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Start strong by taking it slow: Tips for new public library directors and managers

Andrew Harbison, WebJunction Director /

This article is part of a WebJunction series offering practical guidance for library staff who are new to their roles. Looking for more support? Explore WebJunction's LiFT courses for foundational training and professional development.

A woman sits at her laptop, smiling, with a whiteboard and bookshelves behind her.

Stepping into a leadership role can feel daunting, whether it’s your first management position or you are an experienced leader entering a new environment. There are people, communities, stakeholders, and work cultures to learn. There are probably overdue problems to tackle, with more brewing on the horizon. It can be hard to know where to begin.

I can tell you that the strange mixture of overwhelm and excitement when starting a new position never really goes away. I’ve experienced it throughout my career, from my early days as a manager in academic libraries to more recent roles as an Assistant Director and Division Director at The Seattle Public Library, and now as Director of WebJunction at OCLC. But I’ve also learned that starting strong doesn't mean moving fast right away. Taking time to understand your new organization, your team, and your community can put you in a much better position to lead effectively.

Depending on the size of your library, these approaches may vary. Larger systems may require more focus on other leaders and managers in the library system and visiting branches, while a small and/or rural library may require more focus on your local community, partners, and volunteers and day-to-day operations.

Start by listening and stay curious

Your first job is to build a good understanding of the library and the people in and around it. While you probably have many new initiatives and plans in mind, it’s important to learn about the organization and the people first. This approach will help you integrate into the organization and be better positioned to move forward successfully.

  • Meet one-on-one with your direct reports, peers, and staff to get to know their interests and points of view. Ask them what's working well and what they like about their jobs, as well as what’s frustrating and what they would change.
  • Visit branches and service points during different days and times to experience library services and operations, meet staff, and be visible. In smaller libraries, spend time learning about the day-to-day work, the work environment, and the library space.
  • Public libraries are all about people and community, so get to know people outside the building, like city or county officials, school leaders, nonprofit partners, community groups, and regular patrons.
  • Take notes along the way so you can refer back to what you learn. This will help shape your approach, priorities, and strategic planning, and also serve as a good reminder of what is important.

Learn the budget, policies, procedures, and the people surrounding them

Being a leader fundamentally means you are in charge of people and resources. Learn the rules, regulations, processes, and procedures that shape decisions about people and resources. I’ve spent a lot of time backtracking and revising plans after learning established practices too late in the process. Now I prioritize these details on the front-end.

  • Review current and past budgets, audits, and strategic plans to understand the recent history of the library
  • Learn the library’s funding sources and budget cycles, including when levies or appropriations occur, and any foundation, friends, or grant funding activities and details
  • Read your library policies and procedures, as well as your state's library laws and policies on public records and open meetings
  • Connect with other administrators and managers to learn standards, policies, and best practices, and for union shops, read the collective bargaining agreement. For smaller libraries, you may learn from other municipal departments or partners and services they provide.
  • Get to know approval and spending authorities, thresholds, and policies, as well as where you as a director or manager fit into those processes

For new directors: build the board relationship

The director–board relationship is key to a new director’s success. I’ve learned that treating the relationship with the board as an ongoing priority and opportunity, and not a governance formality, will lead to a more engaged board and more collaborative and productive relationships.

  • Ensure there is clarity in scope and roles in governance and operations
  • Keep trustees informed about important issues and news, especially in advance of major decisions or events
  • Create a consistent, clear, and concise director's report that includes key performance measures, trends, highlights, and forecasts
  • Meet regularly with your board chair between meetings
  • Provide orientations for new trustees so they understand their role and public library values, and what it means to govern a public agency and mission-driven organization

For new managers: your new service orientation

  • Supervising people is a difficult transition in public library work, especially if those people were once your coworkers. Being a manager requires a different kind of relationship and thoughtful consideration to be trusted, respected, and effective. While you are still in public service, your service priority is now the staff you manage and the organization’s strategic direction.
  • While you may have once focused on specific tasks, a manager is focused on staff and delivering on the library’s strategic priorities. A manager represents and enables staff to move the library forward, and supports them both through change
  • Maintain boundaries that reflect your new role and responsibilities
  • Identify and address small problems before they become bigger problems; avoidance is a common oversight
  • Give feedback to staff that is specific, timely, and private—praise can be public, but constructive feedback should always be private
  • Document performance conversations consistently, for everyone, from day one so you have a record to refer to for both positive and constructive feedback
  • Be clear about which decisions are the library’s or yours, which are consensus-based, and which are staff-driven so your team knows how their input will be considered

Develop yourself and cultivate your professional community

  • Check your own state library and regional library systems. Many offer new director orientation, mentoring programs, and state-specific legal guidance
  • Look for and read reputable books, articles, and trainings on leadership and management to learn models, techniques, mental outlook, approaches, and skills
  • Find peers outside your library—local, regional, or state library associations, a cohort program, a monthly coffee—or consider seeking out your peers and creating a new community
  • Look for a mentor who has held your job, or a similar one, in another library system, municipal department, or nonprofit organization
  • Model the behaviors you want to see in others, which may include outward attitude, communication styles, body language, work habits, and setting boundaries

Find an opportunity to initiate positive change

Once you have taken time to listen and learn, look for opportunities to put that knowledge into action. Your early perspective can help you see opportunities for improvement, but the strongest changes will be grounded in what you have learned about the library, its people, and its community.

  • Don’t make change for change’s sake. Some management books suggest making a big impression with big change, any change, early. While this approach can sometimes be effective and even necessary, it’s also high risk and hard to reverse, and can be very damaging if it doesn’t go well
  • It’s okay to start small, and in fact, it’s usually better. While there are many big issues to tackle, making small but meaningful changes will build trust in your leadership and strengthen your knowledge, capacity, and confidence to lead change.
  • Managing change is a critically important skill. It’s always important to (1) get input from those impacted by the change whenever possible, (2) communicate often about the change, including why and when it's happening, and what the impacts will be, (3) be ready to receive feedback and potentially adjust and iterate, if necessary.
  • Remember that change is hard for everyone, and that there will be reactions that are sometimes hard to process. While you have been thinking about the idea for a long time, many will be hearing it for the first time and need the space to process. Keep focused on the end goals and remain compassionate and supportive of people going through it.

Most of all, be patient and be you

Most new leaders overestimate what they can change in six months and underestimate what they can change in three years. It can also be tempting to adapt so much to a new organization that you lose some of the expertise and perspective you were hired to bring.

Focus your first year on building relationships, credibility, and a deeper understanding of the organization and the communities you serve. Take time to listen and learn before acting, then look for meaningful opportunities to put what you’ve learned into practice. Your staff, community, and stakeholders will reveal opportunities to change, so find small wins to see through. The big, ambitious goals you have will be easier to accomplish—and more likely to be lasting—once people trust that you understand the library and where they are, and once you’ve seen through a few improvements.

Lastly, be patient with the process and yourself. Learning takes time, and new conditions are stressful. Remember that you bring a unique background and perspective to your role. You will be at your best when you take the time to slow down and build the knowledge and confidence to be who you were hired to be so that you can move faster and lead more effectively when the time is right.

profile-Harbison1

About the author

Andrew joined OCLC in 2023 as Director of WebJunction to lead the strategy and team that designs, builds, and maintains the WebJunction online learning network for public library staff. In this role, he also serves on the Research and Programming leadership team, supports and leads cross-division activities, and ensures WebJunction's alignment with OCLC's strategic priorities. Andrew was most recently a division director at The Seattle Public Library, where he oversaw system-wide public services, programming and outreach, collections and access, library operations, and information technology. While there, he contributed to a wide range of transformative work, including strategic planning and partnerships, pandemic response, collection enhancements, fine elimination, digital equity, operational efficiencies, and several other access, intellectual freedom, and equity initiatives. Andrew has been in library leadership for nearly twenty years and is dedicated to improving and advancing the work of public libraries.

For further learning:

  • Library management 101: A practical guide. By Lisa K. Hussey and Diane Velasquez. Everyone studying to enter the profession needs an introduction to the topic of management, and this book does that. 
  • The Public Library Director's Toolkit by Kate Hall and Kathy Parker
  • The Public Library Director's HR Toolkit by Kate Hall and Kathy Parker
  • Libraries 2035: Imagining the next generation of libraries. Edited by Sandra Hirsh. Explores the lessons learned over the past decade and forecasts the opportunities, strengths, and challenges for libraries in the future. 
  • Sustainable thinking : Ensuring your library's future in an uncertain world by Rebekkah Smith Aldrich. In this inspiring and pragmatic book, Aldrich shows that the first step towards a sustainable library is sustainable thinking: a determined yet realistic attitude that will help your library spot opportunities for institutional advancement, advocate for and safeguard operating funds, and generate intense loyalty from the communities you serve. 
  • The New York Times - Corner Office column where Jordyn Holman interviews today’s entrepreneurs, innovators and business leaders.
  • Ideacast - Harvard Business Review's weekly podcast featuring the leading thinkers in business and management.
  • Harvard Business Review's 10 Must Reads Ultimate Boxed Set of important ideas on management all in one place. Includes articles on topics such as emotional intelligence, disruptive innovation, communication, change, leadership, strategy, managing people, managing yourself, and new technology in our ever-evolving world.

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