Prevalence of bullying in academic medical libraries in the United States.

Abstract

Objective: Previous research has found bullying present across the library profession, with documented instances in school, public, and university literature, but not in academic medical and hospital library literature. This study aims to determine the prevalence of workplace bullying among academic medical and hospital librarians.

Methods: An anonymous survey was distributed to members of the Medical Library Association, the Association of Academic Health Sciences Libraries, and the Association of College & Research Librarians Health Sciences Interest Group containing the Short Negative Acts Questionnaire. Quantitative analysis was conducted using the Real Statistics Resource Pack software (Release 8.9.1).

Results: One-hundred eighteen survey responses met inclusion criteria. 49.2% of the sample met the threshold for self-identifying as victims of workplace bullying. This was significantly higher than the prevalence among the general librarian population (40.1%) in 2017 (p = 0.029) and consistent with findings in 2022 (51.8%; p = 0.31). More participants perceived themselves as not experienced bullying (69%) than the prevalence rate found. Those who perceived themselves as victims identified colleagues as the most frequent perpetrators (35%), followed immediate superiors (22%) and other superiors/managers within the organization (25%).

Conclusions: This study showed nearly half (49.2%) of academic medical and hospital librarians included in the sample experience bullying. These findings highlight the need for an increased understanding of bullying behaviors, education on prevention, and for library leaders to develop interventions to mitigate bullying in their institutions.