What if no one wants to work (here) anymore? Teachers, librarians, and nurses have some important things in common. They do essential, mission-driven work. They’re mostly women (from 74 percent of teachers to 90 percent of nurses). They’re often underpaid. They’ve faced increased job stressors in the last few years. Many are thinking of leaving their jobs, if not fields—up to 77 percent of Texas teachers in a recent poll. The resulting shortages put more pressure on those who stay.

They’re also all on the front lines of the culture wars. Nurses face harassment from COVID deniers, antivaxxers, anti-abortion campaigners, and those who threaten hospitals for providing gender-affirming care. And we all know about teachers and librarians accused of divisiveness, grooming, and pedophilia for providing access to books about BIPOC and LGBTQIA+ lived experience.

It’s no wonder people are leaving these professions, especially given the pandemic-driven Great Reassessment of work, and a tight labor market allowing increased leverage. The library news shows staff leaving positions in the face of censorship controversies—especially where the board does not support the workers. Some libraries are struggling to find anyone to take on the vacant positions, even to the point of having to close.

There is a lot that individual libraries and schools can do to make themselves more appealing employers, though it won’t be quick or easy, starting with a full assessment of culture. As LJ’s Placements and Salaries survey in this issue (pp. 22–27) shows, culture is THE single issue of most importance to recently degreed librarians searching for jobs, mentioned by nearly twice as many as salary.

Important steps start with listening to the voices of staff—first and foremost, in your own organization, whether via a union, advisory board, anonymous suggestion box, survey, or all of the above. Also seek out context from the broader field, such as Urban Librarians Unite’s trauma study and Kaetrena Davis Kendrick’s research on low morale in both public and academic libraries, especially why staff leave. To make sure that feedback is not just heard but acted on, rebuild policies with an emphasis on staff participation in decision-making and transparency, as Gena Cox, author of Leading Inclusion: Drive Change Your Employees Can See and Feel, recently suggested in a Q&A with LJ.

But individual employers can only do so much. An increased emphasis in library schools on preparation for the challenges of practice might help, but that still only reaches those who pursue the degree. That may not be enough: A recent study by the Federal Reserve showed that nearly half of humanities and social science majors regret their field of study, fewer students elect those majors, and fewer undergraduate degrees are being granted in those areas, including library science. Some disincentives start early: A recent survey found that 62 percent of parents don’t want their children to become teachers.

This is a systemic problem that’s bigger than librarianship. U.S. society needs to reexamine its relationship to the helping professions—including child and eldercare, whose practitioners are often BIPOC, make much less, and are exempt from many labor protections.

When these fields were among the few open to women, they didn’t need to pay well to attract candidates. Gender bias contributed—and still does—to expectations and lack of respect. The stigma impacts men too, who can face blowback for choosing work that is traditionally associated with women. And of course, gender is far from the only factor: Race, disability, neurodiversity, sexuality, mental health, and more intersect to influence how workers are treated.

As barriers to all types of work for women erode, the conditions and compensation of teachers, librarians, nurses, and others in historically woman-dominated roles must be reevaluated to remain competitive. While budgets are built on comparisons to the past, it’s job seekers’ other alternatives in the present and future that must be reckoned with. Libraries can’t make a nationwide paradigm shift happen by themselves, but they can help reframe the narrative. And library workers can make common cause with—and learn from—those in other professions facing similar challenges.