Speaker
Ms
Theresa Denton
(Library and Information Services, City of Cape Town, Rocklands library)
Description
Senior Librarian, Rocklands Library, City of Cape Town
Theresa.denton@capetown.gov.za
Stueart and Moran (1998) state that despite the vast amount of knowledge, training and focus on management, little is known about how to lead efficiently and effectively. The motivation behind this study originated from the assumption that determining the different leadership styles of library managers could contribute to a more effective public library service. If Senior Librarians were made aware of particular outcomes prompted by certain behaviour, they would be empowered to evaluate their leadership styles and adapt them in a more effective way, which in turn would lead to a more effective public library service.
Riggs (2001) further states that librarians need to understand the difference between management and leadership. If managers understand the difference between management and leadership, they would be able to lead more effectively. Hence this paper focuses on transformational leadership. Transformational leadership looks at the bigger picture, questions the status quo and focuses on improvement in services (Bolden et al. 2003).
Research questions that were explored were: What are Senior Librarians beliefs about leadership?; What styles of leadership are they employing?; and, Do they employ strategies when they lead? Data was collected by means of a semi-structured questionnaire, which allowed the researcher to explore issues not previously thought of or planned and thus provided valuable new insight into the problem.
It is hoped that this research report would contribute to an awareness of leadership in public libraries and not only concentrate on management, which could result in organisations becoming too task driven with the huge risk that our destination becomes more important than the journey itself.
Primary author
Ms
Theresa Denton
(Library and Information Services, City of Cape Town, Rocklands library)
