Academic Library Workers in Conversation
Becoming a Coach to Continue Our Library Goals
A Year of Exploring Why We Choose Librarianship
© 2026 Angela Pashia and Annie Bélanger
Academic Library Workers in Conversation is a C&RL News series focused on elevating the everyday conversations of library professionals. The wisdom of the watercooler has long been heralded, but this series hopes to go further by minimizing barriers to traditional publishing with an accessible format. In past issues, authors proposed the topics. However, during 2026, this feature will focus on the authors’ stories of librarianship. How they got here, why they stay, and even why they consider leaving or transitioning at times. During this time of great upheaval in higher education, exploring our many “whys” is a worthy venture. — Dustin Fife, series editor
Angela Pashia (AP): Can I start by echoing the last line of that intro? Exploring our “whys” is incredibly valuable and is an important part of what I help library leaders do now.
I was an academic librarian for twelve years. Like way too many of us, I went through several low-morale experiences (shoutout to Kaetrena Davis Kendrick’s research1 in this area). Eventually, I reached a point when I was just done and started exploring what else I could do with my life.
And then I learned about coaching, and it just clicked. So I took a couple of years to complete training and make the transition, and now I’m self-employed as a professional coach. I get to continue contributing to librarianship from the outside by helping library leaders use curiosity to confidently manage change and conflict in their libraries.
Annie, what brought you to coaching?
Annie Bélanger (AB): As a consultant with DeEtta Jones, I stumbled into leadership coaching. Working with a large R1 library on leadership development and team cohesion, I led 360s and provided coaching for individual leaders. I was hooked!
The values that brought me to libraries were deeply present in my coaching: care, asking hard questions, connectedness, and sparking new knowledge. Much like a librarian, to be a coach is to be in partnership with and in service of the learning journey.
Angela, what’s your “why” for working with librarians?
AP: Even though I needed to leave traditional library employment, I couldn’t bring myself to just walk away from libraries.
I work with library leaders to get in touch with their “why” so that they can become more confident leading in a way that’s aligned with their values instead of letting their fears and insecurities run the show. I see that as a space where I can help make libraries at least a little less toxic.
What about you, Annie?
AB: Angela, I understand how deeply rooted libraries can be in journeys. To weave my commitment to libraries with my coaching made sense to me.
As I work with library leaders, I focus on deepening self-awareness. Who we are is how we lead. Coaching helps leaders manage their strengths and act with greater intention. This in turn has a positive impact on their teams. We can oscillate between discovering solutions to a pressing tactical problem, increasing resilience and capacity, and facilitating transformational change.
Libraries have a leadership succession gap. My hope is that coaching enables leaders to be better and to remain in leadership sustainably. And then enable an improved working experience in libraries, for all levels.
It sounds like we both see coaching as a way to nurture leadership that is more human and values driven. What do you wish more library leaders understood about coaching?
AP: Annie, the thing I find myself highlighting most often is that it’s a specific technique that’s different from, and complementary to, a lot of other types of support that you need in your support net. When I first started researching this path, I envisioned a coach as a combination of a mentor, teacher, and trainer. But coaching is actually distinct from all of those roles.
As you mentioned, partnering is a crucial part of the definition of coaching. So I’m an expert in the process, while my client is an expert in their own context. Coaching is a strengths-based practice, designed to help the client build on their strengths to maximize their potential.
Mentoring is a different type of support because the whole premise is that a more experienced colleague is sharing their expertise with a less experienced colleague. The focus is on the mentor sharing what worked for them in similar situations and giving advice, though some may use a coaching approach here. As coaches, we’re there as equal partners. We may share examples as a place to start brainstorming, but we don’t give advice about what the client should do. What worked for you or me is not going to work for everyone, so we coach people through finding their own paths.
Coaching is also distinct from training or teaching. We may help clients get a clearer idea of what training they need and figure out the best way to get that training, but actually delivering that training is a different type of interaction.
And I always have to add that coaching is also not therapy.
What would you add here?
AB: Angela, your overview is spot on. As you said, in coaching we are equal partners. This highlights a key concept that distinguishes coaching from mentoring and counseling: The individual is fully resourced and able to succeed. The coach provides the individual with a safe space to surface insights and experiment to advance their growth.
Another aspect I love is that we look forward to what could be. Once we have the awareness of where we are (without judgment) and what’s driving us to enact behaviors, we can begin to move forward with intention. For some, that future is clear, and the focus is outlining ways to move toward it. For others, the future is murky as they find themselves in transitions. Some transitions are small—think changing jobs within the field for a new challenge. Some transitions are massive —exploring whether to stay or go in a profession, what meaning making is now, and shifting our identity.
I certainly found myself at a crossroads after twenty years in the field. At first, I thought that maybe I needed a new challenge as I had grown restless—cue small transition of rehabbing a house. However, as I dug inward with my coach about what was driving that restlessness, I realized it was time for a professional sabbatical. I needed space from being a senior leader to ascertain who I wanted to be rather than what I wanted to be.
AP: Annie, that talk about massive transitions is hitting home for me.
Unlike you, I didn’t experience being coached until I was actually in a program to become a coach. Before I started exploring this path, I knew someone who is a psychic medium, tarot card reader, and life coach. I made assumptions and didn’t see coaching as a valuable investment for myself.
That changed when I was exploring my options for my transition out of my traditional library role and stumbled across a video about becoming a book coach.
That led me to research the various credentials and certifications and training programs. Like in libraries, there are professional organizations that accredit training programs, and there are unaccredited programs. And you can work as a coach without any formal training at all.
There’s a lot of debate within libraries about whether we should require an ALA accredited degree. But it’s still a norm to look for that ALA stamp of approval on a formal training program because that signals a certain baseline knowledge about the fundamentals of librarianship. Your mileage may vary, of course, and we can also discuss how those programs could be improved, but that’s the reasoning.
There are also library science programs out there that aren’t accredited but that may still qualify a person to seek a teaching credential from their state.
And similarly, that explains why my first impression of a professional coach landed the way it did.
So I started my transition by enrolling in a training program that’s accredited by the International Coaching Federation (ICF). There are a couple of other major professional organizations for coaches, but the ICF is the biggest name in the US right now.
And I’ve always been an overachiever, so as soon as I completed all of the requirements, I also earned my ICF Associate Certified Coach (ACC) credential. A credential from a member-led professional organization, like the ICF, is a good way to identify who has that foundational knowledge of the field. It’s not the only way someone can become a great coach, but it’s the simplest way for someone who isn’t a coach to start to narrow their search.
Annie, I know you started coaching with DeEtta Jones and are now enrolled in an accredited program. What differences are you noticing in how you approached coaching before and what you’re learning now?
AB: Earlier you mentioned that you first thought of a coach as a mentor and teacher. I think that I also brought this misconception into my early efforts as well as consulting. I focused a lot on skills development (teacher). I shared my experiences to normalize or validate their experiences (mentor). I sought to understand a lot of nuances to help diagnose (consultant).
Now I focus on my ability to challenge with care and uplift insights out of what appears like disparate information to consider the deeper changes. Thinking of self as coach, I am deepening my presence and awareness to slow my pace and intensity while being grounded. I empower the client to develop the agenda, the outcomes, and the associated action plan so that they can develop resilience, adaptability, and capacity for future evolutions. This approach draws a parallel to information literacy instruction to support new habits of mind and self-sufficiency.
AP: Annie, that connection to teaching information literacy hits home for me. As a librarian, I focused heavily on using critical pedagogies in teaching critical information literacy. I looked for opportunities to share power with, instead of holding power over, students. So shifting into coaching felt like taking that approach to the next level.
My favorite part of this work is seeing the difference coaching makes for library leaders. Just like with a lot of reference questions, the surface issue they come to me for help with is often not the real challenge we need to address. Bringing this back around to our ongoing contributions in libraries, I love that I get to continue doing that work to uncover and address the real challenge while doing what I can to help make libraries a little less toxic.
I think we’re just about out of space here. How do you want to wrap this up?
AB: Angela, I really appreciate your clear purpose in engaging in the profession from your new vantage point. I see parallels between the transformational process and why I led within academic libraries. Coaching, like libraries, is often quiet enough to hear yourself becoming who you will be and loud enough to know you are not alone in the journey. Both seek to invite curiosity, knowledge creation, and meet people where they are.
I would like to close with an invitation for readers to take some time to reflect on these questions:
- What is your big aspirational goal?
- How is this goal important to you?
- What do you have to help you reach it?
- What are one to three behavioral changes that will help you reach and sustain the goal?
And remember that it’s not perfection but rather presence, courage, and a commitment to growth that supports our ongoing development. 
Note
1. This body of work examines a range of contexts, from public to academic libraries and from librarians to library leadership. You can find a list of published articles on this topic at https://renewalslis.com/published-low-morale-studies/.
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