Leading Through Burnout: A Library Administrator’s Guide to Building Healthier Teams

Setting the Stage
Academic library administrators often carry the weight of two jobs: managing their own heavy workload while supporting the well-being of their staff. The irony is hard to miss—leaders are expected to shield their teams from burnout while quietly experiencing it themselves. The result? Exhaustion, disconnection, and a creeping sense that no one is winning.

But leadership doesn’t mean pretending to be invulnerable. It means finding genuine, sustainable ways to model resilience, set boundaries, and create conditions where both administrators and their teams can thrive.

1. Helping the Team While You’re Burned Out

Being overworked doesn’t disqualify administrators from leading change—it makes them more empathetic. But it requires shifting from “doing it all” to “structuring it differently.”

• Share the load transparently. If deadlines can be renegotiated, involve the team in setting realistic timelines. It builds trust and models boundary-setting.
• Simplify priorities. Be explicit about what matters most. Cutting back on nonessential committees or initiatives shows the team that it’s okay to focus on impact, not just activity.
• Empower decision-making. Delegate authority where possible. When staff feel trusted to make decisions, administrators regain breathing space while cultivating leadership across the team.

Solution in practice: One director paused low-impact committees and rotated responsibility for project leads. Staff reported more ownership, and the administrator reported less daily overwhelm.

2. Leading with Genuine Care

Staff can tell when leaders are masking their exhaustion. Authenticity matters more than perfection.

• Acknowledge challenges honestly. Saying, “I know many of us are stretched thin, myself included, but here’s what I’m doing to manage it” is far more powerful than pretending everything is fine.
• Model small, visible practices. Take breaks. Leave on time. Celebrate wins. These small acts demonstrate commitment to a healthier culture.
• Invite dialogue, not just updates. Ask staff what’s energizing them and what’s draining them. Listening—without defensiveness—builds psychological safety.

Solution in practice: A library leader began meetings with a two-minute check-in where staff shared one thing they were proud of that week. The practice created space for recognition and honesty, reducing the sense of invisibility.

3. Building Solutions That Work for Everyone

Toxic culture thrives in silence; resilience grows through shared ownership. Administrators don’t need to have all the answers—they need to create space where solutions can emerge collectively.

• Use frameworks for structure. The CALM Framework—Communication, Adaptability, Learning, Management—offers a roadmap. Open communication interrupts silence, adaptability prevents rigidity, learning builds resilience, and management ensures fairness.
• Anchor in equity. Burnout disproportionately affects those with less power or visibility. Ensure workload balance and recognition are distributed equitably, not just by who “can handle it.”
• Encourage micro-actions. As Elizabeth Grace Saunders argues in her HBR piece, regaining control often starts small—like disconnecting from email after hours or stepping away for real breaks. Administrators can normalize these micro-actions and encourage staff to follow suit.

Solution in practice: A library implemented “no meeting Fridays” once a month to give staff uninterrupted time for deep work or rest. Administrators participated fully, signaling this wasn’t just a perk for staff—it was a shared commitment.

A Call to Action
Administrators can’t eliminate all pressures, but they can lead with courage, honesty, and strategy. By acknowledging their own burnout, modeling healthier behaviors, and empowering their teams to share responsibility, they transform libraries from cultures of depletion into cultures of care.

👉 What’s one boundary you can set—or one responsibility you can share—that would help both you and your team breathe easier this semester? Share your commitment, and let’s reimagine leadership in academic libraries together.