Linda Hall Library Reviews

The library has undergone many changes in the last couple of years, some good, most however to the detriment of library function and staff morale. All changes have not been for the good or longevity of the institution but simply because of unfounded personal whims of the president. Under the influence of the current president the rampant misogyny within this organization has become astonishing. Women within the organization are barely listened to, definitely not respected, and if a woman dares to have an opinion that differs with the president, they are belittled and ignored… or worse. There has been significant turnover in the last two years, with leadership refusing to backfill essential positions, and expecting other employees (typically younger professional women) to pick up the slack and take on extra work, all without appropriate promotion or compensation. Despite making claims of wanting to promote within the organization, any type of promotion is rare and outside hires are always preferred. The culture truly seems to be “make everyone as miserable as possible until they all willingly leave so they can be replaced with people we actually want” (i.e. white males). But don’t bother taking any of these concerns to leadership or any department overseeing employee operations, because advocating for the staff is last thing they are willing to do. Case in point, several members of staff do not make a living wage according to the MIT Living Wage Calculator. When this was brought to the attention of the appropriate parties within leadership and advocated for by a group of employees, they were told that it’s not possible within the operating budget. However there always seems to be room in the budget for the president and his “buds” within leadership to take lavish library paid for “research” trips all over the country, constant personal working lunches/coffees, and renovations to non-public spaces of the library simply for the president to have a cooler place to hold internal meetings. Behavior I would honestly expect from a president/CEO of a larger corporation, but not what I would assume should be the priority of an organization, that despite having a sizable endowment, is still a NONPROFIT.

This place is run by people who do not care about libraries, education, scholarly work, or the importance of this collection. They want to (and have already taken steps to) turn it into a museum/ event space where the library collection is a backdrop, rather than the focus. The President and his yes men go unchecked as they blow through budgets on remodeling projects for non-public spaces, private trips disguised as work trips, and gaudy exhibitions. Instead, they slash budgets from all other departments, but especially the collections budget. A collection that is rapidly deteriorating and running out of physical room, by the way. Anyone who dissents about how things are being managed is either forced out, demoted, or otherwise silenced by administration. Recently, as staff has continued to rapidly turn over, they have begun siloing areas of the library from one another and they have discontinued all elective committees where staff could potentially mix and form relationships. Information only seems to make it's way to the rest of the staff via the rumor mill because ELT only speaks to us with vague corporate lingo instead of truthful, transparent communication. And you might as well not even bother holding leadership to their word as they often back track, rewrite, or fully deny previously shared information. This place is incredibly reactionary - only creating guidelines and policies after something happens to staff or if staff complain long enough for a solution. They have even gone as far as flagging truthful reviews here to avoid accountability for how unhappy staff is here. I'm sure this review will also get flagged too but I'm tired of staying silent.