Curtis Rogers Consulting, LLC

Providing training and consulting services to libraries and non-profits.

The Conversation About Low-Morale

Posted by

Dr. Curtis Rogers

·

If you enjoy listening to podcasts about the library and information science profession, then be sure to check out The Librarian Linkover. I’m so happy to have recently discovered this via LinkedIn.

In this episode, Kaetrena Davis Kendrick, researcher, leader, consultant, and coach, discusses her article in the Journal of Library Administration, titled “The Cornered Office: A Qualitative Study of Low-Morale Experiences in Formal Library Leaders.”

This was a great episode and leaves the listener with a lot to think about. There are no perfect answers to these kinds of low morale situations but this conversation helps by exposing the fact that many library leaders may be being abused by boards and others. Also, the perception that librarians are quiet and shy can be a hindrance to the perception of how libraries are managed. We need to continue to do a better job of telling our library’s stories of how we positively impact the communities we serve. As a former library communications director, this conversation makes me think there needs to be greater importance placed on effective library marketing and communications by library managers.

Have you ever worked in a toxic/low-morale library setting? It can affect different people in different ways. Sharing your story can help!

Dr. Curtis Rogers Avatar

About the author

    Dr. Curtis Rogers is a library consultant who has worked in the library and information science field for over 35 years. He has worked at the Union (SC) Carnegie Library, and the Charleston County (SC) Public Library, and retired as the Communications Director of the South Carolina State Library. He has also taught courses at the University of South Carolina School of Library and Information Science. He received a Bachelor of Arts in Geography, a Master of Library and Information Science, and a Doctor of Education in Curriculum and Instruction from the University of South Carolina. In 2001, he completed the University of the Azores Summer Study Course in Azorean Portuguese Culture and Language and in 2002 completed the Certified Public Manager credential. In 2008, he was President of the SC Library Association. Rogers developed a national library survey on library use of social media for public relations and presented this survey’s results at the 2009 German Library Association Conference and at the State and University Library of Hamburg. He has served as secretary of the board of the Library Marketing and Communications Conference and as secretary of the SC Academy of Authors, as well as chair of the USC School of Library and Information Annual Literacy Leaders (ALL) Awards Committee. He has also served on the Friends of South Carolina Libraries (FOSCL) board and is a member of the ALA CORE Library Consultants group. He is a recipient of the 2015 F. William Summers Outstanding Alumni Award from the USC School of Library and Information Science.