Keywords

Healing; residual toxicity; exit interviews

5.1 Healing the Academic Library Free of Toxic Leaders

The healing process should not be understated. Openly talking about what happened is extremely important for the library and librarians. Only through unimpeded communication can the permissive culture, which facilitated the toxic leadership’s expansion of power, be discouraged from starting up again. If the academic institution’s human resources department has created employee protection mechanisms, then library leaders and librarians can confidently move on to the healing process because a solid support system of policies has been established. This process varies greatly from academic library to academic library, yet it is usually influenced by the culture at large in the academic institution. Some are very proactive, whereas others are very slow to create employee protection policies against toxic leadership or policies in general.

The library’s reputation on campus can be salvaged with nonstop advocacy from the new library’s leadership and all remaining librarians. Outreach efforts will reap benefits, such as library events focusing on all members of the campus community, along with targeted events for students, faculty, staff and administration. Letting users know the library is fulfilling its mission to serve the campus community is important and a way to gain new allies.

If the library’s tainted reputation has expanded beyond the campus, then it is probable there will be more damage, not only to the library, and it will impact the academic institution. When the harm done to librarians reaches regional news the work of healing in these libraries takes much longer. Even after years had passed there were always community members, and even librarians, who asked any librarians they encountered from “such and such” institution if they would discreetly share what happened. Community members and librarians like these are not asking out of concern, this is not about sharing; this is merely gossip and it should be avoided whenever possible. If it cannot be avoided, at this point the truth needs to be told, to halt rumors. Ultimately, the local scandal will be forgotten.

To assist the healing a culture of communication needs to be created to avoid toxic leadership from entrenching itself in the library’s culture again. Cultures driven by ambiguous values have been proven not to work. Alternatively, tangible and behaviorally specific values can create a culture of personal responsibility and accountability (Kusy & Holloway, 2009) for the library’s leadership. Administratively, the healing process is important because the library as a whole is then seen as revitalized and worthy of regaining the trust of the affected librarians and the campus community. Even so it will take time for librarians who need to express concerns of any type to learn to trust the leadership. They need time to adjust to the new rules, to trust that they will indeed be taken seriously, and not be ignored or considered out of line when reporting incidents which may not be pleasant for the library’s administration to acknowledge. Initially there may be struggle, but nevertheless, after the new policies and the cultures of open communication and of personal responsibility and accountability are normalized, things will start flowing efficiently and lead to healing for the library that strives to continue to be free of toxic leaders.

5.2 Healing for Academic Librarians

Having the toxic leader removed does more for librarians’ emotional well-being than learning that new policies will be adopted to prevent toxic leadership in the library. Physically removing the toxic leader was a palpable action, unlike the implementation of procedures and policies, which depends on too many people. Nevertheless, an enormous part of the healing process for librarians will be learning that their academic institution has set up mechanisms for reporting toxic leadership and other types of abuse. Incidents may be reported freely without fear of reprisals of any type. This is significant because librarians will need to talk about what has happened. By talking about what has happened, librarians are able to process the fact that they are not alone and that what has happened to them should not happen to anyone. Removing the inevitable culture of silence which was instituted by the toxic leader is important, as are trainings and candid conversations pursuing authentic change in the library’s culture, for the healing process to take place.

Even though some librarians declared that their academic institutions did not support their requests for assistance in handling their mentally and emotionally taxing work situations, most librarians reported receiving the desired professional assistance of psychologists or career counselors without any problems. Treatment allowed librarians to channel their energy in a positive direction and to focus on small achievable career goals. Other librarians began taking up old and new hobbies (e.g. knitting, hiking, bicycling, dancing, and cosplay among others) to break destructive coping mechanisms employed to deal with working in a toxic leadership environment.

As already mentioned, trusting a new library leader can take time for some librarians. It will be much harder for some than others because it will depend on the type and amount of abuse suffered by the librarians. It is much easier to begin having a positive outlook if the toxic leader was around for less than two years than if the abuse was allowed to continue for more than five years. Some librarians, in their interviews, unequivocally stated that they had worked only for toxic leaders. Librarians who were approaching retirement no longer harbored the hope of working under a positive and effective leader. It is hoped these librarians will find peace not only from the toxic leadership abuse they endured, but also in coming to accept that their work mattered and was valued by their peers.

5.3 Minimizing Residual Toxicity in the Academic Library

Residual toxicity merits mentioning because it can become an ongoing problem for some librarians if the healing process is not undertaken. Residual toxicity has been described by Wike (2015) as the long-lasting effects of a toxic leader on a person or a group. An example of this in the academic library might be when librarians are not able to focus on their work or are having a difficult time learning to trust the new library leader. These librarians are likely suffering from residual toxicity, and they believe something is going to happen again, they just do not know when. Any activities (e.g., programs, events, etc.) undertaken by the new library leader are mistrusted and these librarians are just waiting for something to come apart, to snap. This behavior does not benefit the newly established library dynamic. Leaders, therefore, need to be aware of residual toxicity. They also need to make sure they maintain open lines of communication to prevent their goals and objectives from being misinterpreted and unintentionally disrupted.

Librarians experiencing residual toxicity will find reminders of the toxic leader in the actions of the new leader. For some librarians, taking the time to speak to the new library leader about their concerns suffices and they are able to retake control of their duties without fearing retaliation. Other librarians, however, will have more difficulty trusting library leaders again. These librarians can come to respect and trust the library’s new leadership only if they are genuinely good leaders who care about the library, their librarians, and if they in fact fulfill the mission of the library by advocating for the necessary resources and upper administration support needed to maintain a successful library.

5.4 Healing for Librarians Who Have Left

Even librarians who have left the toxic workplace for another academic librarian position will need to deal with emotional and psychological consequences at some point in their lives. It is only after dealing with what happened that these librarians can truly move on. Of course some of the librarians interviewed spoke about moving on too soon or denying everything to themselves in order to cope and focus on their new jobs. Denial, however, works for only so long. In order to begin the healing process, librarians need to address what has happened to them even if they feel that it can never be reconciled logically. The leader’s toxicity has nothing to do with the librarians themselves or the library. These librarians were merely carrying out their duties, some were just fulfilling their authentic passion for librarianship. Librarians who have been hurt this way need to accept that it was not their fault, believing and understanding this enable a crucial step to healing.

The exit interview may be cathartic for some librarians, and as such it must not be omitted when leaving the toxic leadership library. All of the toxic behaviors experienced or witnessed have to be reported in order to establish an official record of what occurred during the time the librarian worked there. Unfortunately, as was reported in the librarian interviews, in most cases exit interviews did not do much to change the toxic leadership culture for the librarians who remained. Nonetheless, exit interviews are essential vehicles for bringing attention to toxic leadership in the library. Responsible or well-prepared institutions have mechanisms to follow, and these facilitate the reporting process. This is exemplified in the closed cases of toxic department heads. These toxic leaders were isolated almost immediately by upper administration and reassigned to positions where they no longer supervised anyone. When the actual library director was the problem, then procedures changed and they were offered sensitivity training or coaching sessions on how to work better with subordinates. In most cases, where a toxic library director opted to leave they did not leave embarrassed or empty-handed, but left instead with a generous severance or retirement package. This was not the case for department heads, however.

Disturbingly, some librarians reported seeing their old toxic leaders reassigned to special projects by the institution’s upper administration, when the toxic leaders were close to retirement age. Interviewed librarians revealed they could only wish similar accommodations and considerations were extended also to librarians who had suffered under toxic leaders. Few of the librarians who opted to leave reported being offered job counseling by the human resources department. Some librarians left because they could not wait around for the toxic leaders to be removed, as regrettably, it is known typically to take a long time (years even) before a remedy is earnestly pursued. Fortunately, all of these librarians were able to find positions in other academic institutions. A couple of librarians admitted to still struggling with their toxic leadership experiences, with occasional flashbacks, and during their interviews said that they would pursue a few counseling sessions, to see if it could help them to move on and let go of this experience. All of these librarians were happy that they no longer worked for a toxic leader.

5.5 Summary

Healing the library is not the same as healing the librarians. These are separate but interrelated processes that need to occur. Preferably they will happen simultaneously, and if this is not possible, then one should happen right after the other. Beginning with the healing of the library is best, because librarians will only begin their healing process once they know that they no longer work under a heinous toxic leader. To minimize residual toxicity open lines of communication must be created by the new library leadership, empowering librarians to freely communicate their fears and expectations of the new library leader and their roles as librarians. If leaving is the only path to beginning healing, then these librarians should be encouraged to perform an exit interview. Many things can be learned from these exit interviews after librarians have left the institution. Exit interviews can uncover warnings, expose troubling patterns and subcultures, and even provide solutions to the toxic leadership problems experienced by these librarians.