The Dysfunctional Library: Challenges and Solutions to Workplace Relationships

Frankly, it's not something we like to talk about. There is an unfortunate stigma to acknowledging workplace dysfunction, let alone trying to grapple with the problem. But negative behaviors such as incivility, toxicity, deviant behavior, workplace politics, and team and leadership dysfunction not only make the library a stressful workplace, they also run counter to the core values of librarianship. An important tool for library leaders and managers as well as library staff, this book examines these negative relationship-based issues and suggests practical, research-based solutions by discussing the importance of understanding oneself as related to the library workplace; identifying attributes specific to libraries that foster personal success; showing how organizational dysfunction is rooted in problems such as poor communication, inadequate leadership, and lack of employee engagement; breaking down relatable scenarios to analyze what's behind them and how to defuse them, ranging from a gossipy coworker who fails to contribute to the organization to workplace bullying and mobbing; exploring causes, results, and potential solutions in the areas of cyberloafing, fraud, theft, and sabotage; delving into the importance of conflict management, surveying a variety of approaches and applications; examining the use of teams in libraries and the impact of favoritism, nepotism, and sexism; and providing techniques for successful collaboration, leadership, organizational communication, and other key management topics. By tackling the dysfunctional library head on, managers as well as library workers who find themselves in a toxic situation will be poised to better meet library goals and move the library forward.

About the Author :
Jo Henry serves as a librarian with the Charlotte Mecklenburg Library. Previously, she was the information services librarian at South Piedmont Community College. She obtained a Master of Library and Information Studies from the University of North Carolina Greensboro and a Master of Public Administration from Georgia Southern University. She has published in Public Services Quarterly, Library Review, Community and Junior College Libraries, and College and Research Library News, and has presented at the Metrolina Information Literacy Conference, North Carolina Library Association Conference, and the ALA Annual Conference. She currently serves on the Metrolina Library Association board. She is coauthor of The Mindful Librarian: Connecting the Practice of Mindfulness to Librarianship (2016), Fundamentals for the Academic Liaison (2014), and The Personal Librarian: Enhancing the Student Experience (2014). Joe Eshleman received his Master of Library and Information Science degree from the University of North Carolina at Greensboro in 2007. He has been the Instruction Librarian at Johnson & Wales University Library-Charlotte since 2008. During this time, he has taught numerous library instruction sessions. Mr. Eshleman completed the Association of College and Research Libraries' Immersion Program, an intensive program of training and education for instruction librarians, in 2009. He is a coauthor of Fundamentals for the Academic Liaison (alongside Richard Moniz and Jo Henry) and a contributor to The Personal Librarian: Enhancing the Student Experience. He has presented on numerous occasions, including at the American Library Association Conference, the Lilly Conference on College and University Teaching, the Teaching Professor Technology Conference, and the First National Personal Librarian and First Year Experience Library Conference.