As many Vision & Balance readers know, library leadership isn’t my usual beat — most of my writing and speaking is on the topic of scholarly communication. And while I don’t usually use this platform to discuss those issues, I’m making an exception in this case because I have a pair of posts up at the Scholarly Kitchen (one that was published yesterday, the other today) that do have a real bearing on leadership in libraries.

I won’t rehash both of those posts here (links to them are provided below), but I invite V&B readers to consider the issues discussed in them and consider questions like:

• What is my host institution’s posture with regard to scholarly publishing practices, and particularly open scholarship?
• How does my library’s posture reflect that of my institution?
• If there is a disconnect between them, do I need to work with my administration to resolve it?
• What do the people I lead believe and/or want with regard to scholarly communication policies and practices? Is there a disconnect between what they want and what I believe is wise and appropriate?
• What scholcomm future do I believe my library should be working to create?

The answers to these questions will have real implications not only for your library itself and the way it uses resources, but also for your library’s centrally important relationship with your host institution and with the people it exists to serve. And it’s important to note that these questions are currently being answered by government agencies, funders, publishing bodies, library organizations, and others — and that if you want to be part of the process of determining those answers, it is well past time to get involved.

Here are links to the pieces:

The Global Transition Has Already Happened — It’s Just Not the One You Expected

In Defense of Pluralism and Diversity: A Modest Manifesto for the Future of Scholarly Communication