In March and April of 2021, I (and 2 co-investigators) interviewed academic librarians across Canada about their workload and working conditions during COVID-19. Our 30-60 minute interviews touched on myriad topics, many related to wellness: erosion of boundaries between work and home, stress and burnout, advantages and disadvantages of remote work, relationships with colleagues and administration, and explicit wellness initiatives. This presentation will discuss how our study participants framed wellness during the COVID-19 pandemic. I will cover the main factors discussed as contributing to stress or burnout, the double-edged sword of working from home, and their thoughts on both their administrations’ forays into wellness initiatives and library efforts at student-aimed wellness programming. Ultimately, when study participants described what contributed to their own hopefulness, positivity, or stress relief at work during COVID, there was only one consistent theme: genuine, deep connections with colleagues where there existed mutual care, respect and solidarity.