Women library professionals are greatly underrepresented in key leadership positions, especially in the developing countries. This study explored the women academic library leadership in Pakistan and investigated the major challenges faced by women leaders during their ascending to the top, the key indicator of their success, as well as the…

This article seeks to understand the current state of the field of special collections library administration in the United States. Using a dataset gathered through publicly available information about special collections directors from the Association of Research Libraries (ARL), Independent Research Libraries Association (IRLA), and the Oberlin…

This paper presents the results of thirty-seven interviews of senior library leaders at American Association of University (AAU) institutions conducted in Spring 2023. The author replicated a 2016 study from "portal," revealing an increased focus on strategic plan-based decision-making along with new priorities of open scholarship and…

This article examines racism and accountability practices within academic libraries from the perspective of academic library administrators, with attention to differences between BIPOC and White academic library administrators. The quantitative data collected via an online survey show White academic library administrators are more likely to…

This is the first qualitative phenomenological study to investigate the state of leadership in Saudi libraries. Data were collected through in-depth interviews with 14 library leaders or section heads in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. Library leadership was found to be strongly associated with management skills, visionary thinking, teamwork, and…

In the summer of 2010, two researchers interviewed twenty-three library administrators of comparable academic libraries at American universities for their views of the value of research in academic libraries. The interview questions focused on the administrators' perceived value of academic librarians' research, incentives given to academic…

This report on the process by which a university librarian is selected is based on interviews with key participants in searches for library directors at five medium to large universities, each of which had selected a new university librarian within the two years prior to the survey. It was found that the five universities--one private, one…

Compared with Association of College and Research Libraries' (ACRL) members, Council of Library Resources' Senior Fellows were three times as active professionally, held three times as many professional society leadership positions, moved twice as often. Males and females presented similar profiles as Senior Fellows, distinctly different profiles…

Findings of survey examining career progression of academic library administrators suggest that two career progression patterns have existed in academic librarianship: the first required acquisition of professional credentials and geographic relocations (typical of males); the second consisted of internal promotions in one institution (typical of…

This examination of the managerial profiles of 354 academic library directors indicates that directors are active primarily in management roles within their libraries, although significant variations exist among directors at doctoral, comprehensive, baccalaureate, and two-year institutions. Work contacts and the importance of human, conceptual,…

This study determines the current length of service among library directors at Association of Research Libraries (ARL) and non-ARL libraries and compares findings with similar investigations completed in early 1970s. Responses on gender, ethnic background, position titles, internal promotion, professional experience, degrees, and retirement and…

This preliminary report describes a project designed to formulate a competency model for research library managers as suggested input for job descriptions, recruitment and interviewing techniques, training, and curriculum review in the graduate professional programs. The objectives of the project are to identify the requisite managerial…

Discusses attributes of library leaders that are based on a study of library leaders from academic, public, and school libraries; library school deans; and national library association executives. Four recurring characteristics are highlighted: intensity; communication and listening skills; consistency and the ability to develop trust; and…