The Alexander Wilson Award

Citation

(2009), "The Alexander Wilson Award", Library Management, Vol. 30 No. 8/9. https://doi.org/10.1108/lm.2009.01530haa.001

The Alexander Wilson Award

Article Type: 2009 Awards for Excellence From: Library Management, Volume 30, Issue 8/9

Named after Alexander Wilson, Director-„General of the British Library Reference Division from 1980 until his retirement in 1986. Before that he was Director of Cheshire Libraries and Museums, and Director of Libraries and Cultural Services in Dudley and Coventry.

The following article was selected for this year's Outstanding Paper Award for Library Management

``Developing public library managers as leaders: evaluation of a national leadership development programme''

Kerry WilsonFaculty of Media Arts and Social Science, Liverpool John Moores University, Liverpool, UK

Sheila CorrallDepartment of Information Studies, University of Sheffield, Sheffield, UK

Purpose -- The paper's aim is to present findings of the recent evaluation of the Leading Modern Public Libraries development programme with reference to the management versus leadership dynamic. The programme provided a strategic intervention to address a perceived weakness in leadership development within the public library sector in the UK.Design/methodology/approach -- Drawing on recent examples from the literature, the theoretical differences between the concepts of management and leadership are discussed and used to inform consideration of the programme's effectiveness. Evaluation methods included participant observation, interviews, focus groups and a questionnaire survey, each administered at various stages of the programme with a representative sample of programme participants. Verbatim quotations from evaluation respondents are included in the analysis.Findings -- The research reveals that the programme has had a positive impact in enabling and developing leadership capacity within the sector, particularly in terms of developing participants' confidence and other interpersonal traits associated with effective leadership, including creativity and risk taking. Perceived benefits and limitations of the public library context in which the course was delivered have also been identified.Practical implications -- Important considerations on the transition from effective management to leadership, and the identification, support and development of future leaders within organisations are presented, with implications for current public library leaders, trainers and facilitators within the field.Originality/value -- The paper shows that the programme and its evaluation represent a strategic development initiative on an unprecedented scale in the public library sector.

Keywords: General management, Human resource management, Leadership, Public libraries, Training, United Kingdom

www.emeraldinsight.com/10.1108/01435120810894509

This article originally appeared in Volume 29 Number 6/7, 2008, pp. 473-88, Library Management

The following articles were selected for this year's Highly Commended Award

``Librarians do fly: strategies for staying aloft''

Julie Parry

This article originally appeared in Volume 29 Number 1/2, 2008, Library Management

``A LIS collaboratory to bridge the research-practice gap''

Marisa Ponti

This article originally appeared in Volume 29 Number 4/5, 2008, Library Management

``A study of success factors of resource sharing in Iranian academic libraries''

Sirous AlidoustiMaryam NazariMohammad Abooyee Ardakan

This article originally appeared in Volume 29 Number 8/9, 2008, Library Management