Experiences of Academic Librarians Serving as Interim Library Leaders

Abstract

Using a mixed-methods approach, the researchers explored the experiences of 108 academic librarians who served as interim library leaders at U.S. institutions of higher education between 2012 and 2017. Statistical analysis showed no associations between gender, type of institution, or degree-granting level with the duration of interim service or whether a respondent applied for or was hired as the permanent leader. The authors provide recommendations for future interim library leaders and the university executives who appoint them. Serving as an interim library leader can be a once-in-a lifetime opportunity well worth the experience.

Outside Our Wheelhouse: Reflections from Technical Librarians Serving as Interim Public Services Managers

“…Although the challenges of serving as interim managers were considerable, so were the rewards. As others have noted, we found that the financial rewards of our interim roles were insignificant compared to the most meaningful rewards, which were intrinsic (Weingart 2003;Farrell 2016;Irwin and deVries 2019). One of the most noteworthy rewards we found in our service as interim managers was that working with public services raised our own morale.…”

“…Interim leaders and managers can have an enormous impact on an organization and, when successful, are instrumental in supporting the health of both the organization and its personnel. A number of variables influence the level of success an interim leader experiences (Irwin and deVries 2019). With regard to any positive impact we had while serving as interim managers, we credit our servant leader approach, the expertise and dedication of the individuals we oversaw, and the support of colleagues at every level of the organization.…”

“…I was responsible for providing leadership and management for Access Services operations-circulation, reserves, billing, technology lending, stacks management and the automated storage and retrieval system-and overseeing a team of 6 fulltime library staff and up to 30 student employees. As is common for interims, I retained responsibilities from my home department (Benaud and Null 1991;Weingart 2003;Irwin and deVries 2019) Librarians accept interim roles for a number of reasons and approach those roles with different management philosophies. We were motivated to serve in interim roles in two ways: by a desire to lend a hand during a time of great organizational need and by a desire to grow professionally as individuals.…”