An Impossible Balance: Navigating Archival Work and Caregiving Amid the COVID-19 Pandemic

ABSTRACT

This article examines the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on archival caregivers. The authors explore the effects that remote work arrangements had on archivists; how time-shifting and flexible schedules helped to mitigate the negative impacts the pandemic had on work priorities, caregiving obligations, and interruptions that affected work-life balance; and how pressure to return to on-site work locations altered the tenuous systems archivists erected during the pandemic to manage these competing priorities. A mixed-methods study revealed that managers, leaders, and supervisors at every level of an organization have the power and influence to directly impede or improve both the work and caregiving load borne by the archival workers in their reporting lines. The manager-to-archivist relationship and its impact on care providers extends beyond the COVID-19 pandemic and necessitates a more holistic approach to resources and tools needed to build on and create sustainable relationships of care for archival workers.