Regaining Control of the Library
Abstract
Regaining control of the library is a very important step that needs to happen at multiple levels in a library. The library needs to practice self-examination and acknowledge where leadership training is needed. Not only does the library’s administration need to change, there also needs to be genuine support from the institution’s higher administration. If change is to be long-lasting, then the Human Resources Department will need to change how toxic leadership incidents are reported, starting by taking them seriously as well as recording incidents in a professional manner with set protocols and policies.
Keywords
Human resources; policy; collaboration
4.1 The Toxic Leader Has Been Removed, Now What?
The first step in regaining control of the academic library or department (in some instances) that has been under a toxic leader is to acknowledge what has happened. Attempts to minimize or dismiss the events are a disservice and belittle the suffering and damage librarians have endured. Regaining control of the library is a difficult task that must be undertaken because the toxic leader who is no longer there has in most cases left its librarians and staff in a demoralized state.
Once the toxic leaders have been removed or at least relegated to an area where they cannot continue to do the type of harm they have already caused it is time for the remaining library administration to establish rules, guidelines, protocols, and trainings dealing with this type of leader in order to prevent toxic leadership from recurring. If any of these steps are missed the likelihood of recurrence increases as proven by the experiences of librarians who have been in the profession for 15, 25, and more than 32 years and who have never had a good leader owing to toxic leadership and a lack of employee protection policies. Librarians who have suffered under a toxic leader must expose what happened and explain what ended up working in regard to coping and ending the abuse. These actions may include going to Human Resources to file a complaint, or to the Vice-President of Academic Affairs, the President, the union representative if applicable, or even the police (on or off campus) if threats of physical violence appear to be in the realm of possibility.
Regarding the selection of interim leadership, this library leader must be chosen carefully. This person, regardless of gender, needs to be compassionate and understanding of what has happened in the library. In over half of the interviews librarians revealed that their interim leader was usually a fellow survivor. Some of the interviewed librarians were the chosen interim directors and candidly expressed how they had learned how not to lead a library and that becoming the interim leader had inspired them to become department heads or library directors in order to model positive leadership. After what they had had to live through they wanted to make sure that under their leadership librarians would not be abused and that the focus would be on making a better library for all departments through open communication and interdepartmental committee work. The word “transparency” was not used because in these librarians’ experience library leaders who claimed to be transparent ultimately were not.
Once the new library leader has been selected, if the incoming leader is new to the academic institution, he/she needs need to be made fully aware of the situation by the Provost or someone else in higher administration. If this conversation is avoided or simply does not occur leaders may be caught off guard when subordinates start asking how long they will be there or ask what they think or have heard about what happened in the library. For this reason, procedures need to be set up to protect not only librarians, but also the academic institution.
4.2 Mechanisms to Counter Toxic Leadership
The literature on toxic leadership indicates that it is important for an organization to have mechanisms for employees who want to report or challenge a toxic leader without feeling exposed and vulnerable (Lipman-Blumen, 2005b; Pelletier, 2012). Lipman-Blumen (2005a, 2005b) and Henley (2003) suggest the implementation of procedures such as contingency plans to help those who report abuse. Surprising as it may be, some organizations do not have whistle-blower policies or an office of “ombuds services,” thus potentially leaving victims of toxic leadership feeling that they do not have much recourse at their institutions owing to the lack of established procedures to report what is happening to them (Kaminski & Sincox, 2012). Pelletier (2012) recommends that if these mechanisms are not already in place, then the organization should strive to be prepared for when the need to put these mechanisms into action arises, and all efforts should also be made to prevent the hiring of toxic leaders.
Within the academic library there should be policy development; it should not be left to the Human Resources Department, though they will need to play an integral part in this process. Together the academic library and Human Resources can generate policies that encourage a culture of communication, to openly speak without the fear of reprisals, policies that specifically spell out what behaviors are not tolerated. This should be taken as an opportunity to enumerate toxic behaviors and everyone involved should proceed in an efficient manner.
The ultimate goal is to stop the work environment from ever again becoming toxic. Academic libraries may have a slower transitioning of the complete staff (longer still if librarians are faculty), as is typical in academia, but eventually even institutional memory will not be enough, which is why it is imperative that mechanisms are enacted to prevent toxic leaders from entrenching themselves into the library again.
4.3 The Need for Academic Libraries to Practice Self-Examination
The librarian interviews revealed how some toxic leaders tend to move around from one academic library to another every few years. That the academic library culture needs to change was a view expressed hopefully by interviewees who know full well that the academic library profession is slow to change when it comes to people management.
There is a glass ceiling at the middle management level in academic libraries. Very traditional leadership is still going strong and library leaders do not want to hear about change.
When references are requested for a potential hire there is nothing wrong with saying that working with this person was difficult, but one should not exaggerate or cover up for a toxic leader by calling them a high impact leader or a strong leader. If one must use the term “high impact,” then it needs to be qualified by saying if the impact was negative or positive. Academic library administrators are part of the problem if the accepted practice of covering up for toxic leaders continues simply because it has always been that way. This is a disservice to positive leaders, because the hiring process is rendered trivial.
Academic library administrators have to stop being complicit with the propagation of toxic leadership in the field. Whereas the majority of academic libraries are led by decent people, there is a significant number that are not. This fact came up frequently and it did not matter whether the institution was public or private, rural or urban, religiously affiliated or not, prestigious or not. In their interviews librarians declared their confusion about how toxic leaders were treated once caught beyond a doubt. It was difficult to comprehend how, if these toxic leaders were not retiring, they easily found another leadership position in another institution because the Vice-President or President had given them a good reference. These toxic leaders were now another academic institution’s problem. Academic library administrators have actively helped with the recycling and spread of toxic leadership because they have not been frank about their own experiences with toxic leaders. Instead of providing honest references they consciously chose to recommend, in effect passing on, the toxic leaders to the next unsuspecting library.
4.4 Professional Library Associations Lack “People Training”
Disappointment was expressed by most of the mid-career academic librarians interviewed whenever professional library associations were discussed. These associations are perceived as just not doing enough, but charge what many librarians considered to be substantial fees for membership, to attend their conferences, and to participate in pre- or post-conference special workshops (at extra cost). Many librarians felt their associations should step up and play a stronger role in creating better training for mid-career librarians. Confidentially, they dared to speak up and stated that mentoring efforts need to extend beyond newly minted librarians or refined mentoring for already well-established library leaders. Mid-career librarians felt their associations’ efforts toward their mentoring and leadership needs were virtually nonexistent. Academic library associations need to be more prominent when the issues around and ramifications of toxic leadership are discussed.
I encountered real resistance to any guidance/mentoring, in fact it could be considered a closed door. They did not really want to deal with it, they wanted it to go away. I believe that as a library leader in higher education, the higher your aspirations, the more help you should seek, and my experience was that the higher I went, the less the help I found.
Of those interviewed, two library directors, acknowledged that the emphasis on “happy talk” in the library management literature needs to cease because it is damaging to the profession, for both new and mid-career librarians. These articles do not present the effort it takes to lead and maintain a successful academic library.
Library associations are missing an enormous opportunity to train librarians better to step into leadership and management, because it is known that these much-needed trainings are not happening in library schools. For example, the interview process (how to do a reference check what questions to ask when checking references, how to select for fit) and how to report a toxic leader or an abusive peer, among other topics could easily be given time every other year at associations’ conferences. If these trainings and workshops are already happening for mid-career librarians, then marketing and outreach efforts are not reaching those who need further education or are interested in exploring management and leadership positions in academic libraries. Finally, it would be remiss not to disclose that these trainings and workshops are probably prohibitively costly on a beginning or mid-career academic librarian’s salary.
One can only imagine how much damage could be averted if librarians who come into management and leadership positions ill-prepared had the opportunity to participate in these professional development trainings. Certainly there would always be issues; people are people, that is not being denied. If academic librarians were better prepared many difficult work situations would be eliminated or at least conditions would be improved enough to prevent a situation from escalating to toxic leadership. Academic librarians need to be prepared to regain control of their work environment should the need ever arise.
4.5 Maintaining a Nontoxic Leader Library
It is important to maintain a toxic-leader-free library, because after the toxic leader has been removed (or isolated) the situation will not change for the better on its own. After the library has survived toxic leaders and their followers, it is time for the new library or renewed library leadership to take charge of the work needed to maintain a nontoxic-leader library. The easiest thing to do is not hire more toxic leaders, though this is not easy to execute. There are people, librarians included, who are very talented at gaming the interview process, while other toxic leaders are very obvious in their personalities and should not be hired, especially after the checking of references that are suspiciously pristine.
4.5.1 The Interview Process: Making it More Inclusive
The interview process needs to be improved by the inclusion of more questions about organizational fit and not relying solely on references. If there are lukewarm or generic references, these should be seen as a sign and not ignored. Even really positive references should be further investigated whenever possible. Background checks are useful, but these will not necessarily reveal whether their current employers are trying to rid themselves of their toxic leaders. Mendacity and denials of rumors were reported as common by interviewees who witnessed this practice when serving on search committees, in general. Allegedly this was done to avoid any probable future litigation and helping the toxic librarian to move on. For these reasons the reference checking process needs to be more deliberate. Whenever possible, both librarians and higher ranking administrators serving on the search committee should check references, to prevent the inadvertent hiring of toxic leaders with dubious references. It does not help matters that at many academic institutions, when there are large search committees, these tend to delegate the task of checking references to the search firm. Some librarians said this was done for legal reasons, but how helpful is it to the library to have a search firm looking out to answer the library’s needs, particularly if that firm was not informed that the librarians are in the midst of recuperating from years of toxic leadership? Librarians should not be left out of the reference checking process, they know libraries best and most importantly, they know what type of leader they need in order to reinvigorate their library.
The final candidates for academic library leadership positions usually go through a 2-day interview process. During this time, the candidates need to talk to the librarians on a range of topics. Librarians representing all of the library departments need to engage with the candidates. Librarians also need to evaluate their potential new library directors for more than the typical 45-minute to 1-hour allotted session. At least three librarians need to be on the search committee. Two is often the number used for the library; however, there are more than two departments in a library and thus the need for broader library representation, especially on large search committees that have been charged with finding the library’s new leader. Search committees have been known to have as many as 30 members, though even if the committee is just a dozen people, three of them still need to be librarians. With three of them on the committee, librarians can support each other when presenting their views or asking questions, or merely preventing other members' special interests from diluting the search process.
4.5.2 Selecting Interim Leaders From Within the Library
When middle-management positions needed interim leadership the interviews exposed how librarians were often selected to become the interim or next department leader simply because they were good at their jobs and not because they particularly wanted to serve as leaders. Therefore, no matter how wonderfully talented one may be as a cataloger, or reference or access services librarian, these job-specific skills do not mean that these librarians will be productive and positive leaders. Being good at their jobs does not prepare these librarians to become good department heads or library leaders. Actual leadership potential must not be overlooked because unprepared or unwilling leaders do not create a positive working atmosphere. Many toxic leaders began their trajectory into leadership when they were forced into these positions, or saw a leadership position as their only opportunity for career advancement. Without proper leadership development or mentoring, some of these librarians eventually devolved into micromanagers who stifled innovation, or absent leaders with unreasonable productivity expectations.
4.6 The Role Human Resources Should Be Playing
Very large academic libraries operate their own Human Resources Departments, known as Library Human Resources. In small to medium libraries librarians do not have the option of having their own human resources department. These libraries must rely on the campus-wide human resources department. Unfortunately, relying on a generic human resources department is not very helpful to librarians because most human resources personnel do not understand the work that happens in the academic library, much less its role and function within the academic institution. To them librarians and library assistants who can be assigned ranks or levels are all the same. Human resources personnel struggle to differentiate between library and clerical positions, through no fault of their own. Advocacy from library leaders is much needed and this becomes evident when collaborating on policy creation or reclassifying evolving library positions. It is extremely important for human resources departments to recognize that librarians (whether they have faculty status or not) are valuable campus community members. The library leader should make this clear through advocacy and maintain the proper classification of new positions as academic libraries continue to develop and change to meet the emerging research needs of users. Only through advocacy will Human Resources stop their bias against the academic library as an innocuous unit on campus.
According to organizational psychology researchers there is not much research into how to deal with actual abusers in the workplace, regarding employee protection policies (Hurlic & Young, 2014; Loh, 2014). Moreover, Loh (2014) states that the people “who are bullied tend to possess negative personality traits such as lack of self-control, lack of self-esteem, lack of self-confidence, poor social and communication skills” (p. 258–259). Fortunately, points of view like this one about victims of toxic leadership were not corroborated by the 54 academic librarian interviews compiled for this book. Many, if not most, of the academic librarians who were interviewed and reported having experienced toxic leadership, were and still are outgoing, confident, and excellent communicators who are passionate about their work. This is where organizational culture comes into play and where Human Resources can do more than be a bystander. It should not be forgotten that librarians are highly educated and their working conditions regarding toxic leadership or any consequences of negative leadership have not been studied before. The interviews also revealed that if there was rot at the top (in the highest leadership positions) of their academic institutions, the toxicity permeated all of the units, including the academic library. Needless to say, in these cases there is a much larger problem. Toxic leadership in academia, however, is not within the scope of this book. If toxic leadership in the academic library is to be seriously combated in the long term, then at a minimum the Vice-President of Academic Affairs, the new library leadership team, and Human Resources need to participate in the effort to create a positive work environment for everyone.
The Director of Human Resources or trained personnel can collaborate with the library’s administration unit in the creation of policies that delineate toxic leadership behaviors and how these are not to be tolerated in the workplace. Human Resources should also have personnel trained to handle incidences of toxic leadership. These experts would suggest viable options to librarians who are dealing with a toxic leader, or who may want a confidential counseling referral. The policies created by these collaborations would include explicit directions on complaint handling, detailed investigation procedures, a clearly articulated resolution process, and also simple grievance procedures, which are already standard at many institutions of higher education. All of the academic institutions’ employees who manage people will have to be trained and required to take leadership training to enable them to better communicate with, listen to, and get along with their peers and subordinates (Kusy & Holloway, 2009; Loh, 2014), as is already done with regard to sexual harassment or active shooter trainings.
A proactive human resources department should perform random audits all over campus, including the academic library. They should also send out confidential surveys, or outsource this function to ensure anonymity, if they are not already collecting data via online surveys (Loh, 2014). Trusting the integrity of the human resources department is important. It is problematic, however, as several interviews revealed, when the toxic leader is a good friend of the Human Resources Director or when the Director heeds only what the Vice-President for Academic Affairs deems appropriate. This is why mechanisms, which embolden librarians to contact administrators higher in the chain of command without fear of reprisals, need to be in place.
4.7 The Role of the Academic Institution’s Upper Administration
First, if a toxic leader is terminated the administration needs to refuse to provide future positive references and generous salary and compensation packages. An academic library is part of a larger institution and neither one should be acting as if they were a profit-making business, with extravagant severance and retirement packages. Academic institutions need to remember their mission, they exist to educate and to create new knowledge, not to monetarily enrich themselves and their fellow upper administration colleagues. This point of view was frankly stated by librarians who felt that there is too much coddling in academia’s upper administration.
That's the one thing we don’t learn well as librarians, we’re not in the higher education market for the money. I don’t know about others, it makes you wonder.
Secondly, when hiring a library leader, the President and Vice-President need to recognize that they also are a part of the hiring process. The academic library is a very visible unit in the institution. At least the Vice-President of Academic Affairs, if not the chair of the search committee, has to demand from the final candidates some examples of past successes and to divulge how unsuccessful events were handled (Kusy & Holloway, 2009). These self-declared anecdotes can be revealing and have been found to be helpful when choosing the next library leader, whether it is for a position as dean or department head.
4.8 Summary
Regaining control of the academic library after surviving toxic leadership is not as easy as it seems. There are many parts moving simultaneously and when one side, the academic library, does not have adequate skills concerted efforts must be made for their input to be heard by the other side. Ultimately, regaining control of the library is an institutional team endeavor that requires active participation from the academic library leadership, including all of its supervising librarians. The library’s administration team needs to enact the new policies and must coordinate future toxic leadership reporting efforts if it is to be successful in their remediation.