The information Society: The role of Transformational leadership in the African Library

Arnold M. MwanzuRodney A. Malesi

Kenya:United States International University-Africa

AFLIA conference, Accra, Ghana May

2015

Approach This paper will report on the following areas

How ready the library in Africa is to provide leadership in an ever evolving information landscape;

The importance of the Librarian in Africa in asserting him/herself in the information society landscape;

The traits of library leaders required for this information society

Introduction•The survival of libraries in Africa is gradually becoming dependent on the capability to adopt change and reflect dynamism.

•Leadership and management of libraries is the key to ensuring sustainability and relevance by spearheading change

•This paper focuses on strides taken in Kenyan libraries by leaders.

•Change management is a key leadership role that has not yet been embraced by many managers of libraries.

Agents of Change• For libraries to be sustainable in the wake of

dynamism and technological advancements there needs to be reliable leadership to help manage the change.

• Academic Libraries in Kenya have over the past ten years experienced a shift from conventional library service delivery to automated systems that integrate circulation services, information search and electronic document delivery to a one stop shop.

• Dynamic shifts have been propagated by library leaders who work together through the national library consortium- Kenya Library and Information Science Consortium (KLISC). The national consortium envisages a library community that embraces technological advancements in the industry and is well able to compete in the information society.

Leadership RolesTo have the African library remain relevant leaders of libraries need to adopt the following strategies and leadership roles

Created different databases

Effective Leadership

Leadership in Perspective

“Management is doing things right;

leadership is doing the right things.”

Peter Drucker

Leaders of libraries ought to diversify their project

funding sources and avoid relying entirely on the scarce Government

funding

The need to attract external funding can be

embraced by African libraries and library

leaders can front such ideas through their

associations

Developing Leaders of the Future African libraries

Information-savvy

innovators. The digital

age is changing the responsibilitie

s of Leader Librarians

Building governance

capacity within

consortia, leadership trainings

Empower young and promising

library leaders

…succession planning

within individual libraries

Remarks• Ultimately because the information society reacts

to environmental changes, library leaders are called upon to stay abreast with technological and innovative advancements and purpose to be information-savvy innovators who view trends and emerging technologies critically before making decisions.

Recommendations-Declarations on Library Leadership Conferences be

actualized by leadership of National consortia in member libraries

The End…Thank You