The Road to Effective Leadership

Library leadership is one of the much-discussed subjects in library and information science. Yet, many librarians tend to shy away from using the word “leadership” and the authors wondered why. It seemed peculiar that librarians tend not to associate themselves with the context of leaders or leadership. Whether you are a driven librarian or an ambitious young librarian, or you are an ambitious and driven person, library leadership is a rather remote subject for most librarians and information professionals. Why is that the case? This paper will explore the world of library leaders and leadership by deconstructing the myths of leadership, examining whether there is a difference between a leader and a library leader, and guiding you to become a leader through seven stages of leadership development. One of our professional societies, Library Administration and Management Association (LAMA) changed in 2008 to the Library Leadership and Management Association [LLAMA] in recognition of the growing importance of the issues of leadership and librarians. The LLAMA Annual Report (2008–2009) reported that the name change also presented an implicit challenge to LLAMA: “leadership” needs to move to the forefront of its activities, and resources need to be allocated to reflect and support this shift. Research has shown that millennials and new librarians have not aspired to become leaders. This paper is directed at early career librarians who are wondering about becoming a library leader. We assume that you are curious about leadership and someday you want to be a leader, if you are not one already. The goal is to offer encouragement and guidance to young or newly minted librarians and offer much needed food for thought. The current library leaders who want to create a culture of entrepreneurship and nurture future library leaders are encouraged to join the session to share their views on leadership