Morale is in the toilet - Anonymous employee Linda Hall Library Employee Review

2.0
May 20, 2026
Anonymous employee
Recommend
CEO approval
Business outlook

Pros

The benefits are good. The PTO is generous. It's a small nonprofit that is very welcoming.

Cons

This place is depressing and it isn't getting better. Half of the library workers are searching for an exit. Collection and maintenance budgets are cut. Budgets for people with library responsibilities are cut, but they are asked to do more. Meanwhile departments that deal in marketing and events and soliciting donations are cruising along fine. When I got hired, a librarian was the president. The library was proud of its library staff and specialized collection. There were a few marketing and donor workers to highlight the collection, but the library collection was the priority. They used to reward staff with almost monthly breakfast and lunches to create a sense of community within departments. Linda Hall used to pay more than other libraries in the area. Not a lot more but it was better. I used to recommend it to friends in other libraries. None of this is the case anymore. Now it's an event space with a collection as an afterthought. We collect less scientific journals. Instead they are talking about collecting science fiction books like the ones people can already get from the public library down the road. So much for being an academic research library! Managers that were against these changes were fired or demoted. Communication is worse than its ever been despite promises to make it better.

Explore other reviews about Linda Hall Library

5.0
Jan 31, 2023
Anonymous employee
Recommend
CEO approval
Business outlook

Pros

Linda Hall Library offers competitive salaries, nice people to work with, and an environment dedicated to science and engineering. If you want to work somewhere that will value you as an individual and for your contributions to the team, Linda Hall Library is an outstanding option.

Cons

I can't think of any downside.

1
1.0
Dec 17, 2025
Anonymous employee
Recommend
CEO approval
Business outlook

Pros

I loved working here when it was a collaborative and vibrant place full of intellectually curious people working together to preserve and expand knowledge, but none of that is left here, sadly.

Cons

All of the academic, studious people have been run out of the building or left on their own, leaving a dearth of intellectual capacity, institutional knowledge, and expertise. They are not interested in hiring people capable of doing the essential library functions, instead there is some odd fascination with trees and birds. Money that should go to collecting books and assets has been funnelled to executive salary, travel for the highest executives, and some sort of strange "renovation" of the president’s office suite. The office suite used to be a beautiful old reading room with floor to ceiling shelves lined with books and antique dishes, exactly what you expect in an old library. After the renovation it looks like some villainous medieval alchemy lab filled with (literal) skeletons, dead insects, and gross things - not a single book to be found. This sort of change is typical of what has happened.

8
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