Trauma-Informed Leadership in Libraries: Volume 44
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Table of contents
(14 chapters)Abstract
Trauma-informed care as a concept came out of social service and mental health practice in 2009. Since then, it has been working into librarianship and library practice, first as an approach for public libraries to apply social work principles to their outreach and support of community members. Then it was applied to a broader array of libraries such as academic institutions as they worked to improve their services and offerings for members of their community. What has not yet been addressed broadly within the field of librarianship is trauma-informed leadership as a means of supporting library staff as they grapple with burnout, low morale, and vocational awe.
Academic libraries as workplaces have multiple attributes that contribute to toxicity or low psychological safety. Organizations with a lack of transparency and trust may result in library workers experiencing burnout and a lack of engagement. Creating and supporting healthy organizational cultures with open communication, collaboration, and mutuality is the ethical responsibility of managers. In institutions where there is inherited toxicity, library leaders can practice trauma-informed leadership to support individuals and build a healthier workplace culture.
While toxicity is not unique to academic libraries, large bureaucratic and hierarchical systems can be rife with issues that undermine psychological safety and engagement. This book chapter will examine trauma-informed leadership practices as applied by two leaders in their roles at various organizations and steps for leaders to transform their environments into high functioning, productive workplaces.
Abstract
Leadership initiates cultural shifts before managers and their employees embrace them. Cultural transformation depends upon leaders, managers, and employees recognizing the fundamental impact of their decisions and actions on one another. This chapter explores the intersection of emotional intelligence (EI) and trauma-informed care (TIC) as experiential approaches for fostering healing and transforming organizational dynamics within academic libraries. By drawing insights from recent literature, the chapter offers practical strategies to enhance leaders' and managers' interactions with employees while cultivating a trauma-informed library workforce rooted in compassion and civility. For administrators, EI promotes leadership with the heart and mind, thus cultivating emotional and intellectual engagement, while promoting self-awareness and understanding employee needs. Likewise, TIC enables the realization, recognition, and response to trauma while resisting retraumatization. By employing EI and TIC methodologies, administrators can foster a workplace culture that emphasizes authenticity, allowing every individual to feel acknowledged and valued. Nevertheless, the inherent challenges of the library sector, characterized by volatility, uncertainty, complexity, and ambiguity (VUCA), hinder the development of positive manager–employee dynamics. Furthermore, the exclusion of employees from decision-making processes during top-down changes intensifies feelings of grief, resistance, mistrust, reduced psychological safety, and increased workplace stress and trauma. Effective communication and consensus are vital; however, they need to be enriched with empathy, patience, tolerance, and perseverance. The chapter concludes with actionable recommendations that promote mutual respect and civility.
Abstract
Recent research and scholarship explore and attempt to understand why certain modern library organizations and workplaces suffer from systemic dysfunction. There is evidence that a history of ineffectual library administration, poor leadership, and lack of communication creates an environment which breeds incivility and toxic behavior, including occurrences of mobbing, bullying, and harassment in certain library environments. Yet, it's been observed that despite these destructive behaviors and ensuing trauma, some library employees choose to remain employed in, and even increasingly committed to, these same dysfunctional workplaces. The application of organizational commitment models, such as Meyer and Allen's, as well as the findings of librarian turnover analysis account for the practical reasons why library employees remain in dysfunctional organizations; examples include fear of negative consequences associated with resignation or a sense of duty to one's patrons, organization, or profession. These models and studies, however, do not explain the paradox of increased employee commitment and loyalty to traumatic and dysfunctional library workplaces.
To understand this conflicting behavior, which has yet to be examined in library literature, the authors apply the concept of Corporate Stockholm Syndrome (CSS). CSS, a type of trauma bonding with origins in psychology and business, serves as a foundation to explain why library employees remain in workplaces in which they've experienced dysfunctional behavior and related trauma. Reviewing documented cases of library workplace incivility and trauma, the authors will apply the CSS framework as an explanation for the increased level of library employee commitment to dysfunctional workplaces.
Abstract
Trauma has increased significantly during the pandemic, affecting library staff and patrons. In addition to the COVID-19 pandemic, society experienced trauma from racially motivated conflict, increased gun crime, and the lack of support to address mental health issues and systemic inequities. This chapter will discuss the types of traumas and how they are affecting library staff. It will also explore the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration's (SAMHSA) six key principles of a trauma-informed approach and how library leaders can incorporate these guiding principles in supporting their staff. The author will provide resources and training webinars on how to support staff through trauma caused by their interactions with patrons and co-workers.
Abstract
Society is experiencing the psychological impact of collective trauma. The COVID-19 pandemic, social injustice, and political unrest due to racial, sexual, gender identity, economic, climate, and environmental injustices have contributed to a rise in demand for mental health support and services in the United States. In addition to recent collective events, many individuals have also experienced complex trauma throughout their lives. People with traumatic experiences appear in day-to-day life as coworkers, students and patrons of systems and spaces, including libraries and universities. For library leaders, this informs the need for a consistent empathetic approach and response to interactions toward all who inhabit library spaces. It also creates an imperative for institutions to move forward with implementing a trauma-informed approach that addresses the needs of both library patrons and employees.
Library leadership should already be working toward more inclusive practices to attract greater diversity in their workforce. Introducing trauma-informed approaches builds on this work of respect for identity diversity with the other guiding principles of safety, trust, support, collaboration, and empowerment. Relevant frameworks, tools, and resources focused on implementing a trauma-informed approach to library workforce recruitment, onboarding, and retention are reviewed and summarized.
Abstract
Disasters, including health crises and weather emergencies, are increasingly prevalent. While many people are highly resilient, the traumatic experience of emergencies and disasters can affect individuals and communities, including library staff and library users. Traumatic effects can persist long after the immediate impact of an event and may be magnified by cumulative exposure to traumatic events. Libraries are not immune from emergencies and disasters and also experience many other hazards. With attention to trauma and a focus on resilience, libraries can build strong organizations even during difficult circumstances presented by emergencies and disasters. This chapter shares research-based approaches from the literature along with promising practices shared by contributing libraries.
Abstract
Trauma can affect everyone. The effects of trauma often extend into workspaces, adversely affecting relationships and productivity. A trauma-informed leader is someone who incorporates compassion and empathy into their management toolkit. This chapter will define trauma-informed leadership, the role it can play in shaping the lives of individuals and creating a positive work environment which fosters health and well-being, and how it can be applied in a library setting with a specific focus on grief and loss.
Abstract
Many academic libraries opened their doors in fall 2020 to support students after operations had been suspended due to COVID-19 the previous spring. Frontline employees returned in person while remote work remained standard for others. Staff encountered deficits, on-site isolation, the responsibility of enforcing new protocols, short-tempered patrons, and unprecedented workplace stress.
At the University of Illinois Chicago (UIC), staff who served on-site throughout the pandemic still feel the effects of this crucible, even as the library assesses and implements hybrid models to meet the needs of students. Concurrent is a need for leadership to do the same for its vulnerable frontline staff, whose physical and mental well-being suffered over the last 3 years.
In the waning months of university-mandated COVID-19 protocols (spring 2023), the UIC Library conducted its biennial survey to assess library impact on its students. Results revealed frustration with hours, services, and health and safety. Administration immediately discussed what could be done to improve impressions of library culture, but that student survey tells only one side of the story.
This chapter presents the results of facilitated discussions with frontline staff, often people from underrepresented groups, who speak to the other side of navigating the pandemic. It also interrogates how leadership can do more to provide essential employees with support during and postcrisis to protect them from burnout, aggressive and unreasonable patrons, and the stress of doing more with less. Staff voices balance existing student narratives and call for a healthier environment to better serve everyone within the library.
Abstract
The University of Arizona Libraries (UAL) has engaged in learning and applying trauma-informed concepts since 2020. These efforts followed conversations about how to compassionately uphold the libraries' Code of Conduct (CoC). Conversations occurred against the backdrop of the global COVID-19 pandemic, a national racial reckoning following the murder of George Floyd and a series of local incidents including border control, racial aggression, insecure access to basic needs and mental health services, and the recent on-campus homicide of a faculty member. In response, the library's Diversity, Social Justice, and Equity Council (DSJEC) began working to identify resources for trauma-informed services and leadership. UAL has interrogated the ways in which the CoC serves both as a response to expressions of trauma and a potential perpetuating source of trauma for patrons and staff. Moreover, many staff members have experienced trauma that occurred either within or outside the workplace that affects their work experience. UAL contracted with relational healing and life coach Nisha Mody to deliver a series of webinars introducing trauma-informed concepts and connecting them to academic library work.
A result of trauma-informed training was a deeper knowledge of trauma-informed principles and their connection to systemic inequity and power. For this reason, UAL and other academic libraries may encounter challenges when applying trauma-informed practices within the administrative and cultural context of higher education.
Abstract
Trauma remains a stigmatized topic for many and can be particularly tricky for incoming leaders to negotiate. This chapter, looking specifically at one academic library department's experiences, will discuss the transition from a department with a culture of silence to a team with psychological safety, where discussion and concerns are not just heard but welcomed. We will look at the first-person experiences of the department prior to these transitions, described by members of the group as traumatizing, the path the incoming department head took to learn about the past, rebuild trust, and chart a path forward, and finally the current state of the department and its place in the institution.
Abstract
Our library, supporting the education, research, and clinical missions of our health science institution in California's Bay Area, serves a diverse community including the public. It is common for people experiencing homelessness, mental health, or addiction issues to enter our spaces and be reported for some kind of incident. Library staff find themselves in confrontational situations, unsure how to proceed. Calling the police may not be the is not always best response as it could escalate tensions and harm those in crisis. This reflects a cultural shift and is a charge to educate ourselves and seek out other de-escalation and response strategies. To address these challenges, our library successfully secured funding for a training program focused on trauma-informed and anti-racist approaches. This initiative begins with a series of customized training sessions designed to build library-wide understanding of trauma-informed principles and practices. The immediate goal is to enhance our staff's knowledge and skills, forming a solid foundation for revising resources, policies, and processes that promote transparency, communication, and support within our community. The long-term goal includes the development of a culture that recognizes and applies trauma-informed principles internally and externally. Emphasized by library leadership's belief that safety and response support are our collective responsibilities; our program will lead to a deeper awareness of trauma informed principles and concepts in the library environment, calling all of us to take on the responsibility to learn, engage, and apply with care and compassion.
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- DOI
- 10.1108/S0732-0671202544
- Publication date
- 2025-02-10
- Book series
- Advances in Library Administration and Organization
- Editors
- Series copyright holder
- Emerald Publishing Limited
- ISBN
- 978-1-83797-882-3
- eISBN
- 978-1-83797-881-6
- Book series ISSN
- 0732-0671