In At the Existentialist Café, Sarah Bakewell highlights Jean-Paul Sartre’s existentialist challenge: the idea that every situation should be viewed from the perspective of those who are most oppressed. This concept was revolutionary—it called for not just empathy but radical action, urging us to understand power and suffering from the vantage point of those at the margins. Sartre’s existentialism doesn’t merely theorize about oppression; it demands a shift in how we address systemic injustice, calling for a transformative perspective that echoes loudly today in Ruha Benjamin’s Viral Justice and within the context of academic libraries’ toxic cultures, as explored by Michalak, Dawes, and Cawthorne in Toxic Dynamics.
Benjamin’s Viral Justice captures how systemic inequities—like viruses—spread silently but pervasively, deeply embedding themselves in our institutions. These inequities manifest in myriad ways: racial and gender disparities, lack of representation, and policies that protect the powerful while marginalizing others. Despite their noble missions of advancing knowledge and fostering learning, academic libraries are not immune. Toxic Dynamics pulls back the curtain on how toxic cultures in libraries replicate broader societal oppressions, harming both the people who work in these spaces and the students they serve.
We see this toxicity in academic libraries through rigid hierarchies, power struggles, and environments where voices—especially those of women, people of color, lower-ranking staff, and the faculty versus staff divide—are systematically silenced. These dynamics align with what Sartre, Benjamin, and Toxic Dynamics emphasize: oppression doesn’t always shout; it often whispers, thrives in silence, and becomes “normal” if left unchecked. Faculty and staff often operate in silos, creating an "us vs. them" culture that further exacerbates feelings of isolation, invisibility, and burnout, particularly for those engaging in hidden labor.
This hidden labor is addressed in Making the Invisible Visible: Recognizing Hidden Labor in Academic Libraries, which highlights the critical, often invisible work carried out by library staff. Much of the vital work that keeps libraries running—archiving, cataloging, metadata management, and digital preservation—remains unseen and undervalued, contributing to staff burnout and dissatisfaction. Faculty, often in more visible roles, may unintentionally overshadow the contributions of staff whose behind-the-scenes work is essential to the success of library programs and initiatives.
What Sartre and Benjamin teach us, and what Michalak, Dawes, and Cawthorne emphasize, is that we cannot change these dynamics unless we center the experiences of those most harmed. In academic libraries, this means shifting away from entrenched power structures, addressing the lack of diversity in leadership, confronting pay inequities, and building a culture of inclusion where every voice is heard—including those of staff whose labor remains hidden.
But what does transformation look like? It’s more than just policies—it’s about actively dismantling the toxic cultures that undermine collaboration and innovation. Viral Justice reminds us that addressing these issues is not just a matter of ethics but of survival—justice must be viral, too, spreading through our institutions with the same force that inequity has. In Toxic Dynamics, the authors offer practical solutions to help libraries shift away from toxic behaviors and toward healthier, more equitable workplaces.
Part of this solution involves acknowledging and valuing the invisible labor that often sustains the visible successes of academic libraries. From digitizing collections to ensuring digital systems function smoothly, this work is critical but often goes unnoticed. As Making the Invisible Visible points out, recognizing and compensating these efforts are essential to creating a more inclusive and just workplace.
Academic librarians and staff must view our roles through Sartre’s existential lens: how are we contributing to or challenging these dynamics? Are we passive participants in toxic systems, or are we actively working to dismantle them? By adopting this perspective, we see how libraries can transform into spaces where justice, equity, and inclusion aren’t just aspirations but lived realities.
The call is clear: we must disrupt these systems. Libraries, often seen as neutral ground, are not exempt from the toxic dynamics that affect every institution. By taking a Sartrean approach and centering the experiences of those who are most oppressed—whether it’s through revising hiring practices, amplifying marginalized voices, or fostering inclusive leadership—academic libraries can become engines of viral justice, spaces where change takes root, and toxic dynamics are dismantled.
Transformation isn’t easy, but it is possible. As Sartre, Benjamin, and Toxic Dynamics remind us, the first step is acknowledging the harm and committing to change—from the inside out.
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