“I Just Feel Like I’m Not Doing Enough” Experiences of Feminist Library Leaders

Hallerduff, Martinique and Brook, Freeda . “I Just Feel Like I’m Not Doing Enough” Experiences of Feminist Library Leaders., 2022 In: Academic Librarian Burnout: Causes and Responses. ACRL, pp. 27-44. [Book chapter]

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English abstract

Burnout is a prevalent experience in academic libraries, and in this chapter we look at a specific subset of that population: feminist-identified academic library leaders. We hypothesized that these leaders would indeed experience burnout, often through their work to empower those they supervise and to mitigate the burnout of others. In our literature review, we examine research on burnout generally, as well as research on burnout among academic and public librarians. We also review research on burnout among activists because of similarities between activism work and feminist leadership work, including being motivated by social-justice-related values. In our research, we surveyed 55 people and conducted 23 semi-structured interviews with library leaders focusing on how they enact feminist values in the workplace. We analyzed those interviews to look specifically at how participants contend with burnout. In this chapter, we explore several key themes present in those interviews: the strain of enacting feminist values and the mental, emotional and physical toll this exacts, the self-doubt and isolation experienced as leaders work toward meaningful change based on their feminist values, and the way they wrestle with decisions to advance or to actively choose not to advance in their careers. These findings are troubling because they suggest that the people who could be enacting policies to prevent burnout among library staff are themselves experiencing burnout. It also suggests that individual library leaders may not be able to prevent burnout while operating within the traditionally hierarchical structures of academic institutions.

Item type:	Book chapter
Keywords:	feminist leadership, academic library management, burnout
Subjects:	A. Theoretical and general aspects of libraries and information. > AZ. None of these, but in this section. D. Libraries as physical collections. > DD. Academic libraries. F. Management. > FZ. None of these, but in this section.
Depositing user:	Freeda Brook
Date deposited:	03 May 2023 16:23
Last modified:	03 May 2023 16:23
URI:	http://hdl.handle.net/10760/44299

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