Management Education for Library Directors: Are Graduate Library Programs Providing Future Library Directors with the Skills and Knowledge They Will Need?

Where do library directors, and the librarians who perform various management functions as part of their work, receive their management training? A review of the curricula of 48 graduate library schoolpgrams accredited by the American Library Association revealed that, for the most part, library managers are trained on the job. This paper presents the results of a two-part exploratory study focused on the research question: Do ALA-accredited graduate library education programs offer their students the knowledge they will need to enter leadership and management positions within the library profession? Of the 48 programs reviewed, 43.8% did not require management-related courses. A review of 24 program syllabi revealed that 58.3% of the management courses included human resource management concepts and 54.2% included strategy, planning and process. The results suggest that the library profession has yet to agree on the requirements for preparing future librarians for managerial positions and leadership roles.