Designing and evaluating library leadership programs: improving performance and effectiveness

Abstract

Abstract It has become accepted wisdom that there is a shortage of leaders in the library profession. A number of leader and leadership development programs have emerged in Australia, Canada and the United States that attract interested participants, yet what is the core purpose of these programs? Do they work? Review of leadership programs reveals that systematic and ongoing evaluation is not only missing as a key factor for determining effectiveness but evaluation is challenging at best, as few programs have stated goals and objectives that enable evaluation. This paper reviews current research literature of leadership development programs in Business and in Library and Information Science, including program foundations, characteristics unique to librarianship and program evaluation, to determine if there are key indicators for successful programs and their evaluation. The resulting findings may guide the revision of current programs and lead to the development of new programs that ensure that current gaps in the pool of emergent leaders are bridged, in part, by improved leadership programs and institutes.