ACRL College & Research Libraries News

Association of College & Research Libraries

Every Librarian a Leader: Participating in the larger academic community

By Jean A. Major

Observations on the recent conference

ACRL’s 1996 conference program series, “Every Librarian a Leader,” was very useful in stimulating academic librarians’ thoughts about leadership skills and in building our ex- pectations of campus citizenship. By including and discussing a wide variety of leadership ac- tivities, the program planners communicated effectively that “leaders” bring a range of dif- fering skills to bear on situations and that all librarians, rank-and-file as well as managers, have the potential to participate effectively in campuswide life by employing their personal set of leadership skills.

Seeking prominence

As one who thinks about leadership, but also about empowerment and visibility for all my colleagues, the program stimulated me to consider other elements needed to enhance “be- yond-library-walls” librarianship. My best advice to those librarians seeking prominence in the larger academic community is contained in the following points:

• Believe in the importance of your area of specialization within the discipline of librarianship, and the contribution which it can make to the core business of the college or university. Librarians can earn desired recognition and exert influence within their campus communities through the professional practice of their specialty. Besides doing it expertly, however, you must be convinced that it is integral to the university’s mission and that your role requires reaching out to the wider community to promote it.

• Develop a real understanding of the instructional faculty, what they do, how they work, what they value—and what they disdain. The ability of librarians to appreciate the typical faculty perspective and to identify the ways in which that perspective differs from a librarian’s typical perspective must be understood for your campus citizenship to be effective.

• Have confidence in your personal skills and expertise in the mechanics of group process. Group work in committees and task forces is an arena in which many librarians possess superior skills and significant experience. To transfer these skills outside the library, librarians must develop an understanding of the conventions of campus committees, the political importance of certain kinds of activities and decisions to the self-governing system, and a sense of intelligent questions and comments. You also must be able to contribute your particular expertise assertively and effectively.

Articulating the message

To advance the standing of academic librarians, two “content” issues must be added to the processes and attitudes that were highlighted in the convention programs and in my previous comments. We must equip ourselves to speak effectively on two points:

• Become effective at articulating the library’s collective identity and its long-term goals and objectives—what we are about, where we are going.

• Be prepared to identify the unique information management expertise which we can offer as librarians to projects and partnerships, and be ready yourself to contribute that expertise.

Larger campus roles

The professional environment within a library should stimulate and support librarians who seek larger campuswide roles. Experienced librarians can and should make major contributions by sharing information about techniques to enhance campus roles, modeling effective behavior, and creating or sharing opportunities with their junior colleagues. Newcomers must seek out these kinds of help and support to develop campus citizenship and extend the library’s influence. The changing climate in higher education calls for this level of assertiveness from librarians to claim the important roles we believe should be ours. ■

Jean A. Major is university librarian at Old Dominion University; e-mail: jam1OOf@sbakespeare.lib.odu.edu