these mindsets, showing how library leaders think and shape their libraries, tackling the big questions such as diversity, economic re-generation, collaboration and with a longer timeframe – future proofing. Listening to and involving staff, and customers is central to a leaders’ thinking. Leadership is not always about authority however…and the book has many different examples of leading using expertise, role development and a sprinkling of theory. Management on the other hand is about implementing the strategy well. Deploying resources, evaluating impact to feed into continuous improvement. Leaders are often managers too.
Both leaders and mangers need compas-
sion, as all is lost if people are not the focus. We expect that some of our leaders will not have had some formal leadership training, but will have learned on the job and with the help of other senior colleagues. That said, there are so many opportuni- ties for networking with others, especially during these digital times, training there- fore will be ongoing and lifelong and take different forms.
In academic libraries there are opportuni- ties to access Top Management Programmes, to develop skills with other leaders outside libraries and this is very valuable. However, we are aware that we could do more cross-sector to share leadership experiences.
Information Professional: Has tech- nology changed leadership requirements, or is it just another area that leaders have to contend with?
Margaret Weaver: Enabling technol- ogies have been available for a long time and libraries have been at the forefront of developments indicating leadership has definitely embraced technology. Leaders (and this was apparent during Covid), have the skills to envisage different ways of utilising technology, though some may not have the skills themselves; they do how- ever ensure that these skills are embedded within their teams.
Increasingly however the pace of tech- nical change and choice in technology (social media, datafication, artificial intel- ligence etc) means leaders have to engage with technology personally, and this requires specific engagement, training and support, not least training in present-
20 INFORMATION PROFESSIONAL DIGITAL
ing oneself and one’s leadership digitally… and boldly!
Leo Appleton: Library leaders need to be fully aware of technological and digital innovation, and this has always been the case. Library leaders are skilled at managing both digital and physical services, and gen- erally speaking this had positioned libraries well in order to deal and respond to the challenges that the 2020 Covid pandemic has presented. Shifting and pivoting ser- vices to a wholly digital environment was quickly achieved across all library sectors, as libraries have been operating in such environments for decades. We felt that librarians and libraries were often leading the way within their institutions in respect of digital enablement and leading the digi- tal delivery of the parent organisation. A great example of bold leadership in action.
Information Professional: Who is the book aimed at?
l Information Practitioners l Students of information and library science
l Practising library and information professionals in a range of libraries, pub- lic and private sector: health, public and academic libraries
l Policy makers in services where Libraries are a component (public and commercial)
l Private Universities and educational establishments
l IT professionals with an information management element to their work. IP
l Bold Minds is available from Facet Publishing now at
https://bit.ly/3aecAr5.
References
1 Noun – a person who expresses a conten- tious opinion in order to provoke debate or test the strength of the opposing arguments. https://
languages.oup.com/google-dictionary-en/
2 “A wicked problem has innumerable causes, is tough to describe, and doesn’t have a right answer” Strategy as a Wicked Problem, https://
hbr.org/2008/05/strategy-as-a-wicked-problem by Camillus, J. C. (2018) Harvard Business Review, 86, p.98-101.
December 2020
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