ACRL News Issue (B) of College & Research Libraries C&RL N ew s ■ F e b ru a ry 1 9 9 9 /9 5 LEADERSHIP AND LEARNING Librarians daring to lead and learn One future librarian’s opinion by Denise Davis L eadership. Learning. Librarians. Librar­ ians leading in learning. Leaders are learn­ ers. Librarians learning to lead. “Leadersh through the lens o f learning.”1 These concepts n ow reverberate like m antras as I delve into leadership literature and comb the W eb for sites that enlighten the symbiotic relationship o f leadership an d learning. The opportunity to w ork— to leαm›.— w ith President M aureen Sullivan’s program planning committee during my final sem esters o f library school has w id­ ened the lens through w hich I view leadership and learning. It is o ur h o p e that your ow n lens broadens w ith the year’s em phasis on this dy­ namic duo of ideas. Jo h n F. K ennedy stated, “Leadership and learning are indispensable to each other,” a quote sprinkled numerous times amidst the hits p ro d u ced from my W eb search. Leadership. Learning— “. . . indispensable to each other.” I dare you to not only believe in this idea, b u t to convey your belief, to live your belief. Share your belief w ith colleagues in th e library and across campus. I dare you to go to your library every day w ith the childhood excitement you carried to kindergarten, buoyed by the expect­ ancy o f new learnings. As academic librarians, w e are fortunate to find ourselves im m ersed in environm ents so naturally conducive to learning, to lifelong learning. In challenging ourselves, o u r col­ leagues, and our constituents to leam every day, we inevitably will be leading on campus—“lead­ ership is something w e experience in an inter­ action with another hum an being.”2 ip As I draft this column, I recall a lecture given by Virginia Mathews during my first term of library school. Her w ords daring us to be posi­ tive “Typhoid Marys” and to subsequently “in­ fect" others w ith our passion for librarianship resonate still. I dare you, at whatever stage you are in y o u r library career, to “infect” others with your zeal for learning—and sharing—some­ thing new. Suffering from burnout? I dare you to get “reinfected!” “Leadership is a relationship,”3 an d infect­ ing your w orking relationships w ith zest for learning is just an o th er form o f leading! New librarians can infect their n ew colleagues with fresh skills and perspectives; seasoned practitio­ ners, by telling their stories, can infect the less ex p erien ced w ith know ledge an d w isdom gleaned over time. I dare you to think o f yourself as a leader. I am rem inded o f Patricia Senn Breivik’s them e as ACRL President (1995-96): “Every librarian a leader!” Breivik challenged, “It is clear that all librarians, not just library directors, n eed to see themselves as leaders within whatever con­ stituency they normally w ork.”4 Dare I, a nov­ ice, a librarian w annabe, consider myself a li­ brary leader? Indeed, as one column, titled dur­ ing Breivik’s tenure, encouraged, “There must b e 50 ways to b e a leader”5—the only limit is your imagination. New kids o n the block, let us start now. Infect your im m ediate co-w orkers w ith your p o s it iv e a t t i t u d e to w a r d l e a r n in g in libraryland—I dare you! Veterans, if you haven’t continued on p. 115 A b o u t th e a u th o r Denise Davis is libraryassistant in the Career Resource LibraryatSim mons College an d plans to graduate fro m Simmons Graduate School o f Library and Informa tion Science in May, e-mail: dda vis@simmons. edu C & R L N e w s ■ F e b r u a r y 1 9 9 9 / 1 1 5 T h e N a tu re o f th e B o o k , by A drian Jo h n s (753 p ag e s, O c to b e r 1998), is a richly d e ta ile d e x a m i­ n a tio n o f th e rise o f p rin t c u ltu re , th e p h ilo s o ­ p h y o f in te lle c tu a l p ro p e rty , a n d th e e a rly d is ­ s e m in a tio n o f scientific k n o w le d g e in 17th- a n d 18th-century E ngland. T h o u g h scholarly, J o h n s ’s n a rra tiv e is fille d w ith lively a n e c d o te s a n d in ­ sig h tfu l analysis. H is u n d e rly in g p o in t is th a t w h a t w e a ss u m e to b e th e inviolable characteris­ tics o f a b o o k — consistency, veracity, authority— w e re n o t necessarily th e case a n d h a d to b e forg e d b y th e fo u n d in g fathers o f p rin t culture. T h e lives o f a fe w o f th e m a re p ro filed here: J o h n Streater, w h o fo u n d e d o n e o f th e larg est p rin tin g h o u s e s in L o n d o n ; J o s e p h M o x o n , w h o s a w p rin t, d e ­ sign, a n d ty p o g r a p h y in p u re ly m a th e m a tic a l term s; Sir T h o m a s B ro w n e, w h o c o m p ile d a his­ to ry o f p la g ia rism ; a n d th e B ritish A stro n o m e r R oyal J o h n F la m ste e d , w h o w a s o n e o f m a n y v o ic e s e x p re s s in g a n o p in io n o n h o w scientific k n o w le d g e sh o u ld b e a c q u ire d a n d p e rp e tu a te d . P e rh a p s th e m o s t e n g ro s s in g c h a p te r is o n th e “p h y sio lo g y o f re a d in g ,” w h ic h e x a m in e s w h a t 1 7 th -c e n tu ry m e n a n d w o m e n th o u g h t actu a lly “L ibrarians d a r i n g … ‚ ’’c o n tin u ed fro m p . 9 5 a lre a d y , d r o p y o u r g u a r d o r tu r f c o n c e rn s a n d e m b r a c e le a d i n g w ith le a r n in g — I d a r e yo u ! M a n a g e rs , le a d v ia y o u r p r o m o ti o n o f “le a r n ­ in g a s a w a y o f b e in g ”6— I d a r e y o u ! T h e re a re p le n ty o f ru n g s o n th e la d d e r o f le a d e rs h ip a n d le a rn in g fo r all o f u s to b e c lim b in g a t th e p a c e s b e st su ite d to o u r situations a n d styles. It is n e v e r to o la te t o s te p u p to th e first ru n g — I d a re you! I re m e m b e r , g ra te fu lly , a s p e e c h g iv e n to g r a d u a te s b y a n o ffic e r o f m y s c h o o l’s a lu m n i association. H e c h a lle n g e d th e n e w ly c h riste n e d lib ra ria n s to b e a w a re o f th e in c re a s in g o p p o r ­ tu n itie s f o r le a d e r s h i p a t e a r l ie r le v e ls in th e ir c a re e rs , a s th e y c a n le a d m u c h o f th e c o n tin u ­ o u s le a rn in g n e c e s s a ry in to d a y ’s lib raries w ith th e ir r e c e n tly a c q u ir e d te c h n o lo g ic a l skills. It w a s in s p irin g t o h e a r th e a lu m n u s p r o ­ m o te th e id e a o f le a d e rsh ip in this le a rn in g c o n ­ text! A s f o r th e p o le m ic a l “L” w o r d in o u r c u r­ r e n t p r o f e s s io n a l e d u c a tio n ? I p r o p o s e w e all s triv e t o a tta in d e g r e e s in M a s te rs o f L ifelo n g L e a rn in g as w e le a d lib ra rie s a n d o u r c o n s titu ­ e n c ie s in to t h e n e x t c e n tu r y . I d a r e y o u ! T h e dig ital a g e n e e d s lib ra ria n s to b e lively, le a d in g lin k s to le a rn in g . W a t c h t h e ACRL W e b s i t e a t h t t p : / / w w w .a la .o r g / a c r l /c & r ln e w 2 .h tm l f o r fu tu re h a p p e n e d in t h e i r b r a i n s w h e n t h e y r e a d . $40 .0 0 . U n iv e rs ity o f C h ic a g o P re s s . ISBN 0- 226-40121-9. W a r s o f t h e A m e r i c a s , b y D a v id F. M arley (7 2 2 p a g e s , O c t o b e r 1998), ta k e s a n u n u s u a l a p p r o a c h t o m ilita ry c h r o n o l o g y b y r e s tric t­ in g its s c o p e t o c o n flic ts in th e W e s te rn H e m i­ s p h e r e s i n c e E u r o p e a n la n d f a ll in 1492. T h is le a v e s m o r e r o o m fo r I n d ia n w a r s a n d le s se r- k n o w n h o s t i l i t i e s i n C e n t r a l a n d S o u t h A m e ric a , s u c h a s K in g P h il ip s ’ W a r in M a ssa ­ c h u se tts, th e M exican P a stry W ar, th e c o n q u e s t o f J a m a ic a b y t h e B ritis h , t h e R iel R e b e llio n in M a n ito b a , a n d t h e A ra y a m a s s a c r e o f 1605 in V e n e z u e la . A m e r e 70 p a g e s a re d e v o te d to 2 0 th - c e n tu r y m ilita ry a c tio n s : o n ly t h e A le u ­ tia n c a m p a ig n , t h e Graf Spee, a n d th e U -b o a t w a r a r e in s c o p e fo r W o rld W a r II, a llo w in g e x p a n d e d d e s c r ip ti o n s o f t h e M e x ic a n R e v o ­ lu tio n , t h e C h a c o W a r, t h e N ic a r a g u a n Civil W a r a n d o t h e r L atin A m e ric a n u n r e s t, th e F a l k l a n d s , G r e n a d a , P a n a m a , a n d H a iti. $ 9 9.00. A B C -C lio. ISBN 0 -8 7 4 3 6 -8 3 7 -5 . ■ links to so u rces o n lea d e rsh ip a n d learning as w e fo c u s o n th is th e m e d u rin g M a u re e n S ullivan’s p r e s i d e n t i a l y e a r . M e a n w h i l e , r e a d M e g W h e a tle y ’s L eadership a n d th e N ew Science6 o r P e te r B. Vaill’s L earning a s a W ay o f B eing7 O n th e W e b c h e c k o u t L eadership C om m u n icatio n s fo r th e 21st C e n tu ry a t h ttp ://w w w .L C 2 1 .c o m . It invites y o u to “th in k o f this W e b site a s a p la c e to e n c o u ra g e y o u to le a d b y exam ple.” I d a re you! N o t e s 1. M a u r e e n S u lliv an . “L e a d e rs h ip th r o u g h th e le n s o f le a r n in g ,” C&RL News, 59 ( O c to b e r 1998): 673-674. 2. J a m e s M. K o u z e s a n d B arry Z. P o sn e r. Credibility (S an Francisco: Jossey-Bass, 1993): 11. 3. K o u zes a n d P o sn er, Credibility, C h a p te r 1. 4. Patricia S e n n Breivik. “B e c o m in g b e y o n d - lib ra ry -w a lls lib ra ria n s ,” C&RL News, 56 (J u ly / A u g u st 1995): 469. 5. J u d y R e y n o ld s. “T h e r e m u s t b e 50 w a y s to b e a l e a d e r ,” C&RL N ews, 57 (A p ril 1996): 208-210. 6. M e g W h e a tle y ’s L eadership a n d th e N ew Scie n c e (B errett-K oehler, 1 9 9 2 , 1994) 7. Peter B. Vaill. Learning a s a Way o f Being: Strat­ egies fo r Survival in a W orld o f P erm anent White Wa t e r (S an Francisco: Jossey-B ass, 1996). ■ http://www.ala.org/acrl/c&rlnew2.html http://www.LC21.com