Episode 7: Leah T. Dudak
The impact of trauma on library workers
Leah T. Dudak, a former public librarian and current doctoral student at the Syracuse University iSchool, joins me for a timely discussion, despite Banned Books Week being a couple of weeks behind us. We explore how efforts to censor books and threats to library workers’ physical safety are affecting the profession. While much of the conversation focuses on urban libraries, the issues we discuss are equally relevant to academic and rural settings.
Topics
0:00 Intro
1:07 Introducing Leah Dudak
2:33 Leah’s background and focus on trauma & library workers
5:29 Findings of the 2022 Urban Libraries Unite’s Trauma Report
Aggressive and violent behavior
Potential solutions
12:00 Strengths of the report
14:39 Canadian libraries
15:24 Additional traumatic experiences & systemic wide problems that librarians alone cannot solve
21:00 Attempts at book censorship
Impact on library workers
Anticipatory trauma
28:39 Physical and safety threats
Smaller communities
31:23 ALA Bill of Rights : Libraries’ historical relationship with censorship
33:26 Library leadership and potential solutions
Library cultural shifts & flexibility
38:22 Social workers
40:17 Leah’s use of art in her research
45:33 For fun, ALISE 2024, and Shannon Crooks
50:12 Outro
Links
American Library Association. (2019). Library Bill of Rights. American Library Association. https://www.ala.org/advocacy/intfreedom/librarybill
American Library Association reveals preliminary data on 2024 book challenges. (2024). https://www.ala.org/news/2024/09/american-library-association-reveals-preliminary-data-2024-book-challenges
Caron, C. (2024, October 31). Librarians Struggle With Mental Health After Traumatic Events at Work. The New York Times. https://www.nytimes.com/2024/10/31/well/mind/librarian-trauma-homeless-drugs-mental-illness.html This article mentions ULU’s peer support network
Dudak, L. (2023, February 23). Working Toward Wellness: Exploring Trauma-Informed Librarianship. Library Journal. https://www.libraryjournal.com/story/Working-Toward-Wellness-Exploring-Trauma-Informed-Librarianship
Dudak, L. T., Comito, L., & Zabriskie, C. (2022). “You Can’t Self-Care Your Way Out of a Broken System”: The 2022 Urban Libraries Trauma Forum. Public Library Quarterly (pp. 1–15). https://doi.org/10.1080/01616846.2022.2148826
Furcinito, E. (2024, July 16). Doctoral Student Studying Trauma in Public Library Workers. Syracuse University School of Information Studies. https://ischool.syr.edu/doctoral-student-studying-trauma-in-public-library-workers/
Johnson, S. C. (2023). Teaching social work concepts to LIS students [Conference proceedings]. 2023 ALISE Annual Conference, Milwaukee, WI. https://doi.org/10.21900/j.alise.2023.1282
Kelly Jensen at Book Riot
Leah’s website: https://leahtdudak.com/
Smith, T. (2023, May 4). Library funding becomes the 'nuclear option' as the battle over books escalates. NPR. https://www.npr.org/2023/05/04/1173274834/book-bans-library-funding-missouri-texas-ashcroft
Urban Librarians Unite: Library Worker Support Network
Urban Librarians Unite. (2022). Urban Library Trauma Study: Final Report. https://urbanlibrariansunite.org/ults/
Williams, R., Gross, M., Latham, D., Baum, B., Dudak, L.T., Freeburg, D., Crooks, S., & Johnson, S.C. (2024, October 15). Navigating the modern libraryscape: The changing roles, labor, and education of public librarians. 2024 ALISE Annual Conference, Portland, OR. https://2024aliseannualconference.sched.com/event/1glWG/juried-panel-2b-navigating-the-modern-libraryscape-the-changing-roles-labor-and-education-of-public-librarians
Yeon, J., & Dudak, L.T. (2024). Potential for trauma in public libraries experiencing book banning and material challenges [Pre-print]. Email Leah to request a copy.
Zoledziowski, A., Ivany, K., & Ward, L. (2024, August 23). Library workers punched, spat on as security incidents rise, data shows. CBC News. https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/public-library-security-incidents-1.7302588
For a list of additional resources, check out the Bibliography page