Leading in the New Academic Library

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.

Introduces academic librarians and students to key management issues and provides effective ways to address them

Demonstrates how qualities of leadership can be cultivated for career success

Provides up-to-date guidance on leadership skills as they apply in the academic library setting, skills which may not be covered in traditional textbooks for courses in library management and academic librarianship