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Redesigning academic librarian roles for a post-crisis world: A role theory perspective on workload equity and occupational stress

Um modelo de arquitetura de papéis para redesenhar cargas de trabalho em bibliotecas acadêmicas, conectando ambiguidade, conflito e sobrecarga a recursos profissionais, perda de recursos e equidade.

Version of RecordCC BY 4.0DOI 10.1016/j.acalib.2026.103222

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Resumo oficial (em inglês)

Academic librarianship is characterized by overlapping role expectations that can become unsustainable when demands outpace resources. This conceptual article develops a role-architecture framework for workload redesign that integrates Role Theory (role ambiguity, role conflict, role overload) with the Job Demands-Resources (JD-R) model and Conservation of Resources (COR) theory. The argument is grounded in a narrative, integrative review of research on librarian roles, burnout, and emotional labor, and in a synthesis of pandemic-era evidence from multiple contexts (e.g., Ithaka S+R surveys of 875 U.S. academic libraries, Canadian qualitative interviews with academic librarians (n = 19), and U.K. staff surveys (200+ responses)), alongside European case evidence. Pandemic disruptions are treated as a diagnostic of structural weaknesses in how librarian work is defined, resourced, and evaluated. The framework distinguishes four interlocking layers: core service, scholarly work (where applicable), institutional citizenship, and emotional labor, and identifies predictable fault lines between layers and between professional and non-work roles. Building on this diagnosis, the article proposes five design principles: clarifying role cores and boundaries; aligning evaluation with actual responsibilities (including digital transformation and emotional labor); engineering workload equity; embedding job resources into role design; and pre-planning crisis-mode role shifts. Implications are offered for library leaders and campus partners seeking to redesign roles sustainably beyond crisis periods.

Citação sugerida

De Prosperis, M. (2026). Redesigning academic librarian roles for a post-crisis world: A role theory perspective on workload equity and occupational stress. The Journal of Academic Librarianship, 52, 103222. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.acalib.2026.103222

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