Evidence Summary
The Causes and
Consequences of Low Morale Amongst Public Librarians
A Review of:
Kendrick,
K. D. (2020). The public librarian low-morale experience: A qualitative study. Partnership:
The Canadian Journal of Library and Information Practice and Research,
15(2), 1-32. http://doi.org/10.21083/partnership.v15i2.5932
Reviewed by:
Andrea Miller-Nesbitt
Associate Librarian
Schulich Library of Physical Sciences, Life
Sciences, and Engineering
McGill University Library
Montreal, QC, Canada
Email: andrea.miller-nesbitt@mcgill.ca
Received: 10 Aug. 2022 Accepted: 18 Oct. 2022
2022 Miller-Nesbitt. This
is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons‐Attribution‐Noncommercial‐Share Alike License 4.0
International (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/4.0/),
which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium,
provided the original work is properly attributed, not used for commercial
purposes, and, if transformed, the resulting work is redistributed under the
same or similar license to this one.
DOI: 10.18438/eblip30219
Abstract
Objective – To understand if, how, and within
what parameters, librarians working in public libraries experience low morale.
Design – Semi-structured interview,
phenomenology
Setting – Public libraries in Canada and the
United States
Subjects – Participants (N = 20) were
credentialed librarians who worked or had worked in a public library, and who
experienced low morale due to their work.
Methods – Invitations were distributed to 10
electronic mailing lists. Purposive sampling was used to select the
participants -- they represented librarians with a range of experience, working
within a variety of specialties. The researcher received informed consent and
the participants completed a short survey in order to
collect demographic data before taking part in semi-structured interviews. The
interviews were transcribed and coded, after which data were analyzed and
thematic clusters identified.
Main results – Various types of abuse, either
performed by library users (ex. physical and verbal abuse), or by
colleagues/managers/administrators (ex. emotional abuse, system abuse, and
negligence) were revealed to cause low morale in public librarians. Data show
that the participants' responses to the abuse influenced their affective,
cognitive, and physiological well-being, as well as professional expectations
and trajectories. This study identified three low morale impact factors and
seven enabling systems that were unique to public librarians when compared to
academic librarians. The unique impact factors are:
personal safety, resilience narratives, and social contexts. The enabling
systems are: organizational structure, library
workplace culture, on-demand relocation, policies, training, equity, diversity,
and inclusion (EDI), and politics.
Conclusion – This study builds on the literature
and provides additional evidence on the prevalence of low morale in LIS
workplaces. The data show that there are similarities in the causes and
consequences of low morale in the workplace amongst public librarians and their
academic counterparts. Understaffing, mission creep, and working with
underserved and marginalized communities all play a part in the morale of
public librarians. Low morale negatively affects public librarians’ mental and
physical health, as well as their professional outlook and trajectory. The
author makes a case for comprehensive leadership training for public library
management, as well as the presence of people with different expertise (such as
social workers and first responders) in public libraries. Additionally, the
author suggests the need for further research on topics that came up in this
study.
Commentary
There are a handful of articles
published on workplace morale in libraries dating back decades (e.g. Wilkins Jordan, 2014), but the real
proliferation of research on the topic began after the publication of the
author’s seminal paper in 2017 (Kendrick).
Recent articles use a variety of methods (e.g.
Kennedy & Garewal, 2020), and cover a variety of settings and types
of employment – public and academic librarians, as well as library staff (e.g. Glusker et al., 2022).
The study was appraised using the Critical
Review Form for Qualitative Studies created by Letts et al. (2007). The
purpose of the research was clearly stated, and the context and definitions of
the concepts under investigation are outlined in the literature review. The
methodology chosen was appropriate given the objectives of the study. The
demographics of the participants are described, and although attempts were made
to ensure participants were representative, it is unclear how many are from
Canada. The author does not state whether the interview questions were
validated, or whether the sampling was done until redundancy was reached. Data
coding and analysis is rigorous and well described.
The results section is well structured
and very detailed. This research builds on the author’s previous work. As such,
there are several references to themes elucidated in those earlier studies. For
example, the unique impact factors and enabling systems identified in this
study affect public librarians in addition to those identified as
affecting academic librarians as previously described (Kendrick, 2017; Kendrick & Damasco, 2019). Excerpts from the
interviews help the reader better understand the experiences of the public
librarians from their own perspective. In addition to outlining the causes and
consequences of low morale in the participant group, the author includes
descriptions of coping strategies, attempts at mitigating the experience, and
the recovery process for participants who moved to new positions.
The results of this study verify the
experiences of public librarians’ low morale in the workplace. The author
offers several recommendations on topics for further research. These include
how leaders (within both the library and the political sphere) and communities’
value people working in public libraries, and the implementation and impact of
security measures in public libraries. The research results confirm that
mission creep, compassion fatigue, funding cuts, and workplace incivility are
harming LIS practitioners both personally and professionally. The author
suggests countermeasures to decrease workplace abuse, neglect, and dysfunction.
These measures include empathetic, authentic management and leadership
training, having social workers and first responders working collaboratively
with public librarians, and the need for strong library employee advocacy.
References
Glusker,
A., Emmelhainz, C., Estrada, N., & Dyess, B. (2022). “Viewed as equals”: The impacts
of library organizational cultures and management on library staff morale. Journal of Library Administration, 62(2), 153-189. https://doi.org/10.1080/01930826.2022.2026119
Kendrick, K. D. (2017). The low
morale experience of academic librarians: A phenomenological study. Journal of Library Administration, 57(8), 846-878. https://doi.org/10.1080/01930826.2017.1368325
Kendrick, K. D., &
Damasco, I. T. (2019). Low morale in ethnic and racial minority academic librarians:
An experiential study. Library Trends, 68(2), 174-212. https://doi.org/10.1353/lib.2019.0036
Kendrick, K. D., (2020). The
public librarian low-morale experience: A qualitative study. Partnership,
15(2), 1-32. https://doi.org/10.21083/partnership.v15i2.5932
Kennedy, S. P., &
Garewal, K. R. (2020). Quantitative analysis of workplace morale in academic
librarians and the impact of direct supervisors on workplace morale. Journal of academic librarianship, 46(5), 102191. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.acalib.2020.102191
Wilkins Jordan, M. (2014).
All stressed out, but does anyone notice? Stressors affecting public libraries.
Journal of Library Administration, 54(4), 291-307. https://doi.org/10.1080/01930826.2014.924318