Abstract
The academic library has been part of institutions of higher education since their founding; however, a library’s function has evolved over time. To continue to meet the needs of campus communities currently and in the future, the academic library must be led by qualified leadership and that leadership must have a stake hold in the leadership of the future. This qualitative case study dissertation in practice examines the current succession planning efforts of five academic libraries in doctoral-granting institutions in the Chicagoland area. While the idea of succession planning is not new or disputed as important for the long-term success of any large-scale organization the practice of creating a succession plan or following such plans is often very limited. For this case study, five academic library leaders were interviewed to explored succession planning processes that can be used to ensure future strong academic library leadership. Three of the leaders represented traditional doctoral-granting institutions, and two served for-profit schools of higher education. The results revealed that the academic libraries at the two for-profit institutions had succession plans in place to promote from within the library when the current leader leaves. In contrast, none of the academic libraries at the three traditional schools had specific succession plans in place. Each of those libraries employed a more holistic strategic plan for the academic library that did not include a succession plan for an outgoing leader. A proposal is suggested for ways in which consistent leadership can be maintained during the transition period after an academic library leader leaves and before a new leader is hired.|Keywords: Academic library, Leadership, Succession planning|Note: this work is under an extended embargo at the request of the author and with the concurrence of the Graduate School. Please contact the author for more information.