Call for Proposals
Advances in Library Administration and Organization (ALAO)
Volume 46: Building and Sustaining Positive and Healthy Work Environments
Series Editor: David Ketchum, University of Oregon
Volume Co-Editor: Kim Duckett, North Carolina State University
Volume Co-Editor: Nancy Falciani-White, Randolph-Macon College
Positive and healthy work environments enhance job satisfaction and workplace engagement and play a significant role in the healthy functioning of library organizations. Higher levels of workplace satisfaction and engagement are also attributed to increased productivity, creativity, and performance, and by extension improved services and organizational culture. But how do we define, cultivate, and sustain positive and healthy work environments, particularly in libraries which can be under-resourced, unappreciated or devalued, or even toxic?
ALAO seeks chapter submissions for a volume entitled Building and Sustaining Positive and Healthy Work Environments. This volume will examine the opportunities, challenges, and successes of fostering and nurturing workplace environments that enhance job satisfaction, engagement, and success. Proposals that emphasize research-based projects will be prioritized and submissions in the following areas are of particular interest, as they relate to building and sustaining positive work environments:
Strategic organizational change
Enhancing physical workspace
Service transformation
Employee development and/or succession planning
Successful leadership practices
Flexible and hybrid work arrangements
Fostering inclusivity
Benefits and advocacy
ALAO publishes long-form research and content, theoretical and philosophical discussions, and in-depth accounts of practice related to library administration and organization. The series helps answer the questions, “How have libraries been managed and how could they be managed better?” Through this series, readers explore library-related challenges and solutions and glean new approaches to library administration and organization.
How to Submit
We are currently seeking proposals for the 2026 volume, Building and Sustaining Positive and Healthy Work Environments. If you are interested in contributing to this volume, please complete this form - including a brief author bio and chapter proposal - no later than April 1, 2025, https://forms.gle/
Timeline
Proposal deadline: 4/1/2025
Notification of acceptance: 5/15/2025
Submission deadline, full chapters: 8/15/2025
Editorial response to authors: 10/1/2025
Submission deadline, revised chapters: 11/15/2025
Print publication: July 2026
