“It’s Not Ok. It’s Not Normal”: Public Librarians’ Experiences of Sexual Harassment and Their Impact on Psychological Safety

Abstract

The #metoo movement prompted many librarians to self-disclose accounts of sexual harassment within their workplaces. In 2022, we used the validated Sexual Experiences Questionnaire to survey people who had recently worked in public libraries in order to measure the prevalence of sexual harassment within the field. A very high percentage of respondents stated they had experienced inappropriate behaviors from coworkers, patrons, and/or board of trustees. Nearly a quarter also shared qualitative comments which revealed a lack of psychological safety for those working in public libraries.