A Review of: Oxborrow Vambe, K. (2025). How can managers in libraries support their teams to engage with mātauranga Māori (Māori knowledge)? Journal of New Librarianship, 10(1), 100–115. https://doi.org/10.33011/newlibs/18/10 Objective – To explore how non-Māori librarians in Aotearoa New Zealand learn and interact with mātauranga Māori (Māori knowledge). Design – Qualitative analysis of interviews and focus groups. Setting – Aotearoa New Zealand. Subjects – Interviewees consisted of twenty-five non-Māori (primarily New Zealand European) librarians with diverse levels of experience from a variety of locations and sub-sectors. Focus group participants were Māori librarians. Methods – Interviewees were asked to talk about their learning and engagement with Māori knowledge. Focus group participants discussed their perspectives on how non-Māori colleagues interact with Māori people, culture, and knowledge. Main Results – The researcher analyzed responses, highlighted five themes, and included practical applications for managers and leaders. First, promoting Te reo Māori (language learning) is an effective and accessible starting point. Accordingly, managers must provide dedicated work time and resource support for employees. Next, to challenge the ethical issue of "opting out" driven by white privilege and the tendency to over-rely on Māori staff, leaders must encourage teams to push through the fear of making mistakes and acknowledge the negative consequences of relying on others. Additionally, while the Library and Information Association of New Zealand Aotearoa (LIANZA) professional development program offers valuable Māori components, its optional nature and low participation rate mean that managers cannot rely on it as a primary driver for engagement. Furthermore, leaders can encourage employees to take responsibility for their own learning and promote a culture where Māori knowledge is respected and valued by leading by example and modeling ongoing, sustained commitment. Finally, leaders can also model humility and respect, encouraging employees to recognize their privileged position and persevere while striving to engage in a culturally sensitive manner. Conclusion – The researcher recommended managers and leaders move beyond a reliance on formal professional development offerings as the sole source of learning. Instead, by actively modeling their own learning journeys, managers can foster an environment where ongoing, self-driven development is the norm. Language learning can be a foundational step as managers work towards encouraging employees to take initiative and persevere when discovering and engaging with mātauranga Māori (Māori knowledge), or the knowledge and culture of local Indigenous or minoritized groups.
A Review of: Vong, S., Norlin, E., & Cho, A. (2025). Reframing organizational practices through a justice lens: A study on the experiences of racialized librarians in academic libraries. College & Research Libraries, 86(5), 728. https://doi.org/10.5860/crl.86.5.728 Objective – To explore how racialized and Indigenous academic librarians experience their workplace’s practices through the lens of organizational justice. Design – Survey with both closed and open-ended questions. Setting – Academic librarians at Canadian and American institutions. Subjects – One hundred and eleven academic librarians who identified as Black, African American, Indigenous, Asian, Latinx, as well as mixed or multi-racial. Most identified as female (or a woman), were in the United States, and were early career librarians. Methods – Authors conducted a survey containing 20 questions (both closed-ended and open-ended) and used professional listservs in the United States and Canada to recruit participants. Questions revolved around career stage as well as racial, ethnic, and other intersecting identities. Additionally, questions regarding participants’ starting salary, workload, experience with management practices/procedures, and professional development were also asked. Data was analyzed by examining the closed-ended responses first. Once this step was complete, open-ended responses were coded and grouped into four themes adapted from an existing organizational justice framework (i.e. distributive justice, procedural justice, interactional justice, informational justice) to further clarity around their responses to the closed-ended responses. Main Results – Forty-four percent of participants felt that their starting salary was not reflective of their skillsets and was inequitable (with reasons that aligned with distributive, procedural, and interpersonal justice themes), though 15% of participants were unsure if their starting salary represented their abilities and was equitable. Most (63%) felt their workload was fair and equitable compared to colleagues, citing reasons that aligned with the distributive justice theme (if provided). Only 45% of participants were confident that Management was creating an inclusive and equitable work environment, which largely aligned with the interpersonal justice theme. In this vein, 50% of participants felt that human resources were not supporting inclusivity (citing reasons that aligned with procedural and interpersonal justice themes), and participants stated “Yes” (39%), or "Unsure" (39%), when asked if their performance reviews were inclusive and equitable (aligning with the informational justice theme). Lastly, most participants (74%) felt that their professional development experiences were equitable and fair, citing reasons that aligned with distributive and information justice themes. Conclusion – Racialized and Indigenous librarians in North America are experiencing different forms of organizational justice, but managers and Human Resources departments still have work to do to foster inclusivity within academic libraries.
A Review of: Rodger, J., & Erickson, N. (2025). Leadership perspectives on emotional labour in large urban public libraries. Canadian Journal of Information and Library Science, 48(2), 108–120. https://doi.org/10.5206/cjils-rcsib.v48i2.22897 Objective – To explore middle managers’ knowledge about emotional labour and how their knowledge impacts the way they support their staff in the workplace. Design – Semi-structured interviews. Setting – Three large, urban public library systems in Canada. Subjects – 27 middle managers. Methods – The researchers conducted interviews online via videoconferencing software. Interviews were recorded, transcribed, and analyzed qualitatively using thematic analysis. Main Results – The participants of the study articulated varied understandings of emotional labour and how it related to their role as leaders in the workplace. Many participants were aligned in identifying the undervalued and often unspoken nature of emotional labour, while also recognizing it as central to their role as middle managers. Equipped with styles of leadership that centred communication, collaboration, support, and employee autonomy, participants employed a variety of techniques, including check-ins, boundary setting, and emotional validation to support their staff’s emotional well-being; however, many noted that inconsistent support from senior leadership prevented them from addressing systemic problems that were at the root of their staff’s concerns. Participants also cited a lack of formal structures of support for middle managers while negotiating the competing expectations of staff, upper management, and patrons as contributing to increased emotional strain. Feelings of alignment with the organizational goals of their library and support from upper management varied among participants and impacted how well participants felt they were able to manage their staff’s and their own experiences of emotional labour. Conclusion – The study revealed a need for libraries to be proactive in how they address the impacts of emotional labour experienced by leaders and staff. Recommendations for this proactive approach include increased support for middle managers, recognition of the collective responsibility of addressing emotional labour, embedded training programs, and the prioritization of authentic leadership and emotional intelligence.
A Review of: Todd-Diaz, A., & Mello, A. L. (2025). Who wants to be a library leader? A mixed-method study investigating reactions to an academic library leadership job advertisement. Journal of Library Administration, 65(8), 843–864. https://doi.org/10.1080/01930826.2025.2589492 Objective – To investigate whether archivists’ underrepresentation in academic library leadership roles may be partly explained by lower attraction to leadership job advertisements, and to examine how professional identity shapes perceived fit, reactions to ad wording, and the impact of “tapping” (encouragement from supervisors and colleagues). Design – A cross-sectional online survey study. Setting – Eight general membership email lists of national and regional library and archives’ professional organizations across the United States and two public Facebook groups (“Archivists Think Tank” and “Library Think Tank”). Subjects – 316 information science professionals, including 46% librarians, 36% archivists, and 17% identifying as both. Methods – An online survey was sent to participants recruited from professional email lists and Facebook groups, examining their reaction to a mock “associate dean” leadership job ad developed from a review of Association of Research Libraries (ARL) library organizational structures and the thematic analysis of associate dean postings from American Library Association (ALA) JobLIST backfiles. Key measures included participants’ selection of concerning or compelling keywords from the ad, their desire for the job, perceived qualification confidence, perceived alignment of the role with librarian vs. archivist competencies, and likelihood of applying if encouraged by a supervisor or a trusted colleague. The authors analyzed quantitative comparisons across identity groups with one-way ANOVA and coded open-ended responses about application decisions in NVivo. Main Results – Most participants reported low interest in the associate dean position with 55% stating they probably or definitely did not want the job and merely 22% stating they probably or definitely wanted it. The desire ratings did not differ significantly across librarians, archivists, and those identifying as both. Similarly, approximately one-third of participants (33%) indicated they would apply, again without differences by professional identity. In the qualitative responses explaining these choices, the dominant theme was perceived lack of qualification; over half referenced qualifications and most of those comments expressed feeling unqualified, alongside frequent statements that administrative work was not appealing and that respondents preferred hands-on or non-managerial responsibilities. Participants’ reactions to the job ad’s language were also largely consistent across identity groups. The most frequently selected compelling phrases emphasized inclusion and collaboration, empowerment, and values-based practices, while the most frequently selected concerning phrases included aspirational “vision” language and concrete high-stakes responsibilities such as finances and budgeting, donor relations, and negotiating faculty-related rights. One noteworthy pattern within the librarian group was that the term “archives” appeared among the most selected concerning terms for librarians. Perceived confidence in meeting qualifications did not differ by identity group; 31% of participants reported being confident or very confident they met the qualifications. However, perceptions of competency alignment showed a clear directional pattern: most respondents in each identity group perceived the role as aligning more with librarian competencies than with archivist competencies, including most archivists themselves. Finally, “tapping” appeared to be a strong lever across the board: 69% reported they would be more or much more likely to apply if encouraged by a supervisor, and the same proportion reported increased likelihood if encouraged by a trusted colleague, with no differences by identity group. Conclusion – Archivists were not less interested than librarians in an academic library leadership posting, nor did they differ in perceived qualification confidence or reactions to the advertisement’s language. At the same time, the participants broadly perceived the role as more aligned with librarian competencies, suggesting that identity-based perceptions of “fit” may be shaped by how leadership work is framed and how professional boundaries are culturally understood. Rather than attributing archivists’ underrepresentation in library leadership to lower interest, organizations should strengthen leadership pipelines by refining how leadership roles are framed in job advertisements and by ensuring equitable encouragement, or tapping, and succession planning.
