Academic literature on the topic 'Academic libraries Library administration. Leadership'

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to stress the importance of including visible minority librarians in the process of succession planning in academic libraries. In Canada visible minorities is the accepted term used for librarians of color. This paper identifies the challenges faced by these librarians in putting their names forward for administrative/leadership positions and proposes ideas on how to include these librarians in the succession planning processes so the leadership/administrative pool can also reflect the multicultural student demographics. Design/methodology/approach – This paper is an extensive study of the literature on succession planning and visible minority or ethnic librarians in the academic libraries. Literature shows that the senior administration of academic libraries does not reflect the population demographic it serves. Findings – This paper shows that visible minority librarians are not proactively found, recruited, retained. They are certainly not being included in succession planning processes. It suggests that academic libraries follow certain processes and strategies to include these librarians in their succession planning. Research limitations/implications – The paper focusses widely on North American visible minorities, but this information is applicable to any community with visible minorities. Practical implications – Libraries can start thinking about creating strategies for including visible minority libraries in their succession planning processes. Originality/value – This paper addresses a gap in the literature. Literature review showed that there are no papers that speak to the importance of including minority librarians in the succession planning processes.

The purpose of this paper was to examine the present status of academic libraries in and around Imphal in bringing academic excellence thereby uplifting the relevance of libraries in academic platform. The size of the collection is used as the indicator of academic quality but it should be mentioned that effective use of library resources by students will boost the academic performance. The study was cross sectional randomized study and students, librarians, teachers across various colleges were participated with their informed consent. The study results showed that all the libraries were having required number of books along with newspapers for general knowledge. All the students agreed library is must for learning process and also use of library improved their performance and recommended others to use the library for achieving the academic excellence. Majority of students visited the library once daily and 65% visited library to understand the subjects and 71% were visited even there were no scheduled examinations. Majority agreed that teacher motivated them to visit the library (41%) but stay in the library by majority was 1-2 hours (71%). Library and information centers have become important channels for disseminating the information available in multiple formats to those who are in need of information. For any library to succeed in implementing knowledge management will require a strong leadership and vision from the top administration, which has positive impact in knowledge sharing and thereby academic excellence.

Objective – To survey middle managers’ beliefs regarding their participation in shared leadership and their libraries’ practices of shared leadership.
 
 Design – Cross-sectional survey.
 
 Setting – Twenty-two academic libraries within four-year public master’s level institutions in the Pacific Northwest of the United States.
 
 Subjects – A total of 115 middle managers were invited to participate; 77 completed the survey for a response rate of 66.9%.
 Methods – Selected middle managers were contacted by email a total of five times and were invited to complete a Web-based survey composed of three sections. The first section contained 10 statements for rating shared leadership within their own institutions, which they were asked to rate on an eight-point Likert scale from 1 (strongly agree) to 7 (strongly disagree), with 8 as an option for no opinion. The second section used the same scale to rate their levels of agreement with conceptual definitions of shared leadership from Jackson’s Framework. Jackson’s Framework consists of four components for ascertaining levels of shared leadership from both managerial and staff perspectives: accountability, equity, partnership and 
 ownership. The third section invited subjects to provide their own definition of shared leadership. A three-part pretest served to validate the survey instrument. Mean scores were calculated for each statement. 
 
 Main Results – In the first section, there was the highest overall level of agreement (1.52) with the statement “I am accountable for the decisions within the scope of my responsibility” followed by “I share information with the senior library administration” (1.71). There was the lowest overall level of agreement (3.65) with the statement that “Ideas presented at all levels of staff in the library are equally considered.” In the second section, respondents’ mean scores for Jackson’s definitions of four concepts of shared leadership were 2.62 for ownership, 2.68 for both partnership and equity, and 2.77 for accountability. In the third section, respondents most often linked their definitions of shared leadership with communication, learning and collaboration.
 
 Conclusion – Examining middle managers’ perceptions of shared leadership may help us understand organizational trends and capacity for leadership within libraries. Future research could examine shared leadership at levels below middle management as well as the relationship between accountability and shared leadership throughout the organization.

Objective – To study methods that support retention of academic librarians.
 
 Design – Exploratory research using an online survey; non-random sample.
 
 Setting – Academic libraries, nearly all located within the U.S. (97.2%). 
 
 Subjects – A total of 895 professional academic librarians.
 
 Methods – The researchers sent an online survey link to professional electronic mail lists and directly to heads of Association of Research Libraries (ARL) member libraries. The 23-item survey was available from February 19, 2007, through March 9, 2007, and contained questions about the professional experience of respondents, their libraries, and their universities. Subjects were asked to identify retention activities that were currently offered at their workplaces (both library-specific and university-wide) and to rate their satisfaction for each available initiative. The list contained fifteen initiatives based on the researchers’ literature review.
 
 Main Results – Almost half (46.3%) of respondents were 50 or older and 7.5% under 30 years old, leaving 46.2% between the ages of 30-50 years old (although this percentage is not explicitly stated in the paper except in a table). Nearly half of the subjects were in the first ten years of their careers. 80.2% had held between one and four professional positions in their careers, and even when length of professional experience was factored out, age had no effect on the number of positions held. Most job turnover within the past three years (3 or fewer open positions) was in public service, while other areas of the library (i.e., technical services, systems, and administration) reported zero open positions. Only 11.3% of respondents noted that their libraries have deliberate, formal retention programs in place. Despite this, there are several library- and university-based initiatives that can be considered to help with retention. The most reported available library-based retention initiative was the provision of funding to attend conferences (86.8%). Librarians also frequently reported flexible schedules, support and funding for professional development and access to leadership programs. University-based retention programs included continuing education funding, new employee orientations, faculty status, and the chance to teach credit-bearing courses. Only 22.2% of subjects reported formal mentoring programs as a retention strategy. Librarians were very or somewhat satisfied with schedule flexibility (79.6%). They were generally satisfied with other initiatives reported. In response to 22 five-point Likert scale descriptions of positive library work environments, subjects most agreed with statements that allowed librarians to have control of their professional duties, that allowed for personal or family obligations, and that supported professional development. Librarians agreed less often regarding statements about salaries, research support, and opportunities for advancement.
 
 Conclusion – Academic librarians are involved in and are benefitting from some library and university-based retention initiatives, even though retention may not be the primary strategic goal.

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to report the training of college librarians, academic and management staff, IT managers and students on how to organise, manage and use a user-friendly library. In Uganda, as in many countries, the problem is that school and/or college libraries are managed by librarians who may have good cataloguing and management skills, but who do not have the pedagogic skills and knowledge of the school curricula that are necessary for librarians to be able to guide and mentor both teachers and students or organise curriculum-related activities or facilitate research. The development of user-friendly libraries contributes in improving education quality through nurturing the interest of students and teachers in literacy activities and active search for knowledge. Under the stewardship of the Belgium Technical Cooperation and the Ministry of Education in Uganda, library stakeholders were trained on how to put users – rather than themselves – in the centre of the library’s operations and introduced to active teaching and learning methodologies and activities with emphasis on getting engaged in transforming spaces, services, outreach to users and collections. Several measures, short and long term were taken to address the gaps limiting the performance of the librarians. Given the disparities in the trainees’ education level and work experience, the training was delivered in seven modules divided into three units for over eight months in 2015. By the end of the training, trainees developed unique library strategic plan, library policies and procedures, capacity to use library systems, physical design and maintenance systems, partnerships, library structure and staff job descriptions. Design/methodology/approach To effectively engage the participants each topic was conducted using active teaching and learning (ATL) methodologies, including: lecture with slides and hands-on practice – each topic was introduced in a lecture form with slides and hands-on exercises. The main goal was to introduce the participants to the concepts discussed, offer opportunities to explore alternative approaches, as well define boundaries for discussion through brainstorming. The question-answer approach kept the participants alert and to start thinking critically on the topic discussed – brainstorming sessions allowed thinking beyond the presentation room, drawing from personal experiences to provide alternatives to anticipated challenges. The goal here was for the participants to provide individual choices and approaches for real life problems; group discussions: case study/ scenario and participant presentations – participants were provided with a scenario and asked to provide alternative approaches that could solve the problem based on their personal experience at their colleges. By the end of the group discussion, participants presented a draft of the deliverable as per the topic under discussion. More so, group discussions were an excellent approach to test participant’s teamwork skills and ability to compromise, as well as respecting team decisions. It was an opportunity to see how librarians will work with the library committees. Group discussions further initiated and cemented the much-needed librarian–academic staff – college management relationship. During the group discussion, librarians, teaching staff, ICT staff and college management staff, specifically the Principals and Deputy Principals interacted freely thus starting and cultivating a new era of work relationship between them. Individual presentation: prior to the workshop, participants were sent instructions to prepare a presentation on a topic. For example, participants were asked to provide their views of what a “user-friendly library” would look like or what would constitute a “user-friendly library”; the college library of HTC-Mulago was asked to talk about their experience working with book reserves, challenges faced and plans they have to address the challenges, while the college librarian from NTC-Kaliro was asked to describe a situation where they were able to assist a patron, the limitations they faced and how they addressed them. Doing so did not only assist to emotionally prepare the participants for the training but also helped to make them start thinking about the training in relation to their libraries and work. Take-home assignment: at the end of each session, participants were given home assignments to not only revise the training material but also prepare for the next day training. Further the take-home assignments provided time for the participants to discuss with their colleagues outside of the training room so as to have a common ground/ understanding on some of the very sensitive issues. Most interesting assignment was when participants were asked to review an article and to make a presentation in relation to their library experiences. Participant reports: participant reports resulted from the take-home assignments and participants were asked to make submission on a given topic. For example, participants were asked to review IFLA section on library management and write a two-page report on how such information provided supported their own work, as well as a participant report came from their own observation after a library visit. Invited talks with library expert: two invited talks by library experts from Consortium of Uganda University Libraries and Uganda Library and Information Science Association with the goal to share their experience, motivate the participants to strive higher and achieve great things for their libraries. Library visitation: there were two library visits conducted on three separate days – International Hospital Kampala (IHK) Library, Makerere University Library and Aga Khan University Hospital Library. Each of these library visits provided unique opportunities for the participants to explore best practices and implement similar practices in their libraries. Visual aids – videos, building plans and still photos: these were visual learning aids to supplement text during the lectures because they carried lot of information while initiating different thoughts best on the participants’ past experience and expertise. The training advocated for the use of ATL methodologies and likewise similar methodologies were used to encourage participants do so in their classrooms. Findings Addressing Key Concerns: Several measures, both long and short term, were taken to address the gaps limiting the performance of the librarians. The measures taken included: selected representative sample of participants including all college stakeholders as discussed above; active teaching and learning methodologies applied in the training and blended in the content of the training materials; initiated and formulated approaches to collaborations, networks and partnerships; visited different libraries to benchmark library practices and encourage future job shadowing opportunities; and encouraged participants to relate freely, understand and value each other’s work to change their mindsets. College librarians were encouraged to ensure library priorities remain on the agenda through advocacy campaigns. Short-term measures: The UFL training was designed as a practical and hands-on training blended with individual and group tasks, discussions, take-home assignments and presentations by participants. This allowed participates to engage with the material and take responsibility for their own work. Further, the training material was prepared with a view that librarians support the academic life of teaching staff and students. Participants were tasked to develop and later fine-tune materials designed to support their work. For example, developing a subject bibliography and posting it on the library website designed using open source tools such as Google website, Wikis, blogs. The developed library manual includes user-friendly policies and procedures referred to as “dos and don’ts in the library” that promote equitable open access to information; drafting book selection memos; new book arrivals lists; subscribing to open access journals; current awareness services and selective dissemination of information service displays and electronic bulletins. Based on their library needs and semester calendar, participants developed action points and timelines to implement tasks in their libraries at the end of each unit training. Librarians were encouraged to share their experiences through library websites, Facebook page, group e-mail/listserv and Instagram; however, they were challenged with intimate internet access. College libraries were rewarded for their extraordinary job. Given their pivotal role in the management and administration of financial and material resources, on top of librarians, the participants in this training were college administrators/ management, teaching and ICT staff, researchers and student leadership. Participants were selected to address the current and future needs of the college library. These are individuals that are perceived to have a great impact towards furthering the college library agenda. The practical nature of this training warranted conducting the workshops from developed but similar library spaces, for example, Aga Khan University Library and Kampala Capital City, Makerere University Library, International Hospital Kampala Library and Uganda Christian University Library. Participants observed orientation sessions, reference desk management and interviews, collection management practices, preservation and conservation, secretarial bureau management, etc. Long-term measures: Changing the mindset of librarians, college administrators and teaching staff is a long-term commitment which continues to demand for innovative interventions. For example: job shadowing allowed college librarian short-term attachments to Makerere University Library, Uganda Christian University Library, Aga Khan Hospital University Library and International Hospital Kampala Library – these libraries were selected because of their comparable practices and size. The mentorship programme lasted between two-three weeks; on-spot supervision and follow-up visits to assess progress with the action plan by the librarians and college administration and college library committee; ensuring that all library documents – library strategic plan, library manual, library organogram, etc are approved by the College Governing Council and are part of the college wide governing documents; and establishing the library committee with a job description for each member – this has strengthened the library most especially as an advocacy tool, planning and budgeting mechanism, awareness channel for library practices, while bringing the library to the agenda – reemphasizing the library’s agenda. To bridge the widened gap between librarians and the rest of the stakeholders, i.e. teaching staff, ICT staff, college administration and students, a college library committee structure and its mandate were established comprising: Library Committee Chairperson – member of the teaching staff; Library Committee Secretary – College Librarian; Student Representative – must be a member of the student Guild with library work experience; and Representative from each college academic department. A library consortium was formed involving all the four project supported colleges to participate in resource sharing practices, shared work practices like shared cataloguing, information literacy training, reference interview and referral services as well a platform for sharing experiences. A library consortium further demanded for automating library functions to facilitate collaboration and shared work. Plans are in place to install Koha integrated library system that will cultivate a strong working relationship between librarians and students, academic staff, college administration and IT managers. This was achieved by ensuring that librarians innovatively implement library practices and skills acquired from the workshop as well as show their relevance to the academic life of the academic staff. Cultivating relationships takes a great deal of time, thus college librarians were coached on: creating inclusive library committees, timely response to user needs, design library programmes that address user needs, keeping with changing technology to suite changing user needs, seeking customer feedback and collecting user statistics to support their requests, strengthening the library’s financial based by starting a secretarial bureau and conducting user surveys to understand users’ information-seeking behaviour. To improve the awareness of new developments in the library world, college librarians were introduced to library networks at national, regional and international levels, as a result they participated in conferences, workshops, seminars at local, regional and international level. For example, for the first time and with funding from Belgium Technical Cooperation, college librarians attended 81st IFLA World Library and Information Congress in South African in 2015. College libraries are now members of the Consortium of Uganda University Libraries and Uganda Library and Information Science Association and have attended meetings of these two very important library organisations in Uganda’s LIS profession. The college librarians have attended meetings and workshops organized by these two organisations. Originality/value At the end of the three units training, participants were able to develop: a strategic plan for their libraries; an organogram with staffing needs and job description matching staff functions; a Library Committee for each library and with a structure unifying all the four project-support Colleges; a library action plan with due dates including deliverables and responsibilities for implementation; workflow plan and organisation of key sections of the library such as reserved and public spaces; furniture and equipment inventory (assets); a library manual and collection development policy; partnerships with KCCA Library and Consortium of Uganda University Libraries; skills to use Koha ILMS for performing library functions including: cataloguing, circulation, acquisitions, serials management, reporting and statistics; skills in searching library databases and information literacy skills; skills in designing simple and intuitive websites using Google Sites tools; and improved working relationship between the stakeholders was visible. To further the user-friendly libraries principle of putting users in the centre of the library’s operations, support ATL methodologies and activities with emphasis on getting engaged in transforming spaces, services, outreach to users and collections the following initiatives are currently implemented in the colleges: getting approval of all library policy documents by College Governing Council, initiating job shadowing opportunities, conducting on-spot supervision, guide libraries to set up college library committees and their job description, design library websites, develop dissemination sessions for all library policies, incorporate user-friendly language in all library documents, initiate income generation activities for libraries, set terms of reference for library staff and staffing as per college organogram, procurement of library tools like DDC and library of congress subject headings (LCSH), encourage attendance to webinars and space planning for the new libraries.

A Review of:
 Meier, J. J. (2016). The future of academic libraries: Conversations with today’s leaders about tomorrow. Portal: Libraries and the Academy, 16(2), 263-288. Retrieved from http://muse.jhu.edu/article/613842
 
 Abstract
 
 Objective – To understand academic library leaders’ decision making methods, priorities, and support of succession planning, as well as to understand the nature, extent, and drivers of organizational change.
 
 Design – Survey and interview. 
 
 Setting – Academic libraries with membership in the Association of American Universities (AAU) in the United States of America and Canada.
 
 Subjects – 62 top administrators of AAU academic libraries.
 
 Methods – Content analysis performed to identify most frequent responses. An initial survey written to align with the Association of Research Libraries (ARL) 2014-2015 salary survey was distributed prior to or during structured in-person interviews to gather information about gender, race/ethnicity, age, time since terminal degree, time in position, temporary or permanent status, and current job title. 7-question interview guides asked about decision processes, strategic goals, perceived impacts of strategic plan and vision, planned changes within the next 3-5 years, use of mentors for organizational change, and succession planning activities. Transcripts were analyzed to identify themes, beginning with a preliminary set of codes that were expanded during analysis to provide clarification.
 
 Main results – 44 top academic library administrators of the 62 contacted (71% response rate) responded to the survey and interview. Compared to the 2010 ARL Survey, respondents were slightly more likely to be female (55%; ARL: 58%) and non-white (5%; ARL: 11%). Approximately 66% of both were aged 60 and older, while slightly fewer were 50-59 (27% compared to 31% for ARL), and almost none were aged 40-49 compared to 7% for the ARL survey. Years of experience averaged 33, slightly less than the reported ARL average of 35. Requested on the survey, but not reported, were time since terminal degree and in position, temporary or permanent status, and current job title.
 
 Hypothesis 1, that most library leaders base decisions on budget concerns rather than upon library and external administration strategic planning, was refuted. Hypothesis 2, that changes to the academic structure are incremental rather than global (e.g., alterations to job titles and responsibilities), was supported by responses. Major organizational changes in the next three to five years were predicted, led by role changes, addition of new positions, and unit consolidation. Most participants agreed that while there are sufficient personnel to replace top level library administrators, there will be a crisis for mid-level positions as retirements occur. A priority focus emerging from interview responses was preparing for next-generation administrators. There was disagreement among respondents about whether a crisis exists in the availability of new leaders to replace those who are retiring.
 
 Conclusion – Decisions are primarily made in collaboration with senior leadership teams, and based on strategic planning and goals as well as university strategic plans in order to effect incremental change as opposed to wholesale structural change.

The purpose of this quantitative study was to determine the preparation methods experienced by academic library deans and which methods they perceived to be most valuable. Rosser, Johnsrud, and Heck (2000, 2003) defined the theoretical constructs of effective academic leadership upon which this study is based. The instrument—a modified version of Greicar's (2009) Professional Preparation of Academic Deans Questionnaire—was administered online. The population was the chief administrators of academic libraries in the United States; there were 749 usable responses for a 30.4% response rate. Respondents were primarily female (61.7%), White non-Hispanic (90.0%), and born in the United States (95.7%), with a mean age of 56.4 (5.9% < 40, 11.0% > 65). The largest minority group was Black, non-Hispanic (3.9%). Many respondents held multiple advanced degrees; 90.0% held an MLS, 45.8% held a subject master's, and 18.8% held a doctorate. The instrument measured academic library deans' perceived value of various preparatory methods (formal and informal mentoring, on the job training, conferences or seminars, advanced degrees beyond the MLS, and training programs). The methods were tested for perceived effectiveness with Rosser, Johnsrud, and Heck's (2000, 2003) theoretical constructs of academic leadership. Each preparation method was measured using eight item-level variables and summed to create a scale. Parametric analyses were used to examine scale-level variables and nonparametric analyses to evaluate item-level variables. On the job training was both the most commonly-experienced method (86.6%) and the most highly-valued (M = 24.97). Mentoring was a particularly important preparation method for female and minority deans. Female deans perceived informal mentoring to be significantly more valuable than did males, t(447) = -2.12, p < .05. Minorities rated formal and informal mentoring significantly higher than did non-minorities, t(114) = 2.73, p < .05; t(441) = 3.05, p < .05. Practical implications and future research are discussed.

Seminal works on leadership, including those in librarianship define a traditional model of interaction between leaders and followers without reference to the information technology-driven environment. In addition, remote leadership indicates a different model from the traditional model, one that is focused on the interaction of leaders and their staff through digital technology. Although leaders still use face-to-face interaction, due to varied work schedules or job responsibilities, they also recognize the need to lead employees remotely. Leadership studies in library literature have not addressed how library leaders use information technology to lead employees remotely, nor have these studies addressed remote leadership and remote employees, except for some articles on telecommuting. As a result, this research was conducted to address this gap, providing an exploratory foundation of emergent patterns of remote leadership with its associated leadership dimensions rooted in personality traits, behaviors, and skills. Quantitative and qualitative data were obtained from a small sample size of academic and public-library leaders in the United States who participated in a Web-based survey designed specifically for this study, limiting generalizations. Factor analysis was the principal methodology used to obtain findings. Its composite factor scores were also used in the t-test and chi-square analyses. This study identifies some emergent patterns of remote leadership in the library and information-science field, exploring whether library leaders use information technology to be effective remote leaders in a technology-driven environment, and whether existing leadership attributes could be identified as part of the remote-leadership model. Because this study's findings indicated that library leaders are not quite the traditional leader but are not fully integrated into remote leadership, it becomes apparent that they would function with a blend of both face-to-face and electronic interactions, due to the nature of library work. Additionally, this research revealed underlying issues and challenges faced by library leaders as they transition from a traditional-leadership model to a blended model of face-to-face and remote leadership. Future research could include increasing the sample size and response rate to conduct factor analysis properly, and conducting longitudinal studies.

Academic libraries contribute to student engagement, student learning, and retention; therefore, the effects of improved library services for students may be positive and long lasting. However, despite successful application of organizational learning (OL), a strategic process for improvement, to enhance services in academic libraries, little is known about OL in libraries of for-profit colleges and universities (FPCUs). The purpose of this sequential explanatory mixed-methods study was to assess and explore the use of OL in libraries at FPCUs. Argyris and Schön's theory of organizational learning grounded this study. Responses to Chen's Processes and Phases of Organizational Learning Questionnaire, completed online by 38 respondents following a recruitment posting submitted to the electronic mailing list of the Association of College & Research Libraries Librarianship in For-Profit Educational Institutions interest group, reflected medium to high levels of OL in the libraries in the study. Multiple regression analysis indicated that the number of students enrolled was negatively related to OL score. Six survey respondent volunteers were interviewed to better understand how library staff members in FPCUs experienced OL. Common themes included external pressures from the FPCUs that made it more difficult for their libraries to implement OL, as well as the importance of communication among library team members. As a result of these findings, a manual about OL strategies for library employees in FPCUs was created. More knowledge about OL and its implications could lead to positive social change as libraries use it to better contribute to student learning and success.

<p>This research project is a comparative study of management of two university libraries (University of the Western Cape and Dhaka University) from two different countries (South Africa and Bangladesh). This research was to identify and document how the functions of management are applied in both libraries.</p> <p><br /> A sample of the two university libraries&rsquo<br>users, librarians, and library staff were taken. The questionnaire, interview, observation and documentary sources of information were major methods of data collection. In order to provide a brief presentation on how the management functions were applied at other university libraries, a description of how some university libraries in the U.K, U.S.A, Eastern countries and Africa are given. The findings of the study revealed that the problem of inadequate financial support is true for both University libraries, and is the major cause amongst other weaknesses. Both libraries still use a large percentage of non-professional staff and the library service is in desperate need of personnel. However, the observed difference between DUL and UWCL in this comparative study was significant. Services offered in both libraries differ in some cases such as: Consortia, Inter library loans, OPAC, CD-search, e-journals and multimedia. These areas still need to be developed at DUL. UWC have the most of these facilities. Although it needs to improve on aspects such as e-journals, access to data-bases and open access on the Internet.</p>

<p> Academic libraries and their parent institutions are experiencing increasing social, technological, economic, and political pressure in the twenty-first century. While the academic library literature contains numerous discussions and case studies illuminating how larger academic libraries are engaging in organizational change and experimentation to respond to those pressures, libraries in smaller academic institutions are underrepresented in those professional discussions.</p><p> This study examines liberal arts college libraries engaged in transformational change. It explores ways academic libraries are aligning their purpose and services with the missions, strategic priorities, and challenges of their parent institutions. Through four case studies, it examines how library directors create change visions, enroll staff and stakeholders in those visions, and the skills, tools, and strategies they use to lead and manage organizational change.</p><p> Data were collected using narrative inquiry, a qualitative methodology. Participants included library directors, provosts, and senior management team members. After analyzing the data, two organizational change theories were applied. The first theory focuses on what was changed&mdash;the antecedents and consequences. The second organizational change theory focuses on how the change was done&mdash;strategies, tools, and actions.</p><p> Data analysis reveals several findings. Directors who employed the greatest range of political intelligence, emotional intelligence, and transformational leadership skills were the most successful in creating lasting, radical organizational change. They were also most likely to align that change with the mission and needs of the colleges they served. Directors who used frame bending rather than frame breaking approaches to envisioning and communicating change were more successful in enrolling both library staff and academic stakeholders in their change strategies and change goals.</p><p> The results of this study contribute to an understanding of how smaller college libraries are leading and managing change. The findings identify potential obstacles to successful change and provide examples of strategies used by other change leaders to mitigate or surmount those obstacles. Those findings may be of value to other academic library change leaders. Finally, this study also identifies change leadership skills and strategies that were effective within the unique environment of academic institutions which have a decentralized environment, distributed power and authority, and a shared allegiance to the organization's history and culture.</p>

The strategic planning process in special libraries and information centers is described, with emphasis given to the importance of planning efforts being tightly aligned with the business goals of the parent organization. Success in executing the strategic plan is strongly dependent on developing and polishing skill sets needed by persons active in the workforce today, while concurrently growing leadership and technical talent to meet future challenges. Following a discussion of general characteristics that distinguish special libraries and information centers from academic and public libraries, key concepts related to the strategic planning process in an organizational context are presented. A case study of the strategic planning efforts at a special library, the Illinois Fire Service Institute Library, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, illustrates the process and benefits gained from following the goals and strategies highlighted in the plan. The authors offer insightful recommendations to those involved in the planning process and suggest future research directions.

This chapter reports on a study of leadership development and succession planning at The University of the West Indies Libraries. The research shows that in the absence of formal succession planning, leadership training takes place in tandem with the staff appraisal and career development process. The annual appraisal and assessment system provides the opportunity for staff who aspire to leadership positions to be guided in their career development and thus be better prepared when vacancies arise. The benefits provided to academic, senior administrative and professional staff—for example, funding for travel and professional activities, special leave for scholarly pursuits and other career development opportunities—are utilised by librarians to advance their careers. The chapter highlights the importance of strict adherence by library administration to the annual appraisal and assessment processes and staff use of organisational support for career development as integral components in leadership development and succession planning and implementation.

An investigative study was performed to better understand the practical influence of the American Library Association's Code of Ethics on the workplace behaviors and decisions of academic librarians. Participants in this investigative study were credentialed academic librarians working in North American college and university libraries, and this chapter focuses on academic librarians who hold leadership positions in management and administration. Study results show no significant results between COE familiarity and effects on ethical behaviors in the workplace; however, these results have implications for the debate surrounding enforcement of the COE and offer some insight into the links between the challenges of succession planning, leadership, and ethical behaviors in academic library environments.

This chapter summarizes the application of new technologies to promote development and innovation in academic libraries in China. It is composed of four parts: 1) an introduction to the system platforms used to realize the new services; 2) an introduction to the progress made in constructing digital library (D-Lib) systems in recent years; 3) a summary showing how library space management and self-service burgeoned in recent years, such as with entrance guard and access systems, self-help circulation systems, RFID application, self-help printing and payment services, and library space and facility management; and 4) an example of the application of mobile technologies, including SMS (short message service), mobile library websites, etc., in libraries. Through analyzing the wide range of the application of information technology in library resources management, user services, and the library business process, the authors reveal that libraries have been advancing and how they keep pursuing innovative development to meet user demands in the new information environment.

The purpose of this chapter is to present a systematic and comprehensive review of the assessment and evaluation efforts of academic libraries in China. Generally, it is believed that theoretical research on academic library assessment and evaluation spurs corresponding practice. Holistic activities related to this include the integration of undergraduate teaching level evaluation and the promulgation of the System of Indicators of Academic Library Evaluation. These activities propel pertinent work in a general way, yet to some extent they lack operability. Specific standards and practice of assessment and evaluation of collections, service quality, and digital libraries, as well as the collection of assessment statistics, indicate that academic library evaluation focuses on the association/consortium, standardization, and the user. Problems in academic library assessment and evaluation in China at this stage include the absence of a standard evaluation system, an unrealistic assessor/evaluator structure, and an inappropriate preponderance of input indicators over output.

The purpose of this research is to examine students' information-seeking intention regarding academic digital library services guiding by the Theory of Reasoned Action (TRA) and Theory of Planned Behaviour (TPB). Data was collected among students in a public higher learning institution in Federal Territory of Labuan Malaysia. The empirical result of the hierarchical regression had confirmed that students' intention to seek for information in digital library was influenced mainly by their attitude, implying that, in predicting the information-seeking intention in an academic digital library with TPB was much better than TRA. The findings of the research provide broader insights for the academic digital libraries to be more aware of the important factors that influence library users in seeking for information and fulfil their requirement. A new motion can be developed by using the result of this research, which improve the knowledge from previous studies via the assessment from TPB.

If there is one thing all library administrators and managers can be sure of, it is that our space, our collections, our systems and our leadership will be impacted by change. Managing that change is critical if managers, directors, deans in our libraries will be able to continue to meet the needs of our communities with different tools and resources. This lively discussion will feature brief presentations about how libraries at Carnegie Mellon University and at Kresge Business Administration Library (University of Michigan) have changed in recent history. The presenters will include what worked well and what worked not as well at the two institutions. They will focus on two areas. First, Denise Novak will explore change through five key aspects: nature, process, role, culture and staff participation of change. Second, Corey Seeman will explore change as defined by six key terms: inevitability, rapidity, flexibility, hospitality, accountability, and empathy. Participants at the meeting will be invited to share how change is managed at their institutions and what issues might be present or on the horizon.

How can the library be best positioned to continue enabling student and institutional success? The Community College Academic and Student Support Ecosystem research initiative seeks to examine how student-facing service departments—including academic libraries—are organized, funded, and staffed at community and technical colleges across the country. In February 2021, we surveyed 321 community college library directors to provide the community with a snapshot of current service provision, leadership perspectives on the impact of COVID-19, and challenges faced in making decisions and navigating change.