One-footed glides. Toe-stop runs. Blocker walls and braces. Jammers and pivots. These are just some of the balancing acts one might see in a flat-track roller derby bout. Beyond the track, the sport and culture of roller derby offer myriad exploratory areas for library workers and their self-care/shelf-care balance: from strategic thinking and planning, to building strong communities, to navigating change, mental health, community care, and much more. This poster presentation adds to the conversation between roller derby and libraries (a genre that includes roller derby personas like Queen City’s Librawlian and the viral Milwaukee Public Library Banned Books Week video featuring the Brewcity Bruisers) from the perspective of an early-career academic librarian and derby skater, to explore strategies for developing adaptive, compassionate, and critical library praxis. Roller derby’s gameplay and community values are encouraging object lessons for all library workers to hold space for reflection, joy, and resilience.
