Most librarians do not receive formal management education or training and, as a result, may refrain from pursuing management roles because they believe themselves underprepared or underqualified. Yet librarians often have a rich set of skills that map well to the demands of management roles; they just don’t recognize them as relevant and transferable. In addition to the strong grounding in core services and content knowledge that the everyday work of librarianship provides, the soft skills that librarians develop in this work are precisely the skills that managers need most. In particular, the user-centered focus and relational competencies at the core of daily library work guide and strengthen management practice as person-centered. Seeing professional experience through this perspective can empower librarians to realize and articulate their preparedness for management roles and imagine administrative career paths for themselves.
In this session, panelists will share how the skills they have developed in various areas of librarianship have shaped and supported their approaches to key management responsibilities including: deep curiosity, communication, cultivating belonging, generating buy-in, decision-making, nonjudgmental framing, advocacy, and a growth mind-set. Participants will have the chance to reflect on their own value-driven soft skills, honed as librarians, that could translate into their current or future management practice. This session will stimulate discussion and reflection for both aspiring and current managers around recognizing, cultivating, and advocating for a growth-oriented, person-centered management culture.
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