Academic Libraries and Toxic Leadership

Academic Libraries and Toxic Leadership examines a phenomenon that has yet to be seriously explored. While other so-called feminized professions, such as nursing, have been studied for their tendency to create toxic leadership environments, thus far academic librarianship has not. This book focuses on how to identify a toxic leader in an academic library setting, how to address toxic leadership, and how to work toward eradicating it from the organization. In addition, it discusses which steps can be used to prevent libraries from hiring toxic leaders. - Presents original research based on a two-phase study about toxic leadership in academic libraries - Demonstrates how to identify toxic leadership in libraries - Shows how toxic leadership can manifest itself, providing the reader with steps to eradicate it

Alma C. Ortega is a tenured librarian at the University of San Diego's Helen K. and James S. Copley Library in San Diego, California. She has more than 12 years' experience in academic libraries. She is a reference librarian and bibliographer for the areas of history, Spanish and Italian literatures as well as Asian Studies. She also teaches course-integrated sessions, works extensively with graduate students, and researches collection management, archives place in libraries, and leadership styles in academic libraries. She earned two bachelor's degrees in Peace and Conflict Studies and Spanish from the University of California at Berkeley (1996) and two master's degrees in Library and Information Studies (2002) and Latin American Studies (2003) from the University of California, Los Angeles. She is a PhD Candidate in Leadership Studies at the University of San Diego. She has been working in libraries since 1998.