An Exploratory Study of School Librarians' Emotional Response to Change in the Workplace

INTRODUCTIONIn the workplace, change is inevitable. There will be personnel changes, reorganisations and changes made in response to technological or societal changes. In essence, workplace change is part of life. As the saying goes, "change happens."Libraries as physical and organisational institutions have undergone many changes as technology, society's needs, and the format of library materials have changed. New libraries are built with more programming space and less space for print materials; technology staffing is increased, while subject librarian staffing decreases. According to Scott, Griffith, Wickett, Hine and Hopman (2011) "libraries are fundamentally reinventing themselves in order to remain a valued partner in achieving the missions of their institutions" (p. 396).School libraries have also experienced dramatic changes over the past two decades, as the card catalog has given way to integrated library systems, and the learning commons concept has changed the concept of school libraries from warehouses to collaborative community spaces. According to Killeen (2010) school librarians are leaders of change in technology and teaching, but sometimes they are handed change that cause them stress and anxiety.While all of us know that changes in our physical and organisational work life are part of being a member of a changing and growing institution, it doesn't make the actual process of changing easier. This is true significantly in the education profession, of which school librarians are members. Schools are constantly undergoing changes mandated by national, federal, state or district regulations, budgetary constraints, changes in technology, curriculum standards and teaching methods. According to Abrahamson (2004), the constant changes educational professionals experience year after year leads to what is referred to as "repetitive change syndrome" that often causes teacher burnout and disengagement in reform efforts. According to Hargreaves (2004, 2005), change is always accompanied by emotion-whether it is a negative or positive one. Because most educators are passionate about their profession and have personal investment in the way they work with students, it is very rare that teachers are apathetic about changes taking place around them (Nias, 1996). This is also true for library professionals, who according to Scott et al. (2011) rarely register no emotional response to change.There is a prevalent concern among school librarians regarding changes in the library, as loss of space, staff and budget reductions are reported on international, national and state electronic discussion lists. National reports of the diminishing status of school libraries in the United States and in other countries also cause concern among school librarians (O'Connell, 2014). In a climate of change and reform, understanding how educators respond to change is essential for changes to be successful (Hargreaves, 2005). In order to help school librarians be the change agents they are expected to be, it is important to know the types of changes they are experiencing and what emotional responses accompany these change events.In studies of change in education, emotional responses have often been considered to be a by-product of change and not a focus of study. However, attitudes toward change have been found to be strong predictors in the success of the change effort (Hargreaves, 2005). In recent years, researchers have begun to study the emotional response to change in the context of the types of changes that are occurring and the manner in which the changes are being made. Although there is a body of research on how teachers respond to change related to educational reform (Kelchtermans, 2005), there are currently no studies on school librarians' emotional responses to change. This disparity in research-coupled with the pace of changes occurring in schools and school libraries today-prompted these two researchers to begin to examine this area of study more closely. …