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

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Bibliographic Details
Title: Prevalence of bullying in academic medical libraries in the United States.
Authors: Lane, Todd Allen1 toddlane918@gmail.com, Albro, Maggie2 malbro@utk.edu, Forbes, Carrie S.3 forbesc@ecu.edu
Source: Journal of the Medical Library Association. Jul2026, Vol. 114 Issue 3, p246-254. 9p.
Subjects: Cross-sectional method, Academic libraries, Work environment, Questionnaires, Peer relations, Violence in the workplace, Descriptive statistics, Bullying, Analysis of variance, Hospital libraries, Psychology of librarians, Data analysis software, Externalizing behavior, Social isolation
Geographic Terms: 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 selfidentifying 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. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
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Database: Engineering Source
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