After nearly three decades in academic libraries—starting in 1997 and graduating from my MLIS program in Wisconsin 20 years ago—I find myself reflecting more and more on what it means to be successful. Not in the abstract sense, but in the personal, lived-in, late-career, what-was-it-all-for kind of way.
For many of us who have dedicated our careers to libraries, students, access to knowledge, and building inclusive academic communities, the traditional markers of success often don’t seem to apply—or worse, they leave us questioning if we’ve somehow failed by not achieving them.
But the more I read, reflect, and listen, the more I’ve come to believe: it’s the traditional success model that’s failing us.
What Is Traditional Success, Really?
Traditional success is often defined by external achievements—wealth, status, and professional advancement. It’s about meeting society’s expectations and ticking off widely accepted milestones: a high-paying job, a big house, a stable marriage, children, and eventually a legacy of some kind.
The formula looks something like this:
Work Hard + Achieve Stuff = Happiness
But this model is deeply flawed. As author and coach Paul Long explains in Why the Traditional Success Model Is Making Us Sick and Unhappy, too many of us grind relentlessly through the “work hard” and “achieve stuff” phases without ever arriving at the promised reward. The happiness that’s supposed to magically appear? It doesn’t.
And for many high-achieving professionals—including elite performers and millionaires—it never does.
Why?
Because this model:
- Prioritizes external validation over internal satisfaction
- Centers materialism as the primary outcome
- Assumes a linear, one-size-fits-all path to fulfillment
- Reinforces the toxic mindset of “I’ll be happy when…”
What’s more, this model was built with a particular kind of person in mind: white, cisgender, able-bodied, and often male. For those who don’t fit that mold, the definition of success has always been more complicated.
Whose Success Gets Recognized?
Many library workers—especially women, BIPOC professionals, LGBTQ+ librarians, and first-generation scholars—have always had to fight not just to succeed but to be seen as successful.
What happens when your idea of success doesn’t match what the dominant culture rewards? What if your labor is quiet, communal, or restorative? What if you choose to lead through care, or you value flexibility over prestige?
Too often, those choices are devalued or dismissed—especially in spaces still shaped by hierarchical, Eurocentric notions of merit and authority.
We must ask:
Who gets to define success in academic libraries—and who has been excluded from that definition?
Robyne Hanley-Dafoe, a resilience scholar, writes of her experience supporting professionals who appear successful on paper but feel deeply unfulfilled. Many, she notes, are craving something more genuine—something more aligned with their values and lived experiences. Their longing isn’t about ambition lost; it’s about authenticity denied.
The Academic Librarian's Dilemma
Academic librarians, especially in mid-career, often exist outside the traditional success script. Some of us lead solo operations; others serve as faculty without tenure, or staff without recognition. And for librarians from underrepresented groups, the path to success is often littered with additional barriers: implicit bias, cultural taxation, institutional racism, ableism, and classism.
We may not chase wealth or titles—but we still feel pressure. Pressure to publish. Pressure to innovate. Pressure to prove our worth in systems that have historically excluded us.
And when we meet those benchmarks and still feel tired, isolated, or underappreciated? We wonder: What’s wrong with me?
But it’s not us. It’s the model.
The World Happiness Report notes that life satisfaction in the U.S. dropped by 6% between 2007 and 2018—even as GDP rose. Clearly, more achievement doesn’t mean more joy—especially when that achievement has come at the cost of one’s identity or well-being.
Reversing the Formula
Researchers like Arthur C. Brooks (The Atlantic) and Shawn Achor (The Happiness Advantage) propose something radical but increasingly backed by science:
Happiness → Well-being → Achievement
In Why Happiness Is the Key to Success, Brooks argues that starting with internal fulfillment—rather than chasing it—leads to more meaningful accomplishments. Happy people aren’t less driven; they’re more effective because they’re aligned.
Hanley-Dafoe offers a framework for redefining success that includes keeping promises to yourself, resisting comparison, and rejecting external definitions of worth that don’t serve you. She asks:
What would it mean to live a value-aligned life instead of a performance-aligned one?
Redefining Success in Academic Libraries
What does this look like for us?
- Success is supporting students who feel seen, not just collecting usage statistics.
- Success is mentoring a colleague, especially one who has been historically excluded from leadership.
- Success is maintaining boundaries and health, not just working late to finish a grant.
- Success is challenging ableist and elitist structures, not just fitting in.
- Success is reclaiming your cultural identity at work, not hiding it to succeed.
This doesn’t mean external accomplishments aren’t valuable. But they are not the whole story.
As Chughtai and Buckley (2022) argue, sustainable academic careers require not just goal attainment, but personal resilience, clarity of values, and flexible definitions of achievement.
As they reminds us, institutions that prioritize connection and meaning—not just metrics—are better equipped to support diverse faculty and staff in thriving long-term.
A Personal Reframing
So what does success mean for me, at this stage of life?
- It means doing work I believe in—integrating AI literacy ethically, supporting first-gen and underrepresented students, digitizing community history—not because it gets me a headline, but because it feels aligned with my purpose.
- It means giving myself permission to pause, to reflect, to rest.
- It means amplifying others’ voices, not just my own.
- It means using my privilege to challenge systems that exclude.
And above all, it means being present—with students, with faculty, with colleagues—because presence is itself a success story.
A Call to Fellow Librarians
If you’re in mid-career (or frankly, any stage) and feeling the dull ache of “meh,” know this: it’s not a failure. It’s a signal.
A signal that maybe you’ve followed a model that wasn’t designed for people like us—people who chose service, knowledge, equity, and integrity over status.
You get to define success differently.
You get to write a new story.
Not just for yourself—but for the students watching, the interns learning, and the profession evolving.
Let’s be the generation of academic librarians who break the mold, honor our wholeness, and build something more just, inclusive, and joyful—together.
Further Reading
Arthur C. Brooks. Why Happiness Is the Key to Success.
This article challenges the traditional achievement-first model and argues that happiness leads to success—not the other way around.
Arthur C. Brooks. Why Success Won’t Make You Happy.
Brooks explores the illusion of success as a path to happiness, drawing on psychology, economics, and ancient philosophy.
Robyne Hanley-Dafoe & Erin Marshall. Defining Success on Your Own Terms.
A call to move beyond the “when-then” trap of traditional achievement and toward a life aligned with personal values and authenticity.
Chughtai, H. A., & Buckley, F. (2022). Being Well in Academia: A Study in Academic Resilience.
This study highlights the importance of well-being, adaptability, and self-defined success in building sustainable academic careers.
Higher Education Research & Development, 41(5), 1490–1505.
Paul Long. Why the Traditional Success Model Is Making Us Sick and Unhappy.
Long critiques the societal success formula and offers alternative paths based on fulfillment and human connection.
Inclusive Knowledge Solutions partners with academic libraries to build reflective, equity-driven, high-trust cultures. From leadership coaching to DEI strategy to learning design, we help librarians do their most courageous, collaborative work. Let’s connect.
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