I feel so lucky to have the time and freedom in my professional life to contribute to the scholarly discourse in librarianship. And I’m starting 2023 off strong with two back-to-back publications on two very different topics.

In January, an article I wrote with the brilliant Deborah Charbonneau from Wayne State University was published in Library Quarterly. The article, titled “Librarian Contributions to Evidence Synthesis Programs: Addressing the COVID-19 Infodemic”, explored the various ways that librarians have helped researchers, decision-makers, and the public to wade through the deluge of information on COVID-19. I’m excited that we were able to share this article in a non-health journal and hopefully reach an audience that might not have known about all the wonderful work our colleagues have been doing during the pandemic.

The second article was published in February in the Journal of Hospital Librarianship. It is a column piece that describes the work my hospital library is doing to integrate elements of well-being into our space, collection, and services. This article was a great opportunity to highlight the efforts and creativity of my library team as we try to reimagine what a hospital library space can be in the 21st century.

These articles are behind a paywall, so if you’re interested in reading the full text, feel free to reach out and I’ll see what I can do!

Charbonneau, D.H. & Vela, K. (2023). Librarian Contributions to Evidence Synthesis Programs: Addressing the COVID-19 Infodemic. Library Quarterly, 93(1). https://doi.org/10.1086/722548

Vela, K. (2023). Just Breathe: Building Wellness into a Hospital Library Space. Journal of Hospital Librarianship, 23(1), 44-47. https://doi.org/10.1080/15323269.2022.2158658