Lake County Gazette

Remaining silent is no way to address workplace sexual harassment, two Waukegan Public Library employees told the Lake County Gazette recently.

"These issues and experiences are deeply personal," Reference Assistant Katie McLain and Marketing and Communications Manager Amanda Civitello said in a joint email interview. "Even staff members with strong working relationships with their managers and administration may feel uncomfortable speaking out. They may be embarrassed or feel alone, like they are the only ones who have experienced these sometimes troubling situations. By starting this conversation on a national scale, we hope that we have helped to create a space for positive and fruitful discussion."

Civitello and McLain spoke to a full house during the American Library Association’s (ALA) annual conference and exhibition in Chicago in June on the sexual harassment they say public librarians face on a regular basis.

Katie McLain (left) and Amanda Civitello

"Haven’t you heard of the EEOC (Equal Employment Opportunities Commission)?" McLain recalled saying in her conference remarks. "You don’t have to take that abuse, Katie."

The ALA publishes its own statement of appropriate conduct that includes "providing a harassment-free environment for everyone, regardless of gender, sexual orientation, gender identity, gender expression, disability, physical appearance, ethnicity, religion or other group identity."

Other featured speakers at the conference included actor Sarah Jessica Parker, author Ron Chernow, cartoonist Gene Luen Yang and former first lady and failed 2016 Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton. 

McLain's comments included a description of a dinner with friends at which she opened about male library patrons who sexually harassing her and how she felt putting up with that abuse was part of her job, according to conference coverage by the Edgar County Watchdogs.

Civitello and McLain's comments during the conference came approximately a year after the release of the book "SHUT UP!: The Bizarre War that One Public Library Waged Against the First Amendment," which describes an Orland Park Public Library sexual harassment case study. In that study, at least two female library employees reported sexual harassment, only to be told by management to "like it or lump it."

 Waukegan Public Library does not tolerate such abuse, McLain and Civitello said in their email.

"Waukegan Public Library has long emphasized patron and staff safety, so conversations about sexual harassment and other problematic behaviors are openly discussed and addressed by administration and staff," they wrote. "However, as a profession, these issues are only infrequently discussed. We felt that the ALA annual conference was an opportunity to start a conversation about an important topic that needs broader attention."

The response has been encouraging, the two said. 

"Our session in June sparked a great deal of conversation and experience sharing between audience members, and subsequently, we have received requests for our slides and handouts," Civitello and McLain wrote. "We feel that directors, managers, and staff see the value in having these conversations and we’re happy that our work is supporting their efforts to keep their staff and patrons comfortable in the library."

The conference might not be the only time they speak on this subject, Civitello and McLain said. 

"At this time we are focused on drafting a written analysis of our anecdotal survey results," they wrote. "We look forward to pursuing other opportunities to share this work, perhaps through other conferences or editorial pieces."