Library directors under cross‐pressure between new public management and value‐based management

Abstract

Presents some of the main results from a comprehensive survey conducted in 2001 into leadership and management in Danish libraries. The survey focused on leadership roles, perception of future challenges, perception of educational needs and the employment of different leadership tools. The main theme for the paper is an analysis of the data in relation to new public management and value‐based management. The paper starts with a theoretical framework that emphasises the powers that create a certain sort of cross‐pressure. The broad concepts of new public management and value‐based management are outlined. The paper analyses the leaders’ knowledge of leadership tools, classified according to their place in either new public management or value‐based management. The paper also analyses the perception of future leadership roles. It was found that library leaders tend to perceive future roles as being greatly oriented towards people and towards values and see themselves as a kind of catalyst for change.