5 - Librarians as Leaders

Summary

Leadership in school libraries can involve leading a team of other library workers or leading a team of other members of the wider school community. In this chapter we consider both scenarios. Leaders in either situation will deal with similar challenges.

Harland (2019) suggests that school librarian leadership goes beyond the traditional role of managing a library service in that it requires integration within the school community and culture, flexibility in scheduling, and access to educational technology. She argues that our cross-curricular role and expertise in information resources and pedagogy make us well positioned to have leadership roles. Our leadership potential is not solely dependent on specific skills or tools acquired in our professional training but is rooted in interpersonal and intrapersonal skills, working with others, teaching, learning and building relationships. Thus we are not separate from the rest of the school but should understand and be a part of the school's culture. We should align our work with the values and needs of the school community to succeed as leaders. While we might take risks, it is important to share our vulnerability. Leadership is complex and contextual, and views on leadership, available supports and the ever-changing climate in which we operate vary in different schools.

There is very little research around the topic of school librarian leadership and most school library leaders base their approach to their work on the wealth of theories and models for leadership roles within education, mostly directed at the SLT, including head teachers. In 2016, Everhart and Johnston (2016) proposed a model to illustrate what school librarian leadership might look like in practice. They concluded: ‘At the core of school librarian leadership are the concepts of confidence, communication, and relationships.’

Earlier research by Johnston (2012) suggested that a key to opening the door to being recognised as a leader was to be an advocate and expert in the rapidly changing world of technology. Everhart and Johnston's 2016 model builds on this theory, suggesting that technology is an enabler for leadership. Other identified enablers were intellectual rather than technical competencies such as willingness and ability to engage in a leadership role and assume responsibilities, beliefs, values, desire to learn and grow professionally, and the confidence to support other educators in leadership endeavours.