july04b.indd


C o l l e g e  &  R e s e a r c h  L i b r a r i e s  

New
leadership
for
libraries



Who
has
the
right
stuff?


by Eric C. Shoaf 

How does one write about leadership when so much has been written al­
ready? A quick search of Library Literature 
Online finds 561 articles on leadership over 
the past 14 years, Social Science Abstracts 
returns 6,201, and Wilson Business Abstracts 
produces a staggering 11,533 hits under a 
keyword search for “leadership.” 

These online databases cover less than 20 
years, but the topic of leadership has certainly 
been debated for much longer. After all, 
Machiavelli’s The Prince is, for all practical 
purposes, a leadership handbook and it was 
written nearly 500 years ago.1 It’s fair to say 
that leadership has been discussed for a very 
long time in business and politics, as well as 
librarianship. 

Library administrators are concerned 
with leadership because it is an integral part 
of library management. Faced with falling 
budgets, rapid technological change, an ag­
ing workforce, outdated organization charts 
and competition for our constituencies, 
leadership is more important in libraries than 
ever. Alarm bells about changing leadership 
needs were sounded in the literature nearly 
a decade ago,2 but it is not clear anyone was 
listening. 

The nature and role of library administra­
tors has changed drastically over the past 

ten years. Organizations are restructuring, 
self­managed groups are performing more 
of the work, e­mail has replaced the printed 
memo in communication, and administrators 
are finding they no longer head hierarchies as 
organizations become flatter. Through these 
changes, a new library leader is emerging. 
One with different talents and a more sup­
portive mission. The need for a knowledge 
of budgeting, personnel management, fund 
raising, and other core activities remains, but 
is supplemented with an understanding of the 
special skills that leading in the new library 
organization requires. 

Tom Wolfe, in his study of astronauts, 
called that special combination of knowl­
edge, guts, fearlessness, determination, and 
perhaps a touch of bravado The Right Stuff.3 

With apologies to Wolfe, the following are 
attributes which might constitute the new 
library leader’s right stuff. 

Manages change 
Librarians sometimes complain about the 
rapid technological changes we have had 
to confront over the past decade­and­a­half, 
but it isn’t as though we’re alone. Massive 
changes have swept through the healthcare, 
telecommunications, insurance, and adver­
tising professions, among others. For most 

About the author 

Eric C. Shoaf is leader of preservation services at Brown University Library, e-mail: eric_shoaf@brown.edu 

© 2004 Eric C. Shoaf 

C&RL News July/August 2004 / 363 

mailto:eric_shoaf@brown.edu


professions wracked by technological 
change, the past has been largely displaced. 
But the new library leader knows that 
change is good, understands it must be 
managed, and looks outside the profession 
for inspiration. 

For example, an approach to behavioral 
change developed to help smokers quit the 
habit is quite useful in preparing staff for 
technological or organizational change,4 yet 
has been largely ignored in the library world. 
The emphasis in this approach is on mentally 
preparing for change, then taking action, and 
finally maintenance. Interestingly, most of 
the focus is actually in the preparation stages 
rather than action. The new library leader 
must be committed to helping staff through 
the change process and as this involves much 
mental preparation, it requires a different set 
of leadership skills. It’s part of the new library 
leader’s right stuff. 

Peter Drucker writes that we must become 
“change leaders” who shepherd institutions 
through tumultuous times by balancing 
change with continuity.5 Library staff need 
continuity, and we have continuity with 
books and traditional services. New services 
haven’t displaced the older building blocks of 
our profession as yet. But simple continuity 
cannot dispel the concern that remains. 

The new library leader manages rather 
than imposes change on staff. He or she leads 
the staff through change with a combination 
of pliable adaptability, wisdom, and compas­
sion. The leader with the right stuff under­
stands that we must not only understand the 
nature of continuous change, but also be able 
to change with change. 

Articulates a vision 
Library leaders need a vision of the future. 
But more than that, they must be able to 
clearly communicate that vision to staff. 
Developing a vision is, in some ways, the 
easier part, though it requires a thorough 
knowledge of the larger mission of libraries 
and their place in the community or academic 
institution. Articulating and communicating 
that vision is at once more difficult and more 
important. More difficult because for others 
to understand and share the leader’s vision, 
they must be able to internalize it and make 
it their own. This means that persuasion and 
an ability to impart beliefs and conviction is 

a necessary component of the new library 
leader’s right stuff, because for the leader’s 
vision to be realized, library staff must be 
willing to move toward it with certainty and 
assurance—certainty that it is the correct 
path and assurance that it will help achieve 
the library’s goals. 

Knows how to coach 
There is some evidence that library leaders 
are learning how to coach. At the very least, 
they are learning to be facilitators and team 
players. But is that part of coaching? Tom 
Goldsmith is an executive coach who was 
profiled in the New Yorker magazine.6 He 
discovered that one of the two main reasons 
people leave their jobs is that they hate their 
boss. One graduate­level course in library 
management does not a good boss make, 
yet this is sometimes the only formal training 
that library leaders get. John Lubans recently 
noted that the bad boss is alive and well 
in librarianship,7 but even good bosses may 
not make good coaches. 

Facilitating skills are part of the repertoire 
of the new library leader with the right stuff, 
and being a team player is important, as well. 
But coaching is more about instructing or 
imparting wisdom, and later prompting and 
helping others get the work done. It is about 
communicating and expediting rather than 
command and control; about recognizing 
talent and putting it to work where needed. 
In new library organizational structures, mid­ 
and upper­level managers have inherited the 
role of coach without asking for it. Coaching 
is a skill that can be acquired through training. 
The library leader with the right stuff seeks 
opportunities to learn. 

Lives the service ethic 
Libraries have always been about service. 
Why is it, then, that our user surveys 
so often downgrade the level of service 
received? Perhaps it’s time to re­emphasize 
positive customer interaction at the front­
line service desks. Lots of libraries claim to 
have become more user focused, but more 
must be done. 

Many senior library leaders got their start 
in the trenches shelving books, staffi ng the 
reserve desk, or pasting in date­due slips. But 
when was the last time they did any of those 
tasks? The library leader is often far from the 

364 / C&RL News July/August 2004 



front lines, yet makes decisions daily that di­
rectly affect front­line workers. There is much 
to be gained from standing in the shoes and 
getting inside the heads of employees trying 
to satisfy demanding customers.8 

An old corporate trick is for a CEO to call 
on branches of his business while traveling. 
He doesn’t identify himself but asks questions 
or tries to get a problem solved. Have you 
called your library’s circulation desk to make 
inquiries? The results might surprise (or ap­
pall) you. The new library leader understands 
that a commitment to service must be a value 
held and practiced by everyone on the staff. 
It’s part of the right stuff. 

Puts people fi rst 
Planning often seems to be a library leader’s 
raison d’etre, but a better approach is people 
first, strategy second.9 Strategic planning 
reports usually discuss organizational devel­
opment, but frequently use arcane language 
that refer to staff in abstract terms. For the 
library leader, a people strategy is most 
important and should be a primary focus. It’s 
the staff that answers reference questions, 
checks out materials, creates fi nding aids, 
processes new acquisitions, and reshelves 
the books. 

Strategic plans chart a course for the or­
ganization, but they don’t actually do any of 
the work. The library leader with the right 
stuff can’t be sidetracked by strategic planning 
or implementation. While these are vitally 
important in managing the library, they are 
only working tools. The staff gives the library 
its character, and is the “face” that the public 
sees. If that isn’t enough, recall that personnel 
costs represent the largest item in the budget 
by far. Finally, library staff, especially those 
who deal with the public, directly refl ect how 
the library is managed. 

The traditional management role of com­
mand and control is changing and some li­
braries are experimenting with organizational 
structures that are flatter and place more 
emphasis on collaborative administration. As 
the library makes changes, the new library 
leader with the right stuff asks staff to help 
rather than impose change, and a leader lis­
tens to the staff’s ideas. Staff feedback makes 
for better informed decisions. After all, front­
line staff is the first defense against declining 
customer satisfaction. Studies show that if the 

library staff is unhappy, then they won’t be 
able to give good service.10 The library leader 
with the right stuff knows the library is all 
about the people who work there. 

Creates a culture of leadership 
The library leader not only has to have 
the right stuff, he or she needs to be able 
to build these traits into library staff, as 
well. This isn’t about delegating but rather 
is something altogether different. Ruth 
Simmons, president of Brown University, 
says “A culture of leadership acknowledges 
the power of the individual within the 
organization. [W]e do not dictate so heavily 
to individuals the nature of their daily work. 
Instead, we construct an environment in 
which individuals at every level are free to 
some degree of interpretation and to some 
setting of standards and to some individuality 
of thought and practice.”11 

Does this finally mean goodbye to com­
mand and control? Not necessarily. But it 
does put the emphasis in a different place. If 
the library leader can’t be on the front lines, 
who better to have there than staff operating 
in an environment of leadership, where they 
are free to interpret and respond to events 
rather than follow the rulebook. 

Top­notch customer service is often about 
doing what it takes, at a specific time and 
place, to meet and exceed the customer’s 
expectations. This means staff who not only 
think outside the box, but also step outside 
the box in the name of service. In a culture 
of leadership, staff are empowered to take the 
extra steps and serve the customer. 

Making the transition to the culture of 
leadership is perhaps the biggest obstacle 
for library leaders with the right stuff. They 
must trust in the instinct of staff to allow the 
degree of interpretation and the individual­
ity of thought and practice that Simmons 
identifies. A culture of leadership can help 
staff to develop creative thinking and risk­
taking actions, but requires a commitment 
from the top. 

In writing about the government’s plan­
ning process for the first Gulf War, Bob 
Woodward notes that “Mistakes were practi­
cally encouraged. Learning through failure 
became the unspoken motto.”12 

(continued on page 375) 

C&RL News July/August 2004 / 365 

http:service.10


invitations to join. As of June 2004, more 
than 50 individuals chose to join the Blended 
Librarians Forum. Librarians interested in par­
ticipating should contact either of the authors 
for additional information. 

Conclusion 
The blended librarian is an idea in its infancy. 
We have yet to fully understand its entire 
ramification or the cascading consequences 
it may produce, either positive or negative. 
We believe we would be remiss if we failed 
to admit we are uncertain about its future 
growth as a concept that has meaning for 
all academic librarians. But we do believe 
that the time is ripe for action that lays the 
groundwork for deeper integration of our 
profession into the mainstream functions of 

higher education. We encourage all of our 
colleagues to work with us in shaping a 
learning community that will further defi ne 
who the blended librarian is, and what he 
or she will ultimately contribute to his or her 
institution of higher education. 

Notes 
1. Outsell Inc. Outlook 2004: Issues In 

The Information Marketplace report dated 
December 19, 2003, www.outsellinc.com/sub­
scribe/freebriefsOutlook.htm. 

2. W. Lee Hisle, “Top issues facing academic 
libraries: A report of the Focus on the Future Task 
Force,” 63 C&RL News, no. 10, (November 2002): 
714–715, 730. Also available at www.ala.org/ala/acrl 
/acrlpubs/crlnews/backissues2002/novmonth 
/topissuesfacing.htm. 

(New leadership...” continued from page 
365) 
A look at library management today shows 
that, unfortunately, most of us are not there 
yet. Our institutions are built on fairly rigid 
traditions and librarianship seems to attract 
the risk­averse. However, library leaders 
with the right stuff can and will shake off 
those old notions to create a culture of lead­
ership which allows workers more control 
of their environment, creates a feedback 
mechanism from the front line, and helps 
ensure a more satisfied and productive staff. 
This in turn can lead to higher customer 
satisfaction. 

The right stuff? 
Some of our current library leaders have the 
right stuff. Middle managers, many of whom 
will become the library leaders of tomorrow, 
are developing those skills now. Much of 
their learning happens as organizations 
change, but much is also dependent on the 
willingness of emerging leaders to adopt a 
new leadership ethos. The attributes listed 
above, the right stuff for library leaders, are 
necessary skills for success in the evolving 
library organization. 

Better managed libraries make libraries 
nicer places to work and provide better 
service to user constituencies. The new li­
brary leader with the right stuff will propel 
libraries into an uncertain future with grace 
and aplomb. 

Notes 
1. Machiavelli, The Prince, ed. Quentin 

Skinner and Russell Price (Cambridge Uni­
versity Press, 1988). 

2. Merrily Taylor, “Getting It All Together: 
Leadership Requirements for the Future of 
Information Services” Journal of Library Ad­
ministration 20, no. 3/4: 9–24. 

3. Tom Wolfe, The Right Stuff  (Ferrar 
Straus & Giroux, 1979). 

4. James Prochaska, et al., Changing 
for Good (William Morrow and Company, 
1994). 

5. Peter Drucker, “Change Leaders,” Inc. 
(June 1999): 65–72. 

6. Larissa MacFarquhar, “The Better Boss” 
New Yorker (April 22 & 29, 2002): 114–22. 

7. John Lubans, “She Took Everything but 
the Blame: The Bad Boss is Back” Library 
Administration and Management 16, no. 3 
(Summer 2002): 156–58. 

8. Paul Hemp, “My Week as a Room­
Service Waiter at the Ritz” Harvard Business 
Review 80, no. 6 (June 2002):50–57. 

9. Ram Charan, “Why CEOs Fail” Fortune 
(June 21, 1999): 69–78. 

10. Elizabeth Hawk and Garrett Sheridan, 
“The Right Staff” Management Review 88, no. 
6 (June 1999): 43–48. 

11. Ruth Simmons, “Every Intellect is an 
Important One” George Street Journal 26, no. 
1 (August 31–September 6, 2001): 1–2. 

12. Bob Woodward, The Commanders 
(Simon & Schuster, 1991). 

C&RL News July/August 2004 / 375 

www.ala.org/ala/acrl
www.outsellinc.com/sub