectations for scope of activities in a 
limited contract
16Theme 2: Career development
• Lack of access to professional development funds, or 
time to engage
• No consistency (changing jobs, supervisors, etc.) can 
stagnate development of skills
• Burn-out results in less time and energy
• Lack of ability to build, plan, or participate in long-
term initiatives or relationships
Theme 3: Isolation
• Regular staff don't take time to get to know contract or 
temporary staff
• On-call staff members not invited to collegial events or 
holiday parties
• Disengaged, unsupported, or unrepresented by the union
• Scheduled for weekend or evening shifts – little or no 
contact with supervisor or colleagues
Theme 4: Workplace morale & 
service
• Reduced opportunities to be consulted or give 
feedback
• Achievements of precarious employee can be 
unrecognized
• Weaker connections to community and regular users
• Lower trust in, and greater antagonism towards, 
employer
• Stress as a factor of low-morale work environments
WHAT ACTION WILL YOU TAKE?
Taking action can make a difference to resisting precarity and building 
solidarity among our library colleagues. Take a moment to privately write 
down some next steps you can take:
• Something you can do on your own?
• Something you can do with a colleague?
• Something you can do within / for the broader profession?
17
WHAT'S NEXT
Follow along with our research at our 
Open Science Framework project page: 
https://osf.io/ybczx/
QUESTIONS?
Adena Brons – abrons@sfu.ca
Chloe Riley – chloe_riley@sfu.ca 
BIBLIOGRAPHY
Resisting Precarity 20
• Henninger, Ean, Adena Brons, Chloe Riley, and Crystal Yin. “Factors Associated with the Prevalence of 
Precarious Positions in Canadian Libraries: Statistical Analysis of a National Job Board.” Evidence Based 
Library and Information Practice 15, no. 3 (September 15, 2020): 78–102. 
https://doi.org/10.18438/eblip29783.
• Hogue, Elizabeth M., and Lorene Sisson. “Bargains of the Century: Part-time Librarians.” The Bottom Line 
7, no. 2 (February 1994): 18–22. https://doi.org/10.1108/eb025412.
• Näsström, Sofia, and Sara Kalm. “A Democratic Critique of Precarity.” Global Discourse 5, no. 4 (October 2, 
2015): 556–73. https://doi.org/10.1080/23269995.2014.992119.
• Procyk, Stephanie, Wayne Lewchuk, and John Shields, eds. Precarious Employment: Causes, Consequences 
and Remedies. Labour in Canada (Halifax, N.S.) ; 5. Halifax ; Winnipeg: Fernwood Publishing, 2017.
• Topp, Brian, and Theresa Lubowitz. “Managing Precarious Work : Three Canadian Models for 
Rebalancing Bargaining Power in the Future of Work.” Key Issues Series. Public Policy Forum, November 
2019. https://ppforum.ca/wp-content/uploads/2019/12/ManagingPrecariousWork-PPF-NOV2019.pdf.


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Simon Fraser University

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