Leadership In Academic Libraries Today

Leadership in Academic Libraries highlights model examples of the move from leadership theory into actual practice. A consideration of leadership theories provides a working vocabulary to facilitate discussions of abstract concepts, while specific topical investigations and case studies illustrate those concepts and show the manner in which theories play out in practice. Chapter authors speak from experience as well as theoretical grounding, and include practitioners, researchers, and formal and informal leaders. Topics include transformational leadership across generations; developing a research agenda in library leadership; methodologies for studying library leadership; connections between leadership models and library-focused research; engaging with business, psychology, and educational administration literature; leadership styles; organizational culture; the role of mentoring in leadership; and the role of women in academic library leadership. Two chapters highlight the dichotomy between positional leadership and socially constructed leadership roles. The research methods used include case study, survey, and action research. Extensive bibliographies for each chapter provide a solid foundation for further research.

Leadership is separate from, but integral to, management; and library directors today and for the foreseeable future can be expected to play an institutional role as they lead the library to contribute towards the mission of their college and university. Similarly, new courses in library leadership now accompany more traditional ones on managing organizations and information resources. However, much of the literature on LIS leadership represents a distilled application of principles and practices borrowed from other disciplines, with few reports of research from the library field. Conceived as a companion to The Next Library Leadership (Libraries Unlimited, 2003), Making a Difference includes not only a discussion of effective attributes, but of issues central to the development of leadership qualities, strategies, and dispositions. Essential reading for anyone interested in advancing the quality of leadership within LIS, particularly academic librarians in or aspiring to positions of managerial leadership.

Providing perspectives of early- and mid-career librarians as well as highly seasoned professionals, this book offers leadership advice that will help academic librarians of all experience levels to surmount the issues they face and overcome new challenges. Academic libraries and librarianship have dramatically evolved in recent years—in everything from their collections and facilities to their relationships with faculty and internal and external partners. These changes demand different mindsets and new skills on the part of librarians. This book explains how the quality of leadership is the key component of successfully implementing innovative service and practices—and as a result, of the success of the library itself. To that end, it offers practical guidelines for implementing leadership principles and achieving success in this evolving culture. Coedited by a team of three highly experienced academic librarians, Leading in the New Academic Library gives actionable advice regarding subjects like helping staff gain new competencies, leading from the middle, and succession planning. The content also addresses hot topics such as the academic library's new role, the integration of IT into library organization and infrastructure, making data-driven decisions, renovating a library space to meet changing user needs, and collaborating with internal as well as external partners.

Here is a fascinating first-hand perspective of the dramatic changes that have occurred in academic library administration over the past five decades. In Leadership in Academic Libraries, distinguished directors of academic and research libraries pay tribute to W. Porter Kellam, Director Emeritus of the University of Georgia, by presenting an overview of the course of academic and research libraries over the span of his 50 year career. Administrative leaders in academic librarianship including Stuart Forth, Richard Chapin, Frank Grisham, and Ken Toombs offer a frank, perceptive, and witty account of the state of library leadership based upon many decades of accumulated experience and hard-earned knowledge. Leadership in Academic Libraries provides valuable insights on library administration, and in particular, on the job of the library director. Readers interested in the history of academic libraries and library administration will gain new insight on the environment in which these leaders worked and how they dealt with university administration and changes in collection development. Chapters also provide advice on how library directors can keep their jobs, and the value of forming professional friendships. Other topics addressed include developments in academic and research libraries over the past five decades in library administration, library services, library architecture, and interlibrary cooperation. An enjoyable autobiographical essay by Mr. Kellam that recounts his long and distinguished career concludes this remarkable volume. Library science students and professionals who wish to become more knowledgeable about the history of academic libraries will cherish the first-hand experiences of library leaders during the richest and most invigorating time in the history of American libraries. Academic librarians and library students researching the job of library director or the recent history of academic libraries will benefit from the experience and wisdom of these leaders in the areas of administration, library architecture, automation, and library cooperation.

The role of academic librarian is far from cut-and-dried. There are numerous job classifications and widely varying academic focuses and cultures to contend with. While every academic librarian is expected to meet the research needs of an institution's faculty and students, many are expected to assume other obligations as part of a faculty or tenure system. Given the many variants, library school alone ccannot prepare individuals for every aspect and flavor of academic librarianship, and intrepid librarians who find themselves in new places and positions face unique challenges. The Successful Academic Librarian is an antidote to the stress and burnout that almost every academic librarian experiences at one time or another. In its pages, Gwen Meyer Gregory and nearly 20 of her peers take a practical approach to a range of critical topics. Their advice, war stories, tips, techniques, and inspiration will help you thrive in your academic library career. -- from back cover.

Individual librarians and their personal leadership are contributing to changes in the library profession and the expanding career opportunities available to academic librarians. Not long ago many librarians saw their careers as limited to the confines of their library's four walls. There is a growing range of opportunities for librarians to hold influential positions outside of the library. Libraries have been an integral part of American higher education since 1636, when the Massachusetts Bay Colony's college at Cambridge was founded and then, two years later, took the name of John Harvard in recognition of the bequest of his library. Today the more than 3500 colleges and universities in the United States have collections that total many millions of volumes. In the intervening years, libraries have functioned in varying ways, depending upon the changing and developing purposes and policies of the institutions they have served. During this time the role of the librarian has changed from that of keeper of books to one of broad responsibilities for sophisticated information services. The academic librarian of today is a consummate professional, responsible for providing information services to faculty and students using every available technology.

In a time when libraries have to face constant change, this book provides examples and advises on how to lead when change is needed (for example, when quality management is implemented or when libraries have to merge or to relocate). Engaging with how constant change affects leadership in libraries and how leaders in libraries act in times of change, this book is aimed at practitioners and students of Library and Information Science (LIS) alike, and is based on both theory and expert interviews from leaders in academic and public libraries that are in the midst, or are now coming out of a process of change. Provides practical solutions for real change situations and problems in libraries Includes expert interviews Written by a professor with nine years experience as a member the management team for the German National Library of Science and Technology

Libraries of all types have undergone significant developments in the last few decades. The rate of change in the academic library, a presence for decades now, has been increasing in the first decade of this century. It is no exaggeration to claim that it is undergoing a top to bottom redefinition. Cataloging and reference remain central to its new role, and the circulation of books is still high though declining. Among the changes is the architecture of the library: when new libraries replace old or where renovation is occurring; the role of technology at every stage and in every library application; the management of serials – selection, shelving and budgeting; and in a gradual but irrevocable move to digital forms, altered allocation of resources including larger portions of the budget diverted to preservation, not only of aging books, a theme in the latter part of the last century, but of digital files – cultural, historical, personal. In brief, the academic library is dramatically different today than it was only ten years ago. And with it, the profession of the academic librarian is also undergoing significant changes. Managing digital resources in all its forms, from telecommunications to storage and access devices, is central to its new roles. Creating, curating and preserving digital information is also key to the new librarianship. And what about services to its clients? Here also we see dramatic change, particularly but not exclusively with guiding library users in the effective use of networked knowledge. Information literacy is a key term and skill in using the new tools of digital literacy: reading and writing, searching and extracting; and the new technologies that drive social networking – the Iphone, Ipad, and Ipod and its many imitators. We can’t expect the redefined academic library to assume its final shape any time soon, if ever, but the transformation is well underway. This series: Creating the 21st-Century Academic Library, will explore this topic from a number of different perspectives. Volume 1, Visionary Leadership and Futures, will begin the discussion by examining some of the new roles and directions academic libraries are taking.

Academic Libraries and Toxic Leadership examines a phenomenon that has yet to be seriously explored. While other so-called feminized professions, such as nursing, have been studied for their tendency to create toxic leadership environments, thus far academic librarianship has not. This book focuses on how to identify a toxic leader in an academic library setting, how to address toxic leadership, and how to work toward eradicating it from the organization. In addition, it discusses which steps can be used to prevent libraries from hiring toxic leaders. Presents original research based on a two-phase study about toxic leadership in academic libraries Demonstrates how to identify toxic leadership in libraries Shows how toxic leadership can manifest itself, providing the reader with steps to eradicate it