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.

Jo Henry is currently the information services librarian at South Piedmont Community College. Formerly, she has worked at Charlotte Mecklenburg Library and has over twenty years' experience in sports club management and instruction. She has published in Public Services Quarterly and Library Review, and has presented at the Metrolina Information Literacy Conference and the North Carolina Library Association Conference.

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.

Richard Moniz, EdD, has served as Director of Library Services for Johnson & Wales University's Miami campus from 1997 2004 and has been the Director of Library Services at Johnson & Wales University's Charlotte campus since 2004. He has also, in the past, simultaneously served as Head of Information Technology Services for Johnson & Wales in Miami and taught classes on subjects such as computer science, world history, US history, and American government. Additionally, since 2006, he has taught for the MLIS program at the University of North Carolina at Greensboro. Courses taught have included Information Sources and Services, Special Libraries, Library Administration, Information Sources in the Professions, and Online Bibliographic Information Retrieval. Dr. Moniz has published in numerous places. He is sole author of the 2010 textbook Practical and Effective Management of Libraries, coauthor of Fundamentals for the Academic Liaison, and coauthor and coeditor of The Personal Librarian: Enhancing the Student Experience. He is actively engaged in the profession and has held a number of committee and board responsibilities within the ALA, LLAMA (Library Leadership and Management Association), ACRL, CLS (College Libraries), and Metrolina Library Association (including serving as President of this organization) in addition to other nonprofit organizations such as Carolina Raptor Center, Charlotte Museum of History, and Charlotte's Arts and Science Council.