The Dysfunctional Library: Challenges and Solutions to Workplace Relationships

by Jo Henry, Joe Eshleman, Richard Moniz

Overview

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.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780838916230
Publisher:	American Library Association
Publication date:	12/12/2017
Pages:	216
Product dimensions:	6.00(w) x 9.00(h) x 0.50(d)

About the Author

Jo Henry is reference and instruction librarian at the Horry- Georgetown Technical College Library (Georgetown Campus), South Carolina. Previously she was a librarian at the Charlotte Mecklenburg Library and the information services librarian at South Piedmont Community College. She obtained her MLIS from the University of North Carolina Greensboro and a master's degree in public administration from Georgia Southern University. She has coauthored four books: Fundamentals for the Academic Liaison (2014), The Personal Librarian: Enhancing the Student Experience (2014), The Mindful Librarian (2016), and The Dysfunctional Library: Challenges and Solutions to Workplace Relationships (2017). Henry has presented at numerous library conferences and has co-facilitated library workshops (alongside Richard Moniz and Joe Eshleman) both online and in North Carolina and South Carolina.

Joe Eshleman is senior librarian at Central Piedmont Community College in Charlotte, North Carolina. He was previously the instruction librarian at the Johnson & Wales University Library– Charlotte from 2008 to 2015 and was head librarian for two years at the JWU Providence library. He received his MLIS degree from the University of North Carolina at Greensboro in 2007. He has completed the Association of College & Research Libraries' Immersion Program, an intensive program of training and education for instruction librarians. Eshleman is a coauthor of Fundamentals for the Academic Liaison (2014), The Mindful Librarian (2016), and The Dysfunctional Library: Challenges and Solutions to Workplace Relationships (2017). He is also a coauthor of Librarians and Instructional Designers: Innovation and Collaboration (2016) and a contributor to The Personal Librarian: Enhancing the Student Experience (2014). He has presented at numerous conferences on instructional librarianship and other topics.

Dr. Richard Moniz is the director of library services at the Horry-Georgetown Technical College, which has campuses in Conway, Georgetown, and Myrtle Beach, South Carolina. He previously served as the director of library services for Johnson & Wales University's North Miami campus from 1997 to 2004 and was director of library services for Johnson & Wales University’s Charlotte campus from 2004 to 2018. He is also an adjunct instructor for the University of North Carolina at Greensboro’s LIS program. In addition to publishing numerous articles, Moniz is the sole author of the textbook Practical and Effective Management of Libraries (2010) and the coauthor or coeditor of six other books: Fundamentals for the Academic Liaison (2014), The Personal Librarian: Enhancing the Student Experience (2014), The Mindful Librarian (2016), Librarians and Instructional Designers: Innovation and Collaboration (2016), The Dysfunctional Library: Challenges and Solutions to Workplace Relationships (2017), and Recipes for Mindfulness in Your Library (2019).