So You Want to Be an Academic Library Director

Whether you're a new academic library director or a goal-minded manager, you can take concrete steps to gain and strengthen the leadership skills necessary for the job. That's the empowering message of this new collection which offers critical reflection to illuminate the path ahead. Featuring contributions from seasoned veterans sharing several careers' worth of lessons learned, this book

• explores key facets of beginning leadership such as surviving the first year, the art of asking, and becoming a supervisor;
• deals with strategic planning, team-building, shared governance, forming and maintaining important relationships, community outreach, and other crucial skills;
• discusses safety, personnel-related legal issues, building a new library, managing change, and other potentially stressful situations; and
• includes a chapter on cultural diversity programming.

This work offers a starting point from which academic library directors and aspirants can learn about various leadership skills and then plan their own professional development accordingly.