Unsafe in safe spaces?

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An exploration of the workplace experiences of female library workers employed and volunteering in academic and research libraries in the United Kingdom

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Overview | Findings | Implications

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Louise Savage: Collections Coordinator at King’s College London

This research formed the dissertation for my Master’s degree in Library and Information Science at UCL, 2024.

Outline

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• Introduction: inspiration and background for my research topic
• Historical context (brief!)
• Methodology (the short version!)
• Findings and implications: What did I discover? What inferences can be made?

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• References

Introduction

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Libraries as ‘safe spaces’ (Myrick 2018)

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“When planners fail to account for gender, public spaces become male spaces by default…[If we do not] “accommodate the female body in design” when creating and constructing workplaces, “the world…is less hospitable and more dangerous for women to navigate.”

Caroline Criado Perez (2019)

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Historical context

Then…

• Academic and research libraries were historically the domain of the male
• (Academic) library spaces designed by and for men
• Women denied entry to academic libraries - as employees and patrons - until the Education Act of 1870 was passed

(Pettegree and der Weduwen 2022, Spencer-Bennett 2020, Spencer-Bennett 2022)

Now…

• Over three-quarters of library workers are women

(Chartered Institute of Library and Information Professional (CILIP) 2023 Workforce Survey)

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Safety:� “The state of being protected from or guarded against hurt or injury; freedom from danger”. Oxford English Dictionary (2024) �

Personal safety

The capability with which a person can carry out their daily life without fear (perceived or otherwise) of threat or harassment

Physical safety

Refers to physical objects and the physical environment, including library furniture and specialist workplace equipment, and the degree of harm posed by these incorporating Health and Safety issues

Methodology

• Survey of people who employed or work in academic or research libraries (UK); 252 respondents
• Qualitative Content Analysis (QCA) of Health and Safety documents supplied upon request by UK universities and research libraries, using thematic coding: 84 separate documents received

Findings

• SURVEY:
• 191 out of 252 survey respondents were women
• Areas of library spaces where women reported feeling unsafe: basements, the welcome/info desk, student study areas, staff areas and offices, closed bookstores = all spaces have been perceived as unsafe
• Women explained specific feelings of being in named spaces of the library where they felt unsafe: “confinement”, “isolation”
• Physical features of spaces affected their perception of safety: narrow corridors, low ceilings, small spaces, “hidden areas”, poor lighting
• More women than men cited poor patron behaviour contributing to feeling unsafe: “threatening”, “intimidating”, “harassing”

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Findings (cont.)

• SURVEY:

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Men’s responses are in orange

Findings (cont.)

• SURVEY:
• Women report that lone working has been normalised
• Both men and women have experienced incivility from patrons
• 22 respondents reported experience of sexual harassment: 20 were women
• Women are affected by specific Health & Safety issues in libraries, most significantly: extreme internal temperatures, poor ventilation/air quality and trip hazards
• Working in libraries housed in heritage buildings: women reported extremes of temperatures and poor air quality
• 65 women reported limitations of the library building space within heritage buildings, via their internal design

Findings (cont.)

• QUALITATIVE CONTENT ANALYSIS of Health and Safety documents provided by UK universities:

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• My coding (by themes)of these documents revealed two distinct types of documents:
• dedicated Health & Safety documents (such as Risk Assessments, Lone Working policies) written specifically for, or by, their library service/management

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• those which formed part of more generic Health & Safety guidance/procedures and policies for all university employees, including library workers.

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Findings (cont.)

• Summary:

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• There are gender differences in the perception of personal safety; women experience and perceive personal safety in the library workplace differently from men.

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• Academic library space design impacts upon the physical safety of women

• University Health and Safety policies are more likely to be written as generic, university-wide documents for all university staff to adhere to, rather than devised by the library service management.

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References

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Criado Perez, C. (2019). Invisible Women: Exposing Data Bias in a World Designed for Men. London: Chatto and Windus.

Klain-Gabbay, L. and Shoham, S. (2017). ‘How is the role of academic library workers perceived by both faculty members and library workers?’. Libri, 67(4), pp. 261-281. Available at: https://doi.org/10.1515/libri-2017-0021. (accessed: 5 August 2024).

Myrick, M. (2018). “What makes a space ‘safe’?” Academe,104(6), pp.19–21. Available at: https://www.jstor.org/stable/26606290. (accessed: 6 March 2024).

Pettegree, A. and der Weduwen, A. (2022). The Library: A Fragile History. London: Profile Books.

Reddington, M. (2023). A Study of the UK’s Information Workforce 2023: Mapping the Library, Archives, Records, Information Management and Knowledge, Management and related professions in the United Kingdom & Ireland. CILIP/Kinetiq. Available at: https://cdn.ymaws.com/www.cilip.org.uk/resource/resmgr/cilip/research/workforce_mapping/workforce_mapping_2023.pdf (accessed: 12 August 2024).

Spencer-Bennett, K. (2020). ‘Libraries in women’s lives: everyday rhythms and public time’. Educational Review, 74(4), pp.844-861. Available at: https://doi-org.libproxy.ucl.ac.uk/10.1080/00131911.2020.1803796. (accessed: 3 June 2024).

Spencer-Bennett, K. (2022). ‘Women and libraries: dangerous? Wholesome? Safe?’ Encyclopedie d’Histoire Numerique de l’Europe. Available at: https://ehne.fr/en/encyclopedia/themes/education-teaching-and-professional-training/out-scholl-learning/women-and-libraries-dangerous-wholesome-safe. (accessed: 10 May 2024).

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