Author Archives: Rick Anderson

One of the biggest challenges for a library leader is trying to figure out when to be transparent, and how transparent to be.  Sometimes, of course, it’s an easy call. Confidential personnel issues, preliminary information about upcoming university changes, non-public … Continue reading →

Today I want to loop back to an issue I mentioned in an earlier piece: the problem that arises when a library leader finds herself in a state of principled opposition to the position of either the library (if she’s … Continue reading →

In Part 1 of this series, we briefly discussed a simple visual matrix designed to help us stay focused on the boundaries that define both what’s practically feasible and what’s allowed in our organizations. In Part 2, we compared management … Continue reading →

A former vice president at my current university had a wise and insightful analogy that she used when referring to leaders in management positions: she said that such roles can be characterized as “meniscus positions” because, like the meniscus in the … Continue reading →

As library leaders, we’re constantly faced with decisions that require an understanding of the boundaries that separate what’s possible from what isn’t – that define both what’s feasible and what’s allowed. (There’s merit, of course, in thinking about when and how one should … Continue reading →

I realize the title of this inaugural article might come across as a bit… I don’t know… vinegary? But I hope that by its end, the vibe you get will be more encouraging than that – so please read on. … Continue reading →

This is a twice-weekly newsletter devoted to management and leadership in academic libraries, drawing on things I’ve learned over the course of a 30-year career – sometimes by making mistakes, sometimes by doing things that worked really well, and always … Continue reading →