Librarians and leadership: 'you have not signed up to work in a back room somewhere'. at the University of Maryland

Information Outlook, May, 2004 by Susan Fifer Canby

This is the season when new college graduates emerge from academia to take on the rest of their lives. That's what "commencement" means--not the end but the beginning of something new. In addition to the ceremonies, family gatherings, and parties, it's practically a ritual for the graduate's family, friends, acquaintances, and just about anyone else within earshot to offer advice. SLA member Susan Fifer Canby is the vice president for libraries and information services at the National Geographic Society, in Washington, D.C. She gave the commencement address to the College of Information Science (CLIS) at the University of Maryland last December. Fifer Canby, a 1974 CLIS graduate herself, called on nearly 30 years of experience to give advice that's useful for all of us, not just newly minted graduates. The following has been adapted from her speech.

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Leadership and librarianship may sound antithetical, but I'd like us to reconsider the role of the librarian in today's world. There are all kinds of leaders--some become directors and managers, some become technical experts or subject specialists, some help a team to work well together, and some are asked contribute to professional organizations or serve on boards.

Successful leaders organize others, help others, and most importantly, influence others. Leaders have a passion for what they do. When I graduated from CLIS in 1974, I didn't understand that leadership was an inherent part of my new profession and today is an essential reality of librarianship. That is why I want to talk to you about leadership.

In a sense, librarians and archivists are well positioned for leadership, because ours is a trusted profession. We are seen as impartial and concerned about the public good. We tend to have a reputation for learning and knowledge and, increasingly, for technology. We are collaborative. We have a tradition of being concerned about important issues such as literacy, civil rights, censorship, fair use, information access, the Digital Divide, and now the USA Patriot Act. Our profession includes a social, as well as a strategic focus, in our organizations and communities.

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As you have learned in your studies, libraries are as old as civilization--the object of pride, envy, and sometimes senseless destruction. The rise of libraries in America was an amazing phenomenon. In 1896, there were only 971 public libraries with 1,000 volumes or more. Andrew Carnegie, the patron saint of American libraries, donated much of his personal fortune to personally double that number as well as to add more than 800 libraries in other parts of the English-speaking world. He believed that libraries support what he called the "merit-o-cratic" nature of America. He believed that anyone could educate themselves to achieve their dreams and libraries could be the means of that education. He saw the library as the place immigrants like himself could go to learn about America's opportunities and understand democracy.

Libraries, like democracy, don't come free. There is always a tension for resources, whether in organizations or in school systems or in communities. At the National Geographic, if I can't make the case to management about the library, the resources will go to its many other worthwhile endeavors. I must make the case every year that without a corporate library, our staff will not have the tools to ensure the quality of the Society's research, and the effectiveness of decisions will be impaired. My team and I believe that it is the Society's libraries that give it a competitive edge in a changing global environment. To ensure that others share these convictions, we must manage our libraries rigorously--setting goals, writing business cases, managing resources effectively, marketing, branding our services, doing the metrics--so we can prove the library's worth.

Be assured that you have not signed up to work in a back room somewhere.

Most people think they know what we do because they've used a public or school library where they saw people (librarians) who appeared to be merely caretakers of these facilities. It is a constant educational effort to help people understand what librarians can do to further our businesses, schools, communities, country, and the world. For your family and friends who are here, this is what librarianship is not:

* It is not about checking books in and out.

* It is not about sitting at a reference desk and hoping people will ask you a question.

* It is not just picking a bunch of books for the library or adding a bunch of links to the website.

* It is not merely working 8 to 5 or putting in time.

* It is not getting that MLS and figuring you're done with education.

Your job is awesomely important. You are tasked with managing and ensuring the sharing of the world's knowledge. As librarians we have a responsibility to our customers, organizations, and society to ensure that:

* Government and business decision makers have the most reliable information with which to make decisions.