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The COVID-19 pandemic disproportionately affected those who face historical and ongoing marginalization. In centering pandemic experience of recent immigrant women in the accommodation and food services sector in Canada, we examine how their precarious work translated to experiences of work precarity and wellbeing. This paper illuminates how pre-existing and ongoing marginalization are reproduced during a health crisis for those at the intersection of gender, race, migration, and labour inequities. Using semi-structured interviews and systematic analysis using the Work Precarity Framework, we found that the pandemic exacerbated pre-existing socio-economic marginalization and resulted in unique experiences of work precarity. The latter was experienced as precarity of work (unpredictable work hours and job or employment insecurity), precarity from work (inadequate incomes), and precarity at work (physical, psychological, and relational unsafety). Work precarity stood out as a social determinant of health in relation to its outcome of degraded mental health and wellbeing. Recognizing the role of policies in producing, reproducing, and distributing precarity, we recommend policy directions to reduce social inequities in pandemic recovery. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article seeks to understand the current state of the field of special collections library administration in the United States. Using a dataset gathered through publicly available information about special collections directors from the Association of Research Libraries (ARL), Independent Research Libraries Association (IRLA), and the Oberlin Group institutional members, the authors explore the educational backgrounds of directors, the types of positions they held prior to taking on their current roles, and the effect of gender on leadership advancement. This article also discusses the similarities and differences between institution types as well as promotions within institutions and across types of institutions.

Small cities tend to have modest immigrant settlement services and cultural amenities, engendering a distinct sense of place among immigrants and impacting their wellbeing differently from large cities. To study the impacts of place characteristics on settlement needs, this photovoice research examines the sense of place among immigrant women through their attribution of meanings to places of comfort and discomfort as they settled in a small city in Canada. Thirty-two immigrant women of different immigration admission statuses, i.e., economic, family, and refugee classes, ranging in age from 19 to 48, took photographs of places that they considered to be either comfortable or uncomfortable. Most participants were from Asia, Africa, and South America, and they had lived in Canada for less than 10 years. Findings indicated that these women appreciated the warmth and support extended to them by settlement services provider organizations, libraries, and faith-based organizations, attesting to the relational nature of the place. Nevertheless, immigrant women dreaded harsh winter conditions and felt unsafe in downtown areas. A close read of these women's photo stories revealed that their apprehensions about punitive winter conditions are closely linked to their role as primary household caregivers who take their children to public places. Their sense of vulnerability towards downtown areas demonstrates female subordination and their distaste for public spaces. Immigrant women sought comfort in locales that this paper terms "restorative space," showing their creative use of private and public spaces for relaxation. This study contributes to our understanding of the gendered and interwoven nature of the self, social, and physical spaces. The findings from this study call for settlement policies that attend to distinct characteristics of local places to better serve the settlement needs of immigrants. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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