Document Type
Book Chapter
Publication Date
2024
Publication Title
Toxic Dynamics: Disrupting, Dismantling, and Transforming Academic Library Culture
Department
Library and Information Services
Abstract
Discussions about leadership in academic libraries rarely focus on the negative; they mostly focus on best practices of leadership. There is hardly any discussion of poor leadership, nor is there a rigorous discussion of concerning behaviors that poor leaders engage in, such as favoritism. Concomitantly, there is little to no discussion about how to identify and address behaviors that poor leaders engage in and how academic libraries can change toxic institutional culture. In this chapter, we are interested in defining poor leadership and favoritism to change toxic institutional cultures and give voice to those who are affected by poor leadership and favoritism. We will attempt to add to the literature on toxic workplace cultures in academic libraries by exploring the intersection between poor leadership and favoritism and how they manifest to cultivate a toxic workplace culture in academic libraries.
We will discuss how poor leaders weaponize favoritism to silence, manipulate, bully, and exclude lower-ranked faculty and staff, create de facto leaders, cultivate the wrong type of leaders, and allow egregious behaviors to not be addressed. We will also discuss the long-term implications of poor leadership and favoritism and demonstrate how favoritism is in direct conflict with the espoused values of LIS, particularly diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI). This chapter aims to help identify the signs of poor leadership and favoritism and validate the experiences of those working in academic libraries saddled by poor leadership and favoritism and empower them to overcome a culture of control and transform it into one of inclusion and engagement.
Recommended Citation
Williams, Simone, and Lora Del Rio. “How Poor Leadership and Favoritism Intersect to Create Toxic Work Environments.” In Toxic Dynamics: Disrupting, Dismantling, and Transforming Academic Library Culture, edited by Michalak, Russell, Trevor A. Dawes, and Jon E. Cawthorne, 219-235. Chicago: Association of College & Research Libraries, a division of the American Library Association, 2024.