“Next Gen”: Leadership in the 21st Century!

Objectives: A recent article by Crystal Goldman (2020, Journal of Library Administration, 60:1) describes a crisis in librarianship caused by a “high number of upper and middle management positions opening in the past five years and an underqualified applicant pool available to fill those positions.” Health sciences libraries need new and diverse candidates to fill leadership roles. This study aims to answer two questions: (1) What would encourage someone to consider leadership as a path for their career? and (2) What skills, training, experience, and leadership styles are required to lead libraries of the 21st century in the most turbulent times?

Methods: In January 2023, academic health sciences librarians in the United States were invited to participate in an anonymous online survey about potential barriers to considering leadership as a viable career path. The survey was created by the authors using Qualtrics, pre-tested with colleagues at the authors’ institutions, and delivered using a link embedded in an email using email listerservs through the Medical Library Association (MEDLIB-L), the Association of Academic Health Sciences Libraries (AAHSL-ALL), and the Association of College and Research Libraries Health Sciences Interest Group (ACRL-HSIG). The survey was based on research conducted in 2013 and presented at the American Library Association national conference that year. Survey responses were analyzed using Survey Monkey and Excel. Answers to open ended questions were categorized into broad topics for analysis. This study reflects an update to the previous study to take into account current conditions.

Results: Based on the earlier research conducted in 2013, we expect that survey respondents will identify barriers related to lack of skills, the need for mentorship and succession planning initiatives, adequate financial support, effective training programs, and a desire to gain experience needed for leadership. What is less known is the perception of the kinds of skills needed for leadership and how institutions, professional organizations, and library school curricula are identifying and preparing librarians, particularly librarians from diverse backgrounds, for a career that includes a formal leadership position.

Conclusions: The aims of this study are to establish new mechanisms to attract librarians to leadership in health sciences libraries while increasing the diversity of potential leaders and to influence skills taught in leadership programs. It will establish ways to heighten the desire among librarians to gain experience and skills to be ready for leadership roles. It will examine what is already in place as lessons to enable the next generation leadership to smoothly transition into these roles and eagerly take health sciences libraries into the future. This information is important because the profession needs to proactively put in place strategies that attract a diverse pool of talent which is ready and prepared for future leadership in the 21st century.