Abstract
The primary purposes of the study were to investigate how often bullying occurs in libraries and whether bullying policies exist in libraries. The first survey questionnaire was sent to library personnel in the six New England states through statewide email distribution lists. Altogether 571 library staff members completed the survey. The second survey questionnaire was sent to large public and academic libraries in New England to see if they have anti-bullying policies in the workplace. The results of the study clearly showed there were significant reports of workplace bullying in all kinds of libraries. Nonetheless, not many libraries have policies that deal with this workplace challenge.
Highlights
Bullying in the workplace is becoming an increasingly common phenomenon in many work environments, including libraries.[1]
Workplace bullying behavior may be defined as action “that threatens, intimidates, humiliates, or isolates people at work or undermines their reputation or job performance.”[4]. This behavior can be directed at an individual by co-workers or supervisors in the work environment
571 library personnel in the six New England states participated in the first survey
Summary
Bullying in the workplace is becoming an increasingly common phenomenon in many work environments, including libraries.[1]. Workplace bullying involves situations in which one or more individuals, over a period of time, find themselves on the receiving end of persistent negative actions from one or several other persons, where the target has difficulty defending himself or herself against such actions and a hostile work environment is created.[5] Workplace bullying affects an employee’s work performance but can cause long standing emotional and physical issues for the employee These issues can include “post traumatic stress disorder, lack of self-esteem, absenteeism, sleep disorders and family tension and stress.”[6] Bullying in the workplace deters the formation of a healthy, productive work environment. It is shown that “workplace stress-related absenteeism costs US employers more than $300 billion annually.”[7]
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