2023/05/07 by Crystal Goldman · 1 citation
Business, Management and Accounting · Psychology · Social Sciences · #Human Resource and Talent Management #Library Science and Information Literacy #Mentoring and Academic Development
paper · doi:10.1080/01930826.2023.2201720
openalex publication_date 2023/05/07 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/07/25
In the last few decades, there have been multiple peer-reviewed articles that suggest academic libraries do not establish appropriate succession plans, nor do they develop the required leadership capacity in their librarians. This article discusses (a) the development of a survey instrument to measure the frequency with which succession planning activities take place in libraries, and (b) the results of a survey study that explored succession planning practices in the Association of Research Libraries (ARL) in the United States. This study utilized a cross-sectional design with a stratified random sample (n = 353) of academic librarians and administrators employed by ARL member libraries. After data analysis, validity and reliability analyses revealed the survey instrument demonstrates acceptable psychometric properties and produced a strong alpha coefficient of .91. Findings also suggest that several factors impact respondents’ knowledge of and/or participation in succession planning activities, including their sexual orientation, primary job duties, layers of management in their library hierarchy, and whether or not managers identify and prepare interims for critical positions in their library.