The recent award of UKP100,000 to a primary school deputy head who had
been bullied by colleagues raises the question of bullying in libraries.
In a previous post, my status and credibility as deputy were constantly
undermined by the chief librarian, who insisted that I participated in
rotas for various routine activities on an equal basis with library
assistants. I believe her reason for doing this was because she feared
that I knew more than her. Since I found it extremely difficult to
constantly alternate between being a senior member of staff and being a
dogsbody, I was then criticised for being unwilling to take on the
responsibility commensurate with my grade. I found the whole experience
very stressful and complained to the chief librarian on numerous
occasions, to no effect. I got the impression that she actually liked me
to raise the issue with her because she could then enjoy putting me down
every time I did so. Eventually I gave up and finally resolved the
situation by moving elsewhere. In retrospect, I regret not having used
the official grievance procedure to resolve this situation.
I am interested in the extent of bullying in libraries and whether my
experience was an isolated one, or whether others have had similar
experiences. Please reply to me and not to the list.
Mary Whitehead
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