Building Staff Morale and Creating a Positive Workplace

Abstract

Libraries often have arbitrary divisions among staff members - librarians vs. paraprofessionals, technical services vs. public services, staff vs. students, etc. The University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire's McIntyre Library has broken down many of these divisions through a variety of internal and external activities; some officially work-related and others just for fun and recreation. Through these team-based activities staff morale has improved. This chapter will showcase some of the activities and projects done at McIntyre Library and discuss the positive outcomes these have had on library employees.