The LITA Leadership Guide

Book excerpt: The LITA Leadership Guide from the American Library Association division charged with information technology brings together three important professional development topics -- leadership, entrepreneurship, and technology -- in one volume, uniting theory, practice, and case studies from experienced colleagues in the field. Topics include: cultivating creativity, career pivots, forecasting and planning for change, keeping tech and leadership skills ahead of the curve, and incorporating lessons and knowledge from across sectors. Additional concepts include: professional development, evaluating risk, overcoming barriers to innovation, and seeding success in your career and organization. The book will help librarians at every level of the career ladder and will supplement leadership and skill-based training workshops. Library leadership teams interested in the development of their staff as a means of improving their organizational performance will find this book to provide context for growth, training, and collaboration. This book provides big-picture concepts that affect the many stages of a librarian’s career: •“Librarian as Leader”, • “Librarian as Entrepreneur”, and •“Librarian as Technologist” and thus is suitable for staff development, discussion groups, or courses. This LITA Guide will help librarians understand how to chart their career development across these three foundational platforms, and become familiar with how peers have successfully created positive change for themselves, and their libraries, as leaders, entrepreneurs, and technologists