I was recently leading a focus group of library directors and marketing professionals, and one of them brought up the concept of “vocational awe.” This was a memory jogger for me, because I first heard about this at ALA in 2018, but I had since forgotten the term.
After the focus group, I decided to do some research on this topic, because it’s something I have often pondered in my 2+ decades of working in the library industry. Vocational awe is the thing that brings many of us to libraries in the first place, and in some cases, brings us back to the industry after leaving it (me!). But I also think it can get in the way of innovation, growth, and good marketing and communications.
The most popular piece on this topic seems to be “Vocational Awe and Librarianship: The Lies We Tell Ourselves” by Fobazi Ettarh, published on In the Library with the Lead Pipe, an open access, open peer-reviewed journal founded and run by a team of librarians working in various types of libraries. In this piece, vocational awe is described as:
the set of ideas, values, and assumptions librarians have about themselves and the profession that result in notions that libraries as institutions are inherently good, sacred notions, and therefore beyond critique.
The author does a very thorough job of explaining why this condition can lead to issues like burnout and low salaries. I agree! I also think it can cause issues with marketing, communications and advocacy. Here’s why.
1. Being Humble or Reluctant to “Toot Our Own Horn”
“I know my library does good work; I shouldn’t have to explain it.” This was an attitude I often faced in my years of working in libraries. It was sometimes a struggle to get library employees to share stories of impact that we could in turn share with audiences such as supporters and advocates. I often attributed this to employees being humble, but I also think that it came from this idea that we are inherently good, and everyone should know that already. A similar attitude was, “If we just keep our heads down and do our jobs, focusing on what WE think is important, everything will be fine.” But in my experience, taking public goodwill for granted, and not reminding our audiences regularly about the great work we do, can lead to things like budget cuts, branch closures, and layoffs. (See my funding series for more on that.)
2. Being Hierarchical and Waiting for Permission
In the article, Ettarh says, “awe manifests in response to the library as both a place and an institution.” In my experience, library institutions can be very hierarchical, and that leads to an atmosphere of waiting for permission. Even when library leadership wants people to grow and change, this growth can be limited by perceptions around job duties, professional standards, and different generational attitudes. In many cases, managers see themselves as schedulers, not leaders, and they cede decision-making power to others.
Ettarh also says, “Because the sacred duties of freedom, information, and service are so momentous, the library worker is easily paralyzed.” Conversely, library workers make take on too much and not know how to cut back. This environment hampers good communication, and makes it harder to plan ahead.
3. Chasing Awe and Causing Burnout
I interact with a lot of library marketing and communications professionals across the US and Canada, and a common issue I see is burnout. There is never enough time and money to match the noble mission of the library, and communicate all of its services and programs in a 24/7 communications environment. What I often see is professionals working hard, feeling underappreciated, underpaid, and constantly thinking that they are falling short. Many end up leaving libraries entirely, either to earn a living wage, or to work in an environment where they will have more support and colleagues who understand what they do.
If you talk to most library professionals, there is almost an expectation of burnout among library staff. I remember, when I first started working at a library in 2000, someone in a meeting said, “Staff morale is at its lowest.” At the time, my boss countered, “I hear that every year.” Well, she wasn’t wrong! For the next 18 years, I continually heard that morale was “at its lowest ever.” If that were the case, nobody would work in libraries ever! But, as Ettarh says, “With the expansion of job duties, and expectation of ‘whole-self’ librarianship, it is no surprise that burnout is a common phenomenon within libraries.”
This hits marketing and communications staff especially hard, because their colleagues or “internal customers” are already burned out. Further, marketing and communications staff are often not empowered to equipped to say “no” to requests. When I assumed control of my library’s marketing department in 2008, I told my boss at the time, “Any one of our 400+ employees can ask my department to do anything, and have a reasonable expectation that we will do it.” How can anyone prioritize or be successful in that environment?
When you are chasing awe, you are never going to reach your goal. That’s why I put so much emphasis on measurement and goal-setting. It’s not just good business; it’s also a way to quantify the work of marketing in an environment where there may have no other indication of a job well done.
4. Equating Work With Sacrifice
The other thing about vocational awe is that is doesn’t differentiate between those who view their job as a calling, and those who do their job for a living. If both parties are accomplishing their duties, one is not inherently more moral and noble than the other. For me, it was a mix of both. I spent my last 5 years of working at a library as a single parent on a budget, and I began to resist this idea that I should want to give more of myself than what the job required. That led to some resentment and/or beliefs that I was a “lenient boss” because I applied the same philosophy to my staff.
I also began to notice how our language supported this idea of vocational awe. I once witnessed a library leader saying to a group of staff, “It doesn’t matter who gets credit, as long as the work gets done.” In my opinion, employees absolutely deserve credit for their work; especially if they are new to the job, building their resumes, and/or going above and beyond. So what do we do about this? There must be a happy medium between “this is just a job” and full devotion, right?
Moving Forward
I think there is hope, and part of that is due to shifting attitudes about work among Millenials and Gen Z. According to this Business Insider article, “there is a strong desire among these generations to achieve better work-life balance. In fact, more than any other trait among their peers, Gen Zs and millennials admire the ability to balance work and life priorities…” But we can’t expect “the youngs” to solve everything! We in the older generations can do a lot to advocate for better work practices. The Covid pandemic shifted norms about how we get our work done, and I hope this will lead to less of a clock-punching, tied to the desk environment. Although I have seen a troubling trend of libraries eliminating work-from-home options more recently; overall, most workplaces seem to understand that work can happen away from the desk.
The other thing we need to do is push back against this notion of vocational awe, and advocate for a more balanced approach to work. Libraries will never be businesses, but we can apply good business principles to our work. Working smarter, not harder; having strategic goals and sticking to them; giving employees credit for their work; understanding the value of good marketing and communications; and treating marketing and communications professionals with trust and respect would be a good start. I also recommend that libraries limit the “other duties as assigned” tasks that are given to marketing and communications staff, as they can pull them away from their priorities.
I’ll always see the work of libraries with a little bit of awe. But libraries are nothing without the people; and I think those people will be better off in an environment where good business practices and marketing and communications functions are allowed to thrive.
Cordelia Anderson Consulting 