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CORE LEADERSHIP COMPETENCIES FOR LIBRARY LEADERS OF HONG KONG
SELF-FINANCING HIGHER EDUCATION INSTITUTIONS IN THE DIGITAL AGE:
AN INTERPRETATIVE PHENOMENOLOGICAL ANALYSIS
A doctoral thesis presented by
Jade WONG Lai King
to The School of Education
In partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Education
in the field of
Education
College of Professional Studies Northeastern University Boston, Massachusetts November 2020
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Abstract
The purpose of this qualitative research is to examine how library leaders of Hong
Kong self-financing higher education institutions perceive and experience the expanding necessary core leadership competencies in the digital age, and how they make sense of acquiring and applying these competencies to lead successfully. Understanding library leaders’ perceptions and experiences in their professional lives may inform leadership competencies that are needed now, and in the future, and strategies to facilitate their acquisition and their further application.
This study utilized the adaptive leadership theory proposed by Heifetz et al. (2009) as the theoretical framework. Four significant themes were identified through an interpretative phenomenological analysis methodology: 1) Evolving academic library landscape in the digital age, 2) Reconfiguring academic library leadership, 3) Better positioning to stay relevant and demonstrate value, and 4) Adaptation as an important aspect of library leadership.
The findings of this study identified 16 core leadership competencies, with five of them being the most valued by participants: Collaboration/Teamwork, Communication Skills,
Adaptability/Flexibility, Being Knowledgeable, and Problem-Solving. Moreover, the study revealed library leaders make use of these core leadership competencies in their profession for better positioning to stay relevant and demonstrate value to their parent institutions and with key stakeholders. Participants described the various adaptations they made and confirmed that adaptation has become an important aspect of their leadership.
Keywords: academic libraries, adaptive leadership, Hong Kong, leadership competencies, library leaders, self-financing higher education institutions
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Acknowledgements
I wish to acknowledge the many people who helped me to achieve my goal of pursuing a Doctorate in Education (EdD). I am grateful to the members of my dissertation committee for their guidance and assistance in the research process. I extend a very special thanks to Dr. Harvey Shapiro, my supervisor, for his invaluable insights and thoughtful suggestions. I also like to thank Dr. Tova Sanders, my second reader, and Dr. Meyrick Chow, my third reader for graciously sharing their profound knowledge and experiences with me.
Special thanks are given to the library leaders who were the primary data sources for this study. Without their participation, this study would have been impossible. I also like to thank Mr. Jimmy Liu for his friendship and helpful advice. I wish to thank all my fellow classmates from Northeastern EdD Hong Kong Cohort 7 for their constant support. I also wish to express my appreciation to my colleagues at Tung Wah College Library, who were kind enough to help me all the time.
I like to sincerely thank my family and friends for their loving support and encouragement throughout my doctoral journey. Above all, I would like to express my immense gratitude to my husband, Cyrus, for his understandings and love, support and encouragement while I am studying, researching, and writing. Thank you for being in my life.
Lastly, I like to thank Gorgor and Gaga, my lovely feline boys, for their unfailing love and affection. Gorgor, I enjoy your companionship whenever I work in front of the computer.
Gaga, you always let me know when it is time to take a break and relax.
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Dedication
I dedicate this dissertation to my grandmother Choi Bun Lin, my parents Wong Ah
Wo, and Yuen Kam Fung. Grandma, although you have left for 26 years, you are always in my heart. Father, you passed away one day peacefully in your sleep during this doctoral journey, I know you must be proud to know I am able to complete my study. You always believe in my academic ability since I was very young. Your optimistic, humorous, dedicated, and perseverant attitude is my role model. Mother, I like to thank you for the love, care, patience, and encouragement. I appreciate all that you do for me. Thank you all, for being the wind beneath my wings.
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Table of Contents
Abstract…...... 2 Acknowledgements ...... 3 Dedication ...... 4 Table of Contents ...... 5 Chapter One: Introduction to the Study...... 9 Statement of the Problem ...... 9 Research Question...... 11 Significance of the Research ...... 12 Background of the Study...... 13 Four Key Structural Changes Reconfiguring Leadership ...... 14 Academic Library Leadership in Digital Age ...... 15 Effects of Four Key Structural Changes on Library Leaders...... 15 Stay Relevant and Demonstrate Value in the Hong Kong Context ...... 17 Definition of Key Terms ...... 18 Theoretical Framework ...... 21 Adaptive Leadership Theory...... 21 Critics of the Theoretical Framework ...... 25 Rationale for Adaptive Leadership Theory...... 27 Positionality Statement ...... 29 Conclusion ...... 32 Chapter Two: Literature Review ...... 33 Part 1: Structural Changes Bring About New Demands ...... 33 New Demands in the Digital Age ...... 34 New Practices and Perspectives ...... 35 New Identity for Academic Libraries and Library Leaders ...... 37 New Tools ...... 39 Part 2: Academic Library Leadership ...... 42 Adaptive Leadership in Academic Libraries ...... 42 New Leadership Perspectives, Roles, and Specializations ...... 44 Part 3: Core Leadership Competencies for Academic Library Leaders ...... 49 Core Leadership Competencies in General Context ...... 50 Core Leadership Competencies in Academic Libraries...... 51 Seminal Studies on Key Leadership Attributes or Competencies for Current and Aspiring Library Leaders ...... 51 6
Other Studies on Specific Competencies ...... 56 Emotional Intelligence Competencies List ...... 58 Recent Requirements of Core Competencies by Library Professional Bodies...... 61 Part 4: Self-Financing Higher Education in Hong Kong ...... 68 Development of Self-Financing Higher Education in Hong Kong ...... 68 Contributions of Self-Financing Higher Education Sector ...... 72 Challenges Facing Self-Financing Higher Education Institutions in Hong Kong . 73 Roles and Responsibilities of Library Leaders of Self-Financing Higher Education Institutions...... 74 Conclusion ...... 75 Chapter Three: Research Design...... 77 Constructivism-Interpretivism Paradigm ...... 77 Qualitative Research Approach ...... 79 Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis ...... 80 Three Philosophical Underpinnings of IPA ...... 81 Justifications of Using IPA Approach ...... 84 How IPA Shapes Research Questions ...... 85 Participants and Sampling Strategy ...... 86 Data Collection ...... 88 Data Analysis ...... 89 Six-Step IPA Analysis Process ...... 89 Criteria for Quality Qualitative Research ...... 92 Ethical Considerations ...... 92 Credibility ...... 93 Transferability ...... 93 Self-Reflexivity and Transparency ...... 94 Limitations ...... 94 Conclusion ...... 95 Chapter Four: Findings ...... 96 Participant Profiles ...... 96 Emergent Themes and Subthemes ...... 97 Theme 1: Evolving Academic Library Landscape in the Digital Age...... 98 Theme 2: Reconfiguring Academic Library Leadership ...... 105 Theme 3: Better Positioning to Stay Relevant and Demonstrate Value ...... 113 Theme 4: Adaptation as an Important Aspect of Library Leadership...... 121 Conclusion ...... 129
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Chapter Five: Discussion and Implications of Findings ...... 132 Discussion of Findings in Relationship to the Literature and Theoretical Framework 133 Finding 1: Evolving Academic Library Landscape in the Digital Age ...... 134 Finding 2: Reconfiguring Academic Library Leadership ...... 138 Finding 3: Better Positioning to Stay Relevant and Demonstrate Value ...... 145 Finding 4: Adaptation as an Important Aspect of Library Leadership ...... 149 Finding 5: Five Most Crucial Leadership Competencies to Lead Successfully in the Digital Age ...... 153 Implications for Practice ...... 162 Implications for Library Leaders ...... 163 Implications for Library Staff at All Levels...... 164 Implications for Parent Institutions and Their Key Stakeholders ...... 165 Limitations ...... 167 Recommendations for Further Research ...... 169 Conclusion ...... 171 References ...... 175 Appendix A: American Library Association’s Core Competences of Librarianship ...... 187 Appendix B: Definition of 14 LLAMA’s Foundational Competencies ...... 190 Appendix C: Northeastern University IRB Approval ...... 192 Appendix D: Recruitment Email...... 193 Appendix E: Informed Consent Form...... 194 Appendix F: Interview Protocol...... 198
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List of Tables
Table 1. Distinguishing Technical Problems and Adaptive Challenges ...... 22 Table 2. Combined List of 105 Attributes Reviewed by ARL Directors, 2002...... 52 Table 3. Characterization of Emotional Intelligence, 2006 ...... 59 Table 4. Four Meta-Competencies Proposed by Ammons-Stephens et al., 2009 ...... 62 Table 5. Fourteen Foundational Competencies Identified by LLAMA, 2016 ...... 66 Table 6. Intake Capacity of Institutions Providing Self-Financing Sub-Degree and/or Undergraduate Programs in 2018/2019 Academic Year ...... 71 Table 7. Summary of Participants’ Demographics ...... 97 Table 8. Themes and Subthemes Emerged from Data Analysis ...... 98 Table 9. Five Most Crucial Leadership Competencies for Library Leaders in the Digital Age ...... 154 Table 10. Comparison of Findings between LLAMA (2016) and this Study on Core Leadership Competencies ...... 159
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Chapter One: Introduction to the Study
The purpose of this interpretative phenomenological analysis (IPA) is to examine how library leaders of Hong Kong self-financing higher education institutions (HKSHEIs) perceive and experience the expanding necessary core leadership competencies in the digital age, and how they make sense of acquiring and applying these competencies to lead successfully. Findings from this study capture the insights and lived experience of these library leaders on how they understand core leadership competencies in HKSHEIs.
Understanding library leaders’ perceptions and experiences in their professional lives may inform leadership competencies that are needed now, and in the future, and strategies to facilitate their acquisition and their further application.
This chapter provides context and background of this study related to core leadership competencies for library leaders of HKSHEIs in the digital age. It presents the problem statement, purpose statement, research question, and definition of key terms to focus and ground the study. It discusses rationale and significance of the research with deficiencies in the evidence provided to draw connections to potential beneficiaries of the work. It also introduces and explains the theoretical framework utilized for this study, including the rationale for its selection. Finally, a reflection on positionality of the researcher is given.
Statement of the Problem
The problem that this research seeks to address is that library leaders of HKSHEIs are operating in a rapidly changing environment in the digital age, requiring them to evaluate their roles and responsibilities and to scan the environment for ways to stay relevant and demonstrate value. With the adoption of digital technologies, the stereotype of the traditional librarian roles that is attached to the physical space is being challenged and disrupted (Bartnik et al., 2010). Librarians are facing enormous challenges, uncertainties, and opportunities in the operating environment in the digital age. Corrall (2010) described the global information 10
landscape that librarians are now operating as convergent, diffuse, and expansive. She identified key features of contemporary landscape of academic libraries as “overlapping roles, broad skillsets, stretched identities, specialized niches and competency gaps in strategic specialties” (p. 576). The reshaping of library professional in the higher education environment is evinced by the massive emergence of new library specialties (Cox & Corrall,
2013). In this manner, the professional roles and responsibilities of academic librarians have become ambiguous as they are evolving and expanding rapidly.
Deanna Marcum, recipient of the Melvil Dewey Medal, the highest honor presented by the American Library Association (ALA), stated unequivocally that a different type of library leadership is required in the digital age (Marcum, 2016). Now, she added, all libraries are digital in nature and users are, to a great extent, looking for digital resources from anywhere they can access on. She expressed her concern that most library leaders have been educated and trained to focus on operating local print collections. Nevertheless, today’s library leaders are responsible for strategically aligning the digital library’s endeavors to serve a more diversified yet extensive user group in highly globalized environment. She asserted that this unconventional perspective may requires a different kind of leadership. In order to evolve successfully from their traditional roles to fulfill the changing user demands in the digital age, the practice of library leadership needs recalibration to stay relevant and demonstrate value (Marcum, 2016).
Moreover, the higher education community around the world has a growing concern about assessment, accountability, and value. Although academic libraries have long enjoyed their status as the heart of the campus (Rothstein, 1955), they confront increasing pressures to be called upon to demonstrate their contributions to align with the institution’s mission, vision, and goals. Library leaders need new approaches to demonstrate value on their libraries in clear and measurable manners to give an impact on all realms of institutional significance 11
in higher education arena. For instance, they record how libraries support student enrollment and improve student retention, performance, and matriculation rate. They document how libraries contribute to faculty teaching quality and research productivity. They also detail how libraries raise the overall institutional visibility and reputation, and participates in higher education assessment and accreditation processes (Association of College & Research
Libraries [ACRL], 2016; Oakleaf, 2010).
In the same vein, library leaders of HKSHEIs face similar challenges. More significantly, as their institutions do not receive any government funding, these library leaders are confronting a greater number of difficulties in enhancing and upgrading their library resources and services. They have to adjust their tight resources and manpower deliberately to address intense and complex challenges brought by the emerging technologies and changing user behaviors and demands in accordance with new tools, practices, and perspectives in the digital age. All these require an emergent need for them to reexamine the expanding necessary core leadership competencies by constantly scanning the operating environment, thus, to remain pertinent and demonstrate value in the digital information landscape. In short, academic libraries need competent leaders to guide them into the uncertain digital future. This is the problem of practice to be addressed in this study.
Research Question
The purpose of this qualitative study is to examine how library leaders of HKSHEIs perceive and experience the expanding necessary core leadership competencies in the digital age, and how they make sense of acquiring and applying these competencies to lead successfully through an interpretative phenomenological analysis methodology. Therefore, the central question for this study is: How do library leaders of Hong Kong self-financing higher education institutions perceive and experience expanding necessary core leadership 12
competencies in the digital age, and how do they make sense of acquiring and applying these competencies to lead successfully?
Significance of the Research
This research on examining the expanding necessary core leadership competencies of library leaders of HKSHEIs in the digital age is significant for a few reasons. First, the research expects to yield benefit to current and aspiring library leaders. Through understanding the perceptions and lived experience of library leaders of HKSHEIs, this study provides an improved understanding and awareness of what expanding necessary core leadership competencies are required in the digital age. According to Ammons-Stephens et al.
(2009), members of 2008 class of the ALA’s Emerging Leaders Program, it is the core competencies of library leaders that make the services that libraries offer successful. They asserted that those library leaders who fall short of these competencies would not be able “to initiate, facilitate, and deliver successful services” (p. 71). Ammon-Stephens et al. (2009) were the first to propose that a comprehensive core leadership competencies model is indispensable for the library profession. This study hopes to shed light on what core leadership competencies are needed now, and in the future, and strategies to facilitate their acquisition and their further application. It is particularly pertinent for current and aspiring library leaders of HKSHEIs as well as library leaders in a similar context around the world.
Second, this research helps to address and fill the gap of existing literature by focusing on smaller academic libraries that have received little attention in research on library leadership. Both Kreitz (2015) and Harris (2019) observed a phenomenon that the discussion of academic library leadership centers primarily on large research institutions. Smaller institutions offer programs below doctoral level are more in number, however, they received little attention. She contended that smaller institutions have just as great a need for effective library leadership as large research institutions. Moreover, Harger (2019) contended that 13
there is a gap in the literature with respect to community college library leadership. She observed that different leadership competencies are required to lead different types of libraries successfully. Likewise, HKSHEI libraries serve 66%, 37% and 67% of the students studying in full-time sub-degree, undergraduate degree, and top-up degree programs in the
2018/19 academic year (Task Force on Review of Self-financing Post-secondary Education
[the Task Force], 2018). Little is known about what library leadership competencies are required for these academic libraries. Therefore, this study focusing on examining core library leadership competencies in these smaller institution libraries will fill the gap of existing literature.
Third, this research seeks to address the need and identify ways for academic libraries to demonstrate value to higher education institutions. As indicated by the Value of Academic
Libraries Statement formulated by ACRL (2016), academic libraries should provide values to their parent institutions in the realms of recruitment, retention and matriculation, student learning, faculty research and teaching, and institutional visibility and contribution to the community. Library leaders assume a significant role to play in supporting the core mission of scholarship, teaching, and learning in their institutions. Weiner (2003) contended, “It is the leadership of the library that determines whether a philosophy and vision are articulated and to what extent they are implemented. Leadership affects a library’s effectiveness, its role in the academic institution, and its adaptability to new functions and initiatives” (p. 5). Hence, this study is significant in its potential to help library leaders and their libraries to remain relevant and better contribute to overall institutional mission.
Background of the Study
Library leaders are experiencing unprecedented challenges unlike anything they have ever encountered in the digital age. Rapid developments of digital technology have completely altered the manners on how scholarly communication are conducted. Data 14
analytics, digital curation, digital scholarship, information visualization, and open access are just some of the new technological tools that impact academic libraries and their leaders in the higher education landscape (ACRL, 2019; Becker et al., 2017; Pinfield et al., 2017). In the digital world, these libraries no longer possess the monopoly or advantage of accessing scholarly information. Digital technology has moved the position of academic libraries from the sole keeper of this information to being just one of the many information providers.
Consequently, academic libraries suffer from a blurred identity in the digital world
(Cox, 2019; Pinfield et al., 2017). They are no longer the primary sources of information for students from the Generation Z, who were born between mid-1990s and early 2010s (ACRL,
2019). Therefore, a closer reexamination of the dynamic environment driven by cutting-edge digital technology and the necessary leadership skills that best assist in those transformation processes is deemed necessary for library leaders to stay relevant and demonstrate value.
Four Key Structural Changes Reconfiguring Leadership
Wilson (2004) delineated the leadership paradigms that reflect human transition from an industrial society to a post-industrial and digital society. In this new society, also known as networked society, information society, or knowledge society, leaders need a different kind of leadership with different “hierarchical authorities”, “skills and attributes”, and
“institutional incentives” (Wilson, 2004, p. 858). He elaborated on the four key structural changes that reconfigure leadership are “rapid and far reaching technological changes, especially the digitalization of information and communications technology; accelerated globalization; a shift toward knowledge as the central factor of production; and more distributed, less hierarchical organizational forms with greatly accelerated movement within and across organizations and industrial sectors” (Wilson, 2004, p. 858). 15
Academic Library Leadership in Digital Age
Academic libraries alike other business sectors are also influenced significantly by these key structural changes in the digital society (Marcum, 2016). Traditionally, these libraries fulfill their traditional roles by providing access to information resources predominantly in print by acquiring, cataloguing, circulating, guiding their use, and curating them in supporting the scholarship, teaching, and learning mission of their parent institutions.
The significant change in technology and methods of scholarly communication created new user demands for academic libraries to fulfill. As early as 2007, the ACRL Research
Committee predicted that academic libraries will put more accentuation on digitizing collections, preserving digital archives, and improving methods of data storage and retrieval
(Mullins et al., 2007). In fact, academic libraries are all digital now, as users primarily seek digital resources from libraries that they can have access to anytime and anyplace (Marcum,
2016).
Furthermore, several recent studies also explained the future trends and technology adoption in academic libraries in the digital age (ACRL, 2019; Becker et al., 2017; Pinfield et al., 2017). A specific study identified and explored key future areas influencing academic libraries, areas including changing higher education environment, technological developments, changing nature of scholarly communication, changing user behaviors, and collaboration, which seem to be most pertinent to this study (Gwyer, 2015). Therefore, to lead a digital library successfully, library leaders require a different combination of leadership knowledge, skills, abilities, attitudes, and experiences. In other word, library leadership requires recalibration in the digital age (Marcum, 2016).
Effects of Four Key Structural Changes on Library Leaders
Firstly, rapid and far-reaching technological changes, especially the digitalization of information and communications technologies, are common in all sectors in new society. The 16
profound development of digital technology is the primary catalyst for the change in academic libraries (Becker, 2017; Gwyer, 2015; Pinfield et al., 2017). Users can now access to information resources directly and remotely without intermediation from the librarians.
Such change in information seeking behavior marginalizes the librarians’ traditional roles as information gatekeepers and specialists. Library leaders need to reposition the libraries in their parent institutions and with key stakeholders in order to stay relevant and demonstrate value.
Secondly, due to accelerated globalization, academic libraries face more challenges and pressure to align with the institution’s vision, mission, and goals in a more globalized and diversified higher education environment. It is more important than ever for academic libraries to provide seamless and uninterrupted access to scholarly information. Library leaders need to keep abreast with the latest technological developments to meet this increasing demand on digital accessibility.
Thirdly, a shift toward knowledge as the central factor of production implies a shift from emphasis on collections to emphasis on services (Pinfield et al., 2017). Library leaders need to provide more specialized and customized services to users in the research process such as support data management plans; host collaborative virtual environments; create institutional repositories; and distribute research outputs through open access publishing models (Schmidt et al., 2016).
Fourthly, in terms of a more distributed and less hierarchical organizational structure, there is a shift in staff mix and organizational structure observed in libraries as new knowledge, skills, and abilities are required to provide new resource and service initiatives
(Schmidt et al., 2016). Experienced staff are optimally pairing up with technically savvy junior staff to create and innovate more library services for their users (Marcum, 2016). 17
Today, all these structural changes witnessed in libraries impose a need for library leaders to reexamine and recalibrate expanding necessary core leadership competencies to lead successfully in the digital age. Library leaders must reposition their operations, resources, services, and manpower to develop and foster stronger relationships and connections with their parent institutions and all stakeholders to remain relevant and demonstrate value (Delaney & Bates, 2015). Similarly, library leaders must make dramatic and strategic changes to expand and evolve from their traditional roles to meet the complex challenges brought by emerging technologies and changing user behaviors and demands
(Marcum, 2016). In other words, leadership of a different kind is deemed necessary to make this happen.
Stay Relevant and Demonstrate Value in the Hong Kong Context
Higher education in Hong Kong has transitioned from elitism to massification since the 2000s (Jung & Postiglione, 2015; Kember, 2010). This rapid expansion of higher education system was primarily achieved by self-funding sources (Jung & Postiglione, 2015; the Task Force, 2018; Wan, 2011). SHEIs play a significant role in providing more opportunities to young people in Hong Kong to continue their study. Libraries in these institutions are generally smaller in scale and bear more budgetary and manpower constraints.
These may influence their competitiveness in attracting and developing qualified library leaders. According to Gwyer (2015), “a more volatile higher education market means that librarians could be competing for funds within the institution more than previously; therefore, proving the value of the library to the organization is more important than ever before” (p.
276). Hence, it is imperative to revamp the core leadership competencies for library leaders to stay relevant and lead successfully in this rapidly changing higher education environment.
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Definition of Key Terms
This section defines the meaning of key terms as they are used in the context of this study.
Academic Libraries. “A library that is an integral part of a college, university, or other institution of postsecondary education, administered to meet the information and research needs of its students, faculty, and staff” (Online Dictionary for Library and
Information Science, 2013).
ACRL. Association of College and Research Libraries, which is the largest division of American Library Association, is the higher education association for academic libraries and library professionals (http://www.ala.org/acrl/).
Adaptive Challenges. Adaptive challenges are problems that are not clear-cut and cannot be resolved using authoritative expertise. They are not easy to resolve, as they often require changes in people’s underlying assumptions, values, beliefs, and norms, by means of reflections, and continuous learning (Heifetz et al., 2009).
Adaptive Leadership. “Adaptive leadership is the practice of mobilizing people to tackle tough challenges and thrive” (Heifetz et al., 2009, p.14).
ALA. American Library Association is the oldest and largest library association in the world. The mission of ALA is “to provide leadership for the development, promotion and improvement of library and information services and the profession of librarianship in order to enhance learning and ensure access to information for all” (http://www.ala.org/aboutala/).
ARL. Association of Research Libraries is “a non-profit membership organization of libraries and archives in major public and private universities, federal government agencies, and large public institutions in Canada and the US” (https://www.arl.org/who-we-are/). 19
CARL. Canadian Association of Research Libraries’ members include Canada’s twenty-nine largest university libraries and two federal institutions (https://www.carl- abrc.ca/).
Competencies. According to the Library Leadership and Management Association
(LLAMA, 2016), “Professional competencies comprise the knowledge, skills, and abilities which are teachable, measurable, and objective and which define and contribute to performance in librarianship” (http://www.ala.org/llama/leadership-and-management- competencies).
COVID-19. Coronavirus Disease 2019 is an infectious disease caused by a newly discovered coronavirus. It is now a pandemic affecting many countries globally (World
Health Organization, 2020).
CSIDS. The Open University of Hong Kong, Caritas Institute of Higher Education,
Chu Hai College of Higher Education, Hong Kong Shue Yan University, and Tung Wah
College collaboratively developed an online Collection Sharing and Information Discovery
System with a grant of over HK$50 million awarded by the Government of the HKSAR via the Quality Enhancement Support Scheme in 2014-2016. This system enables faculty members and students to easily find and access library resources among the five self- financing higher education institution libraries through a one-stop search interface
(http://www.csids.edu.hk/).
Emotional Intelligence. Northouse (2019) defined emotional intelligence as “the ability to perceive and express emotions, to use emotions to facilitate thinking, to understand and reason with emotions, and to effectively manage emotions within oneself and in relationships with others” (p. 28). 20
Holding Environment. It refers to an environment that “give a group identity and contain the conflict, chaos, and confusion often produced when struggling with complex problematic realities” (Heifetz et al., 2009, p. 305).
IPA. Interpretative phenomenological analysis “is a qualitative research approach committed to the examination of how people make sense of their major life experiences”
(Smith et al., 2009, p. 1).
Leadership. Burns (1978) defined leadership as “leaders inducing followers to act for certain goals that represent the values and motivations, the wants and needs, the aspirations and expectations – of both leaders and followers” (p. 19).
Library Leaders. A library leader is responsible for the strategic development of the library and oversees budget and human resources management. A library leader may have numerous titles, including dean, director, head librarian, college librarian, or university librarian in different higher education institutions. In this study, library leaders are either library directors or associate librarians of their respective institutions.
LLAMA. Library Leadership & Management Association is a division of ALA established in 1957. It is responsible for leadership and management in library and information science (http://www.ala.org/llama/).
Management. Rost (1991) defined management as “an authority relationship between at least one manager and one subordinate who coordinate their activities to produce and sell goods and/or services” (p. 145).
SCONUL. The Society of College, National and University Libraries represents all university libraries, national libraries, and many libraries with collections of national significance in the UK and Ireland (https://sconul.ac.uk/).
SHEIs. Self-financing higher education institutions refer to those institutions that do not receive any recurrent funding from the government for their operation. Presently, there 21
are twenty-nine non-profit-making SHEIs provide programs at the sub-degree level and above in Hong Kong.
The Task Force. Task Force on Review of Self-financing Post-secondary Education set up by the Government of the HKSAR in October 2017 to consider issues pertinent to the development of self-financing higher education sector.
Theoretical Framework
This study utilized the adaptive leadership theory proposed by Heifetz et al., (2009) as the theoretical framework to explore the nature and meaning of the phenomenon experienced, but unexplained by the participants. Heifetz (1994) first presented adaptive leadership theory in his seminal book, Leadership without Easy Answers. Heifetz and his co-workers, Marty
Linsky, and Alexander Grashow at the Center for Public Leadership at the John F. Kennedy
School of Government, Harvard University, have continued to refine the theory in the following two books: Leadership on the line: Staying alive through the dangers of change
(Heifetz & Linsky, 2002), and The practice of adaptive leadership: Tools and tactics for changing your organization and the world (Heifetz et al., 2009).
Adaptive Leadership Theory
Definition. Heifetz et al. (2009) defined adaptive leadership as “the practice of mobilizing people to tackle tough challenges and thrive” (p. 14). They drew concept of thriving from evolutionary ecology and suggested that successful adaptations enable a living system to take the best from its history into the future by preserving the DNA essential for survival, discarding the DNA no longer useful, and creating the DNA that enables the species to thrive in the challenging environments. They made an analogy of successful evolutionary change for the characteristics of adaptive leadership: “change that enables the capacity to thrive”, “changes build on the past”, “adaptation occurs through experimentation”,
“adaptation relies on diversity”, “new adaptations displace, reregulate, and rearrange some 22
old DNA”, and “adaptation takes time” (Heifetz et al., 2009, pp. 14-17). In short, adaptive leadership is a purposive evolution that deliberately helps individuals and organizations adapt and thrive in challenging environments.
Distinguishing technical problems and adaptive challenges. Adaptive leadership is a practice rather than a theory, which helps people to lead and mobilize for change. It recognizes that there are two types of problems: technical and adaptive. Technical problems are well-defined problems, and can be resolved with authoritative expertise while adaptive challenges are not clear-cut and cannot be resolved using authoritative expertise. They can only be addressed through changes in people’s underlying assumptions, values, beliefs, and norms, by means of reflections, and continuous learning. Hence, leaders have to engage all other stakeholders to observe, interpret challenging situations, and design effective interventions. Table 1 laid out the distinctions between technical problems and adaptive challenges.
Table 1 Distinguishing Technical Problems and Adaptive Challenges Kind of challenges Problem definition Solution Locus of work Technical Clear Clear Authority Technical and Clear Requires learning Authority and Adaptive stakeholders Adaptive Requires learning Requires learning Stakeholders Note. Reprinted from The practice of adaptive leadership: Tools and tactics for changing your organization and the world (p. 20), by R. A. Heifetz, A. Grashow and M. Linsky, 2009, Harvard Business Press. Copyright 2009 by Harvard Business Press.
Principles of adaptive leadership. Heifetz et al. (2009) summarized the way that adaptive leadership functions in six principles:
. Principle 1: Get on the balcony. This refers to leaders who are capable to see
larger patterns as if they are standing on a balcony by moving to and from the 23
field of action and the balcony for the benefits of the organization. Adaptive
leadership has to identify conflicting situations and struggles over norms, values,
and power, realize pattern of work avoidance, and look for other favorable and
unfavorable responses and reactions to changes. This principle is a prerequisite for
the other five principles.
. Principle 2: Identify the adaptive challenge. Problems in organization itself can
have technical and/or adaptive dimensions. Adaptive leaders need to address
appropriately and put forth more explicit and focused efforts to scrutinize the
complex internal and external environments and determine whether it is a
technical problem, an adaptive challenge, or a combination of both.
. Principle 3: Regulate distress. Adaptive leadership has to regulate stress,
pressure, and conflict and maintain a productive level of disequilibrium in the
adaptive work employees take on. This will create and maintain a “holding
environment” that can be a temporary place where a leader initiates and facilitates
the adaptive process. For example, they can organize a diverse work group to
discuss the differences and challenges confronting them, to frame and provide the
platform for debating issues and narrowing the gaps, and to clarify any
assumptions behind different contrasting perspectives and values.
. Principle 4: Maintain disciplined attention. Adaptive leaders need to encourage
their employees to concentrate on the tough tasks they need to work on. They
have to distinguish and counteract areas of distractions and work avoidance so that
employees can restore attention on key works within the adaptive process.
. Principle 5: Give the work back to people. This refers to executing adaptive
leadership by placing the adaptive work to the desired location and to those
responsible. Adaptive leaders need to support, but not take control, of their 24
employees by defining their roles and encouraging them to solve problems with
their expertise. Adaptive leaders also need to look for ways to develop collective
self-confidence by embracing success in completion of work by the followers
themselves.
. Principle 6: Protect voices of leadership from below. Adaptive leadership needs
to encourage the voices and feedback from minority groups. Adaptive leaders
should resist in silencing someone, who may point to the internal contradictions or
conflicts of the organizations or willingly indicate an impending adaptive
challenge, for the benefits of the majority.
Practice of adaptive leadership. Adaptive leaders need to possess an experimental mindset to facilitate an iterative adaptive process that comprise three key activities: observation, interpretation, and intervention. As solutions to adaptive challenges reside in the collective intelligence of stakeholders, therefore, it is important for adaptive leaders to initiate a courageous conversation to “resolve competing priorities and beliefs while preserving relationships” (Heifetz et al., 2009, p. 304). They need to create a holding environment that
“give a group identity and contain the conflict, chaos, and confusion often produced when struggling with complex problematic realities” and orchestrate the conflicts (Heifetz et al.,
2009, p. 305). At the end, they should be able to foster an adaptive culture to engage in five distinguishing practices: name the elephants in the room, share responsibility for the organization’s future, exercise independent judgment, develop leadership capacity, and institutionalize refection and continuous learning, that enable their organizations and communities to meet the ongoing challenges.
To sum up, adaptive leadership differs from traditional theory and prevailing idea of leadership that comprises of giving a clear vision and solutions, and aligning considerably passive individuals to adhere to guidelines and directions set forth by leaders. According to 25
Heifetz and Laurie (1997), adaptive leaders have an advantage over all other leadership styles in being able to adjust strategies or leadership behaviors based on the situation they face whereas the traditional leader acts like a dominant figure who exhibited a “combination of grand knowing and salesmanship” (p. 134). Adaptive leaders are those able to mobilize, motivate, organize, orient, and focus the attention of others to address and resolve challenges.
Critics of the Theoretical Framework
Adaptive leadership is an emergent leadership model developed over two decades and various authors have added new knowledge to it since the original work done by Heifetz in
1994. For instance, Glover et al., (2002, 2002b) applied Piaget’s concepts of assimilation and accommodation as complementary approaches for leaders to lead and learn in the changing environment. In addition, they proposed the developments of four skills: cultural competency, knowledge management, creating synergy from diversity, and holistic vision, to practice adaptive leadership in order to respond to changing environment. These concepts have not been covered in Heifetz’s original work of adaptive leadership.
Yukl and Mahsud (2010) clarified different conceptions of flexible and adaptive leadership. Despite the fact that they regarded flexible and adaptive leadership as essential in today’s organizations, they commented that many aspects of this leadership such as skills, traits, impact on unit performance, and how this impact varies for different contexts and different levels of organizations have not yet been extensively explored. What’s more, they proposed more rigorous research methods, including intensive and longitudinal studies that should be used to identify the skills, patterns, and behavior that explain how leaders employ effective adaption to the changing environment.
Northouse (2019) commented on the inadequacy of empirical research that has been conducted to test the claims of adaptive leadership theory. He suggested refining the conceptualization of the adaptive leadership process by incorporating four different 26
perspectives in the domains of systems, biological, service orientation, and psychotherapy.
Systems perspective perceives that many problems people face are embedded in various complicated interactive systems. Biological perspective recognizes people develop and evolve by adapting to both internal and external environments. In service orientation perspective, adaptive leaders serve people by diagnosing their problems and prescribing possible solutions. In psychotherapy perspective, adaptive leaders understand people need a supportive environment to adapt more successfully when they face difficult problems.
Adaptive leaders support the followers to learn to distinguish between dream and reality, resolve internal conflicts, and learn new perspectives and behaviors.
Uhl-Bien and Arena (2018) further developed a framework of leadership for organizational adaptability. They relabeled three types of leadership required for developing adaptive capability in an organization. They are entrepreneurial leadership, enabling leadership, and operational leadership. Entrepreneurial leadership is pushing for exploration.
It attempts to create new skills, competencies, and processes for organizational sustainability.
Operational leadership is pushing for performance results. It is the administrative part where organizations have managers or operational leaders who thrive for performance results.
Enabling leadership creates, engages, and protects an adaptive space “that generates adaptability in the interface between the competing demands of exploration (i.e., entrepreneurial activity) and exploitation (i.e., operational core)” (Uhl-Bien & Arena, 2018, p. 96). Enabling leaders create and hold an adaptive space in the organizations to engage tension and connect to trigger and amplify advance ideas into adaptive responses such as new knowledge, innovation, and learning that can be implemented into the operating core in the form of new adaptive order. 27
Rationale for Adaptive Leadership Theory
There are several reasons for selecting adaptive leadership as the theoretical framework in this study. First, library leaders face challenges and pressure brought by emerging technologies and changing user behaviors and demands in the digital age.
Consequently, there are both routine, well-defined technical problems and more complex, not well-defined adaptive challenges. Adaptive challenges normally arise in an organization whenever the deeply held assumptions, beliefs or values are no longer applicable or challenged because of the changes in external and internal demands (Heifetz et al., 1997). In other words, organization values those that have been successful in the past may turn out to be less relevant. Numerous studies found the traditional role of libraries as gatekeepers of information has become less pronounced but evolved into extended roles in the digital age
(Corrall, 2010; Harger, 2019; Lewis, 2015; McNeil, 2015).
Hence, the current study focusses on reexamining expanding necessary core leadership competencies for library leaders of HKSHEIs to stay more relevant with the use of new tools, practices, and perspectives in the digital age. According to ACRL, the broadness of the changing higher education landscape that affects academic libraries is alarming and the issues influence students, faculty, and colleagues in a critical manner (ACRL, 2019).
Therefore, library leaders need to identify necessary core leadership competencies for them to survive in the changing environment. Riggs (2001) contended that, “Managing change is not good enough. We must anticipate, plan, and lead change. With the impact of the evolving library technology, some librarians who have been successful in the past may not be successful in the future, if they continue doing things they have been doing in the past. Their learning process will have to change significantly; for example, they will have to talk with different people, listen to different people, and in a sense they will have to unlearn those activities that brought them success in the past” (p.10). 28
Second, seeing library leaders encounter unprecedented changes in the contemporary information landscape influences academic libraries, which include technological developments, changing natures of scholarly communication, changing user behaviors, and the need for collaboration (Gwyer, 2015, 2018). This way, the adaptive leadership model can be applied to this dynamic context. Adaptive leaders will engage to facilitate the library staff to feel the pain of the reality of the ongoing changes in their roles and responsibilities, and stimulate them to adapt to new reality by redefining their existing norms, values, behaviors, priorities, attitudes, and beliefs into new practices and perspectives (Heifetz et al., 2004).
Moreover, Heifetz et al. (2009) described adaptive leadership shares similarities with environment biology, as it is “specifically about change that enables the capacity to thrive”
(p. 14). Leaders who proceed to treat adaptive challenges as if they are technical will fail eventually. Randall and Coakley (2007) are the first to adopt adaptive leadership as a process to address the new demands of today’s more business-oriented higher education environment.
They investigated two case studies to analyze how the leaders engage and execute the adaptive process. The primary case is related to the crisis management at a four-year college and the subsequent case is related to the successful rebuilding of a graduate program. What the authors found is that Heifetz’s adaptive process has successfully provided a set of guidelines that enable leaders to realize when and how to address to the changing academia.
Likewise, academic libraries are facing an existential crisis in the digital age (Le,
2015). Many of them are experiencing organizational restructuring, which require a redefinition on their new job descriptions and emerging educational roles (Vassilakaki &
Moniarou-Papaconstantinou, 2015). As such, the adaptive leadership theory is considered more applicable in this current study as leaders have to choose to change, or they may be extinct or incapable to remain relevant and demonstrate value. 29
Positionality Statement
Positionality is the stance or positioning adopted by the researcher in relation to the context of the study. It is an individual’s perspective of the world, and different researchers choose to adopt their positions comparable to specific research errands. In conducting research, the researcher’s positionality affects every phase of the research process, from how the question and problem to be constructed, to how the research to be designed and conducted, to how the data to be collected and analyzed, and, finally, to how the finding is reported and communicated (Rowe, 2014). Recognizing that the researcher is the primary instrument for data collection and analysis in qualitative study, this positionality statement intends to identify my personal values, judgments, assumptions, preoccupations, and biases that may influence at the outset of the study.
I was born and raised in Hong Kong. After I received a Bachelor of Arts at the
Chinese University of Hong Kong, I continued to pursue a Master of Librarianship at the
University of Wales, Aberystwyth. Being a librarian is a moveable feast to me. The ever- changing and renewing job nature helps to quench my thirst for knowledge. I returned to
Hong Kong after my study and began to work in a publicly-funded university library. It was an era where I saw extraordinary advances in information technology with the blooming of the World Wide Web. To keep abreast with the latest technologies and developments in the library profession, I pursued a second degree in Master of Information Management and
Systems at Monash University some years later. I am constantly fascinated in how the emerging technologies change the ways we learn, inquire, research, and manage information, which in turn influence library strategies, operations, resources, and services.
During my service in a publicly-funded university library, I had the opportunity to work in different specialized areas, including acquisitions, serials, and cataloging. I contributed in the aspects of collection building and served as a subject specialist. I also got 30
the opportunity to take up senior roles in administration and project management. During my stay, I had been involved in new initiatives, including constructing a new learning common, conducting feasibility studies on library renovation, and promoting library resources and services. All these experiences empowered me to have a better understanding of the opportunities and challenges in today’s academic libraries.
I took up the challenge to be the library director in a HKSHEI after working in the publicly-funded university library for almost 15 years. The library is the focal point of intellectual exploration and collaboration in our educational community. My institution was established by a renowned charitable organization in 2010 with a core mission of providing high quality tertiary education in the areas of nursing, medical, and healthcare for our society.
It has been developed rapidly, and the student population has exceeded 2,800 in 2020. Our ultimate goal is to become a quality and leading private university in the near future.
In 2014, I had the honor to collaborate with librarians from four other SHEIs to implement a HK$50.77 million Quality Enhancement Support Scheme (QESS) project titled
“Collection Sharing and Information Discovery System (CSIDS) with Enriched Digital
Content” supported by the government. The objectives of this project were two-fold: to develop an online platform that facilitates the discovery and retrieval of electronic resources from among the five partner libraries through a one-stop search interface; and to enhance the libraries’ digital contents by building a shared electronic book collection through joint purchases. The project was successfully completed in 2016, and the collaboration among
SHEI libraries continue.
I have mixed feelings about being a librarian in the digital age. On the one hand, I feel optimistic about the opportunities brought by the rapidly changing higher education environment and technological advancement. On the other hand, I perceive the increase in the complexity of demands and requirements for additional resources and better services from the 31
learning community. These require the need to reexamine core leadership competencies for library leaders in SHEIs in a close and deep manner.
Machi and McEvoy (2016) explained that personal attachment to an interest is a prerequisite for conducting good research as it provides the enthusiasm and passion required.
However, personal attachment can also carry biases and opinions, so it is important for the researchers to perceive and control them by assessing and confronting their views to be open- minded, critical, and considerate when gathering research data to avoid producing biased conclusions.
As a novice scholar practitioner, it is significant for me to painstakingly consider my own positionality and its influence throughout the doctoral study. Briscoe (2005) contended that one’s demographic positioning affects but does not decide one’s ideological positioning nor how it discursively positions the other. Despite the fact that it is impossible for the researcher to be completely shielded from personal biases and opinions, I have figured out how to stay alert of such potential biases, preconceptions, presuppositions, and assumptions no matter where they originate.
As indicated by Parsons (2008), “individuals construct an understanding of the world and perceive themselves to occupy a particular location within the reality they construe are key premises of positionality” (p. 1129). I am aware of the roles such as race, class, gender, custom, and culture that may come into play in understanding and interpreting those samples of participants under study. It is essential for me to better manage my own subjectivity and reflect on my positionality to ensure the trustfulness of the research. I trust that positionality requires an explicit self-awareness and self-assessment on my personal views and positions that may influence the ultimate findings. 32
Conclusion
Library leaders in the digital age are experiencing unprecedented challenges unlike anything they have ever encountered. They need to assume the challenges and opportunities to continue to play a significant role in the rapidly changing higher education environment.
Quite often, this requires them to evaluate their roles and responsibilities and to scan the environment for ways to stay relevant and demonstrate value. Core competencies are critical for library leaders to make the resources and service libraries offer successful. In that capacity, it is essential to find out what the necessary core leadership competencies for library leaders are in the Hong Kong higher education context.
In this study, an interpretative phenomenological analysis (IPA) approach is adopted to examine the expanding necessary core leadership competencies for library leaders of
HKSHEIs by means of semi-structured interviews with library leaders of these institutions.
IPA would facilitate to understand the lived experience of the research participants and how they make sense of it. The researcher in turn will make sense of the participants’ understanding of their leadership experiences in real life. The researcher will hopefully extract the essence of these experiences and add new insights to the existing literature of core leadership competencies for library leaders of higher education sector. This will eventually benefit current and aspiring library leaders in other institutions, who may find those changes and challenges easier to adapt and resolve in a similar context. 33
Chapter Two: Literature Review
Library leaders of HKSHEIs are operating in a rapidly changing environment in the digital age, requiring them to evaluate their roles and responsibilities and to scan the environment for ways to stay relevant and demonstrate value. No studies have been conducted to examine how these leaders perceive and experience expanding necessary core leadership competencies in the digital age, and how they make sense of acquiring and applying these competencies to lead successfully. To answer this inquiry, this review explores four primary threads of literature to provide a focused perspective of the phenomenon under study. Part 1 discusses the research on the new demands brought about by the key structural changes in the digital age. Part 2 examines the research on academic library leadership. Part 3 explores the research on core leadership competencies for academic library leaders. Part 4 reviews the research related to problem of practice in the context of Hong
Kong higher education sector.
Part 1: Structural Changes Bring About New Demands
This section reviews the research on the new demands brought about by the key structural changes in the digital age. As discussed earlier in Chapter One, four key structural changes are reshaping leadership in the new digital society: “rapid and fast-reaching technologies”, especially in the aspect of digitalization, “accelerated globalization”, “a shift toward knowledge as the central factor of production”, and “more distributed, less hierarchical organizational forms” (Wilson, 2004, p. 858). All these key structural changes have brought about new demands that intensively affect the environment that the academic libraries and their leaders are operating. To keep on remaining relevant and demonstrating value, library leaders need to find ways to adapt to these structural changes. Four parts include in this section are new demands in the digital age, new practices and perspectives, new identity for academic libraries and library leaders, and new tools. 34
New Demands in the Digital Age
Generation Z preferences. The Association of College and Research Libraries
[ACRL] (2019) conducted a biennial environmental scan of the issues influencing academic libraries in higher education. Their report observed that academic libraries are now serving a different group of college students known as Generation Z or referred to elsewhere as the iGen or Google Generation, who were born between mid-1990s and early 2010s. Labelled as digital natives, Generation Z students have interacted with digital technology since they were very young. They show high adaptability with technology and are comfortable with using mobile devices, Internet, streaming technology, and social media. These digital-minded students are progressively accustomed and preferred to instant connectedness and accessibility of information in both textual and visual formats, and expect learning can happen anytime and anyplace. YouTube has become the most favorable social media platform of Generation Z and they use it for both entertainment and educational purposes
(ACRL, 2019).
Compared to the earlier generations, Generation Z students have heightened expectations of incorporating technology into their learning (ACRL, 2019). They are more reliant on the Internet as the primary source of obtaining information and conducting research. In their eyes, libraries have no monopoly for providing access to scholarly information, as there are numerous information providers such as Google and Wikipedia available in the digital world (Cox, 2019; Gwyer, 2015). Students are more likely to access library databases and services online remotely and less eager to look for help from librarians at the counter (ACRL, 2019). As such, library leaders face complex challenges in fulfilling the new service demands of instant accessibility and building their digital and information literacy. 35
Datafied scholarship. The Society of College, National and University Libraries
(SCONUL), which represents the college, national, and university libraries in the UK and
Ireland, identified a trend of datafied scholarship that is likely to bring significant change in libraries (Pinfield et al., 2017). In this study, SCONUL expressed datafied scholarship as “a combination of various trends, including open access (OA), open science, TDM, artificial intelligence and machine learning, the Internet of Things, digital humanities and academic social networking services” (Pinfield et al., 2017, p. 16). Traditionally, academic libraries are dealt with mainly physical collections retrievable through local systems. Today’s complex and enormous datasets and digital artefacts increasingly support research in all disciplines.
Libraries are required to handle research outputs, which incorporate digital media and collections of scholarly information appearing in various formats such as text, data, images, websites, and simulations, accessible in an “open, networked and algorithmically driven systems” (Pinfield et al., 2017, p. 4).
As the manner in which individuals conduct research and share its outputs is completely different from the past, library leaders must adopt emerging technologies and reframe mindset to facilitate the access, retrieval, and application of knowledge in the online scholarly network (Pinfield et al., 2017). This requires new competencies of library leaders to support datafied scholarship in the network environment by “promoting OA, setting up publishing services, developing research data management policies and running repositories”
(Pinfield et al., 2017, p. 17). Doing so will allow library leaders to stay relevant with the changing demands driven by the advancement of scholarly communication in higher education.
New Practices and Perspectives
A shift towards service-oriented emphasis. New practices and perspectives are seen in today’s libraries as information is created, collected, processed, disseminated, and utilized 36
electronically in the digital age. The SCONUL study identified a trend of service-oriented libraries with a shift from emphasis on collections to emphasis on offering a range of new services to support scholarship, teaching, and learning (Pinfield et al., 2017). Today’s academic libraries can no longer just focus on the size of their physical collections. There is a growing concern on what they can contribute in the learning and research processes.
Academic libraries currently provide increasingly specialized and customized services to the researchers to fulfill the needs of academic community in the research process (Schmidt et al., 2016). For instance, some libraries assist the researchers to construct collaborative virtual environments, which is a virtual space that empower users from various physical boundaries to work and collaborate. They support researchers by establishing academic social networking services to promote online interaction and exchange. Besides, they help to distribute research outputs through open access publishing models. Librarians have become an integral partner and collaborator in the research process. To adapt and evolve successfully from the traditional collection management orientation to this newer service orientation, academic libraries need competent leaders to prioritize resources strategically and develop talented staff to contribute in the learning and research processes (Pinfield et al., 2017).
Emergence of post-hierarchical library. Library organization structure has been adjusted in the digital age. The traditional library organization structure is hierarchical and departmental oriented (Sweeney, 1994). There are numerous departments like acquisitions, cataloguing, circulation, multimedia, reference, serials, and systems based on functions and activities. However, an organizational structure must adjust quickly to changing goals, needs, priorities, and conditions to survive and remain pertinent. In a post-hierarchical library, which is a flattened organization with empowered cross-functional teams, library leaders are expected to reinvent and reengineer work processes that focus on user-centric services and improved accessibility of information (Sweeney, 1994). In that capacity, a post-hierarchical 37
library requires new kind of leadership to meet the increasing user service demands with reduced resources and more staff empowerment. Sweeney (1994) summarized that a post- hierarchical library leader must be “a strategist, communicator, coordinator, planner, motivator, nurturer, recruiter, teacher, negotiator, and mediator” (p. 85). He portrayed the new library leaders as a new breed as they carry on uniquely in contrast to the traditional library administrators.
New Identity for Academic Libraries and Library Leaders
Blurred identity in the digital world. Academic libraries’ identity is being more obscured in the digital world. Users now access to their library’s online collections while simultaneously access digital resources available from other information suppliers. Cox
(2019) asserted, “the ubiquity and convenience of digital devices make a visit to the library a matter of choice rather than necessity” (p. [4]). The utilization of library’s physical resources and facilities has kept on declining. The SCONUL study also pointed out that “what a library is and what a librarian stands for is becoming less clear” (Pinfield et al., 2017, p. 20). In other words, the line between the library and other parties of the university is unclear. Many services, such as learning spaces, repositories, open access support, and digital literacy instruction provided by the libraries, can also be obtained from other units of the higher education institutions. As the positioning of the library affects its “recognition, resourcing, and prospects” on campus, library leaders need to find ways to communicate the library’s value to their parent institutions and with key stakeholders, which impose new needs for more awareness, marketing, and outreach (Cox, 2018, p. 217).
Changing roles of librarians. Numerous studies investigated the evolving roles of librarians in the digital age (Bell & Shank, 2004; Corrall, 2010; Cox & Corrall, 2013; Pinfield et al., 2017; Vassilakaki & Moniarou-Papaconstantinou, 2015). Bell and Shank (2004) argued that there is a growing ambiguity about the professional role of academic librarians in this 38
period of tumultuous change. In their view, there is a need for “blended librarians” who can mesh the traditional librarian expertise with new technological proficiency, and apply both to cater for the changing instructional demands in the educating-learning process. The philosophy behinds blended librarianship tied closely with the adaption from the traditional roles into innovators or change agents in the changing higher education environment.
Likewise, Corrall (2010) used the term “blended professionals” to highlight the boundary spanning nature of academic librarian’s roles in today’s networked environment.
She stressed the need for an extended skill set, which require “the blending of technical, professional, managerial and interpersonal skills” (p. 573). Cox and Corrall (2013) further examined the whole trajectory of the library profession through job advertisements, surveys, and individual case studies. They discovered massive emergence of new library specialty terminologies such as systems librarians, electronic resources librarians, digital librarians, institutional repository (IR) managers, clinical librarians and informationists, digital curator/research data managers, teaching librarians/information literacy educators, and information and knowledge managers. Their study provided a new perspective on the evolution of the library profession from a traditional information gatekeeper role to various evolving and expanding roles assumed in the digital age.
Vassilakaki and Moniarou-Papaconstantinou (2015) conducted a systematic literature review of the emerging roles of library professionals from 2000 to 2014. They summarized the six new and evolving roles that librarians have adopted are teachers, technology specialists, embedded librarians, information consultants, knowledge managers, and subject librarians. Their study likewise highlighted the educational responsibilities of librarians and their active engagement in the learning ad research processes. They viewed collaboration between librarians and faculty as the most important factor for delivering successful instruction. The findings demonstrated that the traditional roles of library professionals have 39
transformed, and new roles have constantly emerged to respond and adapt to technological, social, and economic changes.
The SCONUL study investigated on how libraries are positioning themselves to continue to play a vital role in higher education. The study anticipated a multifaceted perspective of alignment as follows (Pinfield et al., 2017, p. 6):
. “Service-provider - delivering key services and support activities required by
users in line with institutional requirements, often at scale
. Partner - working alongside users and other professional services organisations,
often through projects or embedded working
. Leader - innovating in new areas, persuading key stakeholders of the way forward
and contributing to overall institutional strategy, creating and communicating a
compelling vision”
The study concluded that all three approaches are important for libraries to balance their position within the institutions. Instead of responding reactively, this requires stronger leadership in the libraries to align closely with the institutional mission in a rapidly changing environment.
New Tools
Library service platforms. Traditional library systems that were primarily developed for printed collections are no longer adequate in the digital age. New Media Consortium
(NMC) Horizon Report (Becker et al., 2017) anticipated that new tools and resources would be used to improve teaching, learning, and research experience. The report expressed that new library service platforms are being developed to accommodate a broader spectrum of library materials, such as journal articles, e-books, reports, theses, and digital artefacts to meet the users’ heightened expectations of ubiquitous access using assorted gadgets. These platforms are web-driven and highly automated, which are cohesive for managing and 40
curating both print and digital contents and eliminating the need for installing software in multiple locations. Some HKSHEI libraries implemented new library discovery platforms in mid-2010s to better manage their printed and digital collections and to enrich user experience. As the library system landscape is becoming increasingly sophisticated, this requires new knowledge and competencies of library leaders in implementing and managing them well.
Big data. Big data can be comprehended through the 3Vs concept: volume, variety, and velocity. These data sets are complex and enormous, yet are additionally developed rapidly in a brief period. All these features make the data difficult to be captured, stored, analyzed, and transferred in the traditional manners. Digital collections acquired by libraries and digital scholarship generated in campus can be considered as a form of big data. Big data has incredible implications for academic libraries for their roles as facilitators and collaborators of the research process (Becker et al., 2017). Recently, the emergence of academic data librarianship turns into an important part of library services. Librarians need to work with different forms of data and face challenges in handling different stages of data lifecycle from collection development to preservation. New positions, such as research data librarians and data curation specialists, emerge in the library profession. Academic librarians may require new competencies such as statistical programming, critical-thinking, and presentation skills, as there is growing interest on data and analytics in higher education.
They may also need to be familiar with data analysis software, such as SPSS, to provide analytical research assistance.
Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Internet of Things (IoT). As indicated by the NMC
Horizon Report (Becker et al., 2017), some academic libraries explore the use of emerging technological tools, such as AI and IoT, to expand the utility and reach of their resources and services. AI leverages computer science to create intelligent machines that can learn and 41
make decision as humans do. These machines have the potential to assist scholars to locate connections among enormous data sets in cross-disciplinary researches. For instance,
Semantic Scholar, which was launched in 2016, is a scholastic search engine that utilizes data mining and natural language processors to compare and contrast thousands of publications to discover the most relevant studies for users (Becker et al., 2017).
IoT is the network of physical objects that are embedded with sensors or processors for transmitting and sharing data with other computing gadgets over the Internet. This new tool can possibly connect library resources and services to physical spaces and enhance utilization (Becker et al., 2017). More explorations on applications of IoT in academic libraries are required to maximize its usage.
Connected learning. The SCONUL study depicted connected learning as combining
“trends around changing pedagogies, learning analytics, students as customers, social media and mobile computing” (Pinfield et al., 2017, p. 17). One of the key points of connected learning is to facilitate learning experience of students from a wide range of countries in a globalized higher education environment. These students have heightened expectations of pursuing their learning flexibly and gaining access to learning resources anytime and anyplace. Academic libraries expedite this new trend by constructing learning commons to provide share space for information technology, to enhance collaboration, to broaden access to learning resources, and to provide new learning experiences. In addition, some libraries provide Makerspace, which is a collaborative workspace outfitted with resources, such as 3-D printers, to cultivate social connections. Dempsey (2015) also observed that the physical library space is experiencing an evolutionary change. Instead of configuring around library collections and access to them, it is now being configuring around experiences. 42
Part 2: Academic Library Leadership
This section reviews the research on academic library leadership. The first part included in this section is related to the application of adaptive leadership in libraries. The second part includes in this section is related to new leadership perspectives, roles, and specializations, and it is followed by reviewing earlier perspective of academic library leadership and academic library leadership in the digital age.
Adaptive Leadership in Academic Libraries
Little research existed to document how adaptive leadership was applied in academic libraries (Gwyer, 2010; Kwan, 2013, Kwan & Shen, 2015; Wong & Chan, 2018). Only a few authors reviewed some general principles on adaptive leadership in their publications. Gwyer
(2010) reviewed management and library literatures, illustrating ways to assist academic library leaders to lead successfully in the economically difficult times. She categorized her findings under these headings: embracing change, focusing on people, and focusing on value
(Gwyer, 2010). She asserted that a new type of leadership is required to bring closure to the past and empower moving forward. She highlighted some principles and insights of the adaptive leadership model proposed by Heifetz et al. (2009) that are valuable to library leaders.
For instance, adaptive leaders need to perceive the fundamental needs and new demands from the nonessential, and “embrace dis-equilibrium by keeping people in sufficient discomfort that change is induced” (Gwyer, 2010, p. 7). She further elucidated that “from now on we need to foster adaptation in order to develop next practices” (Gwyer, 2010, p. 7). She also urges library leaders that it is imperative to work collaboratively, to talk with and assert staff, and to allow new leaders at all levels to participate in the time of extraordinary change.
Kwan (2013) investigated and ranked senior US librarians’ perceptions of successful leadership skills in the 21st century. She touched on the topic of adaptive leadership briefly when she presented the concept of complexity leadership, which is a theory built upon 43
adaptive leadership theory proposed by Heifetz and Linsky (2002). Kwan (2013) clarified that adaptive leadership can be seen and is demonstrated in terms of adaptive work, which comprises of the knowledge and skills required to manage conflicts in the different values hold among people. Nevertheless, she did not clarify further about how senior librarians perceived it and how adaptive leadership was applied in academic libraries.
Wong and Chan (2018) classified most of the challenges facing academic libraries as adaptive rather than technical in nature. They suggested that it is essential for library leaders
“to examine their traditional services and values, rethink their priorities, revamp existing practices, and reinvent their expertise” (Wong & Chan, 2018, p. 110). Five examples related to learning space, research data management, digital scholarship, information literacy course enhancement, and shared integrated library system workflow reengineering are provided to demonstrate how the adaptive leadership model may guide library leaders to handle adaptive challenges in different development processes. Yet, more studies of how adaptive leadership applies in academic libraries, especially in smaller ones, are needed to be explored.
Based on the above literature review on new demands brought by the structural changes, it is clear that the knowledge, skills, and abilities applied in the digital age is progressively complex and evolving with the environmental changes and new demands from institutional, social, economic, and even political forces. In the digital age, the issues and challenges are becoming more and more complex in library development, and those problems bear not only technical but also adaptive elements. Hence, only relying on traditional leadership models like transformational and transactional leaderships is not sufficient to address those inter-related issues among different stakeholders in the parent institutions.
An emerging leadership model called adaptive leadership is more appropriate to address the multifaceted issues of library in the ever-changing environment due to dramatic technological advancement. It is the practice of “mobilizing people to tackle tough challenges 44
and thrive” (Heifetz et al., 2009). The key elements of adaptive leadership include six principles: Get on the balcony, Identifying the adaptive challenges, Regulate distress,
Maintain disciplined attention, Give the work back to people, and Protect voices of leadership from below (Heifetz et al., 2009).
Similarly, academic librarians confront with constant change in their profession. Riggs
(2001) reflected the reality facing some librarians that “With the impact of evolving library technology, some librarians who have been successful in the past may not be successful in the future if they continue doing things they have been doing in the past [...] In a sense, they will have to unlearn those activities that brought them success in the past” (p. 10). Leadership is not a function limited only to library leaders and senior administrative team, but it should be manifested in all levels of organization. Likewise, adaptive leaders in library profession have to manage in the evolving roles of engaging every stakeholder, including library staff at all levels, faculty, and students, to navigate together the change process through learning and innovation in the adaptive work in the digital age. Together, they formulate the most appropriate sets of solutions that would create values and benefits to the parent institutions and their stakeholders.
New Leadership Perspectives, Roles, and Specializations
Earlier perspective of academic library leadership. Academic library leadership is a neglected topic in library literature (Gertzog, 1992; Karp & Murdock, 1998; Mason &
Wetherbee, 2004; Phillips, 2014; Riggs, 2001). Although discussions of this topic in professional literature can be traced as earliest as the late 1980s, few empirical studies have been conducted. Harger (2019) stressed that the study of academic library leadership is dominated by opinion articles. A large portion of the related studies has been conducted by a small group of researchers, with some additional research papers that are inspired by these major studies. In addition, the seminal works on academic library leadership have been 45
written almost 20 years ago (Harger, 2019). Hence, there is not much variety in methodology and subject area related to academic library leadership.
As author of the first books on library leadership, Riggs (2001) pinpointed the scarcity of studies on this topic. He mentioned that library schools are not preparing their students to become a library leader. These schools were teaching administration while business schools were teaching management. Presently, these schools are teaching management while business schools are teaching leadership. He anticipated that a library leadership crisis would occur if no proper attention were given to this extremely important topic. Karp and Murdock (1998) also attested that “leadership as a concept in the profession of librarianship seems not to be concretely acknowledged as a legitimate entity that merits clearly identified discussion and definition” (p. 251).
Leadership trainings and developments have been hampered by an absence of agreement about what constitute library leadership and leadership competencies among library professionals and educators. Mason and Wetherbee (2004) analyzed current training programs for library leadership and discovered it is not until early 1990s that leadership as a desired skill or competency began to appear more frequently in the library literature.
Moreover, it is complex for “librarians working in different types of libraries and librarians in different stages of their careers” to define skills (Mason & Wetherbee, 2004, p. 192). They proposed that more work have to be done “to clarify a library-focused list of leadership competencies” (Mason & Wetherbee, 2004, p. 214).
An absence of clear definition of leadership in the library profession and problem statement can make the topic hard to research and report. Branin (2012), the editor of College
& Research Libraries, expressed although academic library leadership is one of the most important and long-lasting topics in the profession, the journal has published only two articles on the topic from 2010 to 2012. He remarked that the topic is big and difficult as it is unclear 46
what is academic library leadership and what are the specific aspects of this leadership. He suggested that more research and reports on library leadership that is new are required to nurture and prepare aspiring leaders in the profession.
In addition, an apparent confusion between management and leadership in the context of librarianship has been discussed in the library literature (Mason & Wetherbee, 2004;
Phillips, 2014; Riggs, 2001).The terms managers and leaders are essentially used in an interchangeable way. For instance, Mech (1990) examined the external roles of 354 academic library directors as figurehead, liaison, monitor, spokesperson, and negotiator and the internal roles as leader, disseminator, entrepreneur, disturbance handler, and resource allocator. He discovered that these directors are more involved with internal rather than external managerial roles and noted that there are significant differences between academic library directors at larger research universities and those at smaller baccalaureate and community colleges. Baccalaureate and community college directors are less externally oriented. These library directors spend less time as negotiators and decision makers, and emphasize more on technical skills. Mech (1990) summarized that these directors are “tend to the library and perform more as professional librarians than as managers” (p. 425). This evinced Riggs’s
(2001) claim that there is an obvious misidentification of leadership as simply management.
Riggs (2001) additionally differentiated the role of managers and that of leaders in libraries. He pointed out managers “work within defined bounds of known quantities, using well-established techniques to accomplish predetermined ends” (Riggs, 2001, p. 6) while leaders understand what the mission of an organization is and how it can be reached successfully. He eventually remarked that libraries are essentially over-managed but presently under-led as leadership is being ignored. In that capacity, more attention should be paid to library leadership. 47
Mason and Wetherbee (2004) hold a comparable view as Riggs (2001). They remarked that “management is about what things get done, while leadership is about how things get done” (Mason & Wetherbee, 2004, p. 190). In their opinion, leaders are more than managers as leaders has the ability to create a vision for the library, engage others to achieve this vision, and create an environment for others to implement this vision. Although management and leadership are two distinct concepts and disciplines, in real life, it is not possible to take one without the other (Phillips, 2014; Riggs, 2001; Wilson, 2016). Being a practical professional, both management and leadership are closely related and important in the daily experiences of librarians (Phillips, 2014).
The study of academic library leadership additionally lacks a systematic and structural approach. Most of the studies are opinion articles and not empirically based findings (Harger,
2019). Different research come up with different lists of skills, attributes, traits, styles, behaviors, or competencies ideal for library leaders since late 1980s. Weiner (2003) reviewed the literature on academic library leadership in the United States from 1980 to 2003. She observed that transformational versus transactional leadership, but not the other models, have begun to be studied in the academic library context. In particular, Weiner (2003) examined three main topics on academic library leadership: first, recruitment, leadership potential identification, career development; second, roles and responsibilities; and third, characteristics and management style. She stressed the importance of leadership as it influences the “effectiveness, institutional role, and adaptability [of a library]” (Weiner, 2003, p. 5). She remarked that even some studies have been conducted to elaborate those three topics on academic library leadership, it is obvious that many aspects have not been fully addressed and explored. Therefore, a more comprehensive approach with cohesive and evidence-based research in the study of academic library leadership is deemed necessary. 48
Academic library leadership in the digital age. Academic libraries need competent leaders to lead successfully in the rapidly changing higher education landscape in the digital age. Nevertheless, the importance of being competent library leaders has not been fully explored in the library literature (Hendrix, 2010; Le, 2015; Staley & Malenfant, 2010).
Hendrix (2010) expressed that in Checking out the Future: Perspectives from the Library
Community on Information Technology and 21st Century Libraries that “in the 21st century, the digital revolution shows no signs of slowing down. To remain relevant, any institution, including one as established as libraries, must evaluate its place in a world increasingly lived online” (p. 3). He stressed the importance for librarians to take a positive and proactive role in confronting the challenges and opportunities in the digital age. Four key themes that changing the library community are identified: first, technology changes traditional information forms; second, digitization changes the landscape of information access and use; third, new information processes change libraries, library services, and librarians; and fourth, the future is collaboration. Nevertheless, none of these key themes have explored what academic library leadership should like in the digital age and how a library leader should do to lead successfully.
Staley and Malenfant (2010) presented 26 potential scenarios based on an implication assessment of current trends, which may influence academic libraries over the next 15 years.
These scenarios cover aspects of “academic culture, demographics, distance education, funding, globalization, infrastructure/facilities, libraries, political climate, publishing industry, societal values, students/learning and technology” (Staley & Malenfant, 2010, p.
60). Again, none of these scenarios has addressed the issue of academic library leadership in the digital age.
Le (2015) remarked, “The literature on academic library leadership in general and library leadership in the digital age is particularly scarce” (p. 301). He conducted a survey to 49
examine the academic library leadership skills required by individuals who are in senior academic library leadership positions throughout the United States. He concluded that the most important academic library leadership attributes in the digital age are vision, integrity, management skills, collaboration skills, and communication skills (Le, 2015). In this study, a total of 38 surveys have been sent out and 14 participants have returned the survey. Although
36.8% of the participants have provided feedback, the findings only represented views of senior librarians in large and medium-size academic libraries in the U.S. context. The core competencies relevant to the specific Hong Kong context may not be comparable.
Kwan and Shen (2015) suggested a different kind of leadership is required in new context, which involves “digitization, global libraries, cultural diversity, cultural intelligence, and cross-cultural management [in the 21st century]” (p. 106). They intended to fill a gap in literature regarding library leadership in post-industrial paradigm by examining senior librarians’ perceptions of successful leadership skills. The authors identified key themes from the participants’ responses of these skills: teamwork or team building, vision, listening, commitment, fairness, mission accomplishment, and respect from colleagues and users. They remarked that it is hard to find one agreed set of successful leadership skills in academic libraries. It should be noted that this U.S. based study employed a small purposive sample of
10 retired senior librarians from ALA’s ethnic caucuses. These librarians were selected not only for their experiences in leadership positions but also diversity perspective, which may not be relevant in the Hong Kong context.
Part 3: Core Leadership Competencies for Academic Library Leaders
In this section, various research studies on core leadership competencies for academic library are first discussed, including core leadership competencies in general context and in academic libraries. Next, the seminal studies on key leadership attributes or competencies for current and future library leaders by Hernon et al., (2001, 2002) are examined. Other studies 50
on specific or single competencies follow. Finally, the researcher highlights recent requirements of core competencies from library professional bodies, including ACRL,
Canadian Association of Research Libraries (CARL), and Library Leadership & Management
Association (LLAMA), which is a division of ALA.
Core Leadership Competencies in General Context
A more structured and meaningful approach in examining and building a more concrete conception for exploring leadership effectiveness on academic library leaders perhaps is to make use of the concept and construct of core leadership competencies, when compared with the loosely held and divergent concepts and description of leadership qualities like traits, behaviors, characteristics, attributes, and skills. Competencies are a range of specific knowledge, skills, or abilities that enables someone to perform their job responsibilities successfully. Hamel and Prahalad (1990) introduced the concept of core competencies and called it the most powerful way for a company to prevail in the context of global competition. They summarized that core competencies should provide a long-term strategic advantage, contribute to the perceived customer benefits, and be difficult for competitors to imitate (Hamel & Prahalad, 1990).
The same concept applies to leaders in general. Known as core leadership competencies, these help us “identify a small set of attributes that successful leaders possess, articulate them in ways that could be transferred across all leaders, and create leadership development experiences to ensure that future leaders possess these attributes” (Ulrich et al.,
2000, p. 40). Leadership competencies are essential in accomplishing organizational goals as they can guide directions, be measurable and learned, can distinguish and differentiate the organization, and can effectively help in integrating management practices in different parts of the organizations (Intagliata et al., 2000). 51
Core Leadership Competencies in Academic Libraries
Osa (2003) defined competencies as a set of knowledge, skills, and abilities that are related in a particular type of job position. Once acquired by a person, he or she is able to perform tasks or functions at a significant level of proficiency. According to Ammons-
Stephens et al. (2009), competencies are widely used “to assess the strengths, needs, and potential contributions of individuals in an organization” (p. 63) in the library profession.
They further claimed that competencies are being viewed as the foundation of a profession and are important for both professional growth and performance measures.
Nonetheless, Dole et al. (2005) stated a review of the literature of core competencies in the library profession revealed “ambiguity and confusion over the definition and nature of competencies” (p. 125). They found insufficient literature discussing what leadership competencies are required by library leaders such as directors and upper-level administrators as most studies focuses on discussing competencies for librarians and information specialists.
They also found early studies focusing on managerial aspects instead of leadership competencies of academic library leaders (Dole et al., 2005).
Seminal Studies on Key Leadership Attributes or Competencies for Current and
Aspiring Library Leaders
Hernon et al., (2001, 2002) conducted a two-part study to identify the key attributes that are crucial and necessary for the current and future generation of university library directors in universities under the Association of Research Libraries (ARL). In this comprehensive and most cited study, data on compiling a desirable list of attributes for hiring
ARL directors was collected by reviewing published articles on leadership and ARL director classified post announcements in College & Research Libraries News from January 1994 to
March 2000. Based on the created list, interviews were conducted with 19 ARL’s university library directors between November 1999 and July 2000. They identified 121 critical 52
attributes after the interviews, and the attributes were divided into three categories: managerial attributes (ability to, skills), personal attributes, and general knowledge that were pertinent to the leadership positions in ARL libraries.
The second part study was extracted from perspectives of both directors and their immediate deputies and assistants. Questionnaires listing those 121 attributes under same three categories were sent to the participating directors in January 2001 and subsequently to senior administrators, assistants, associates, and deputies in April 2001. They were asked to add or delete attributes and take away those they believed might go under different heading.
Then, they were told to assign the value on each attribute from 1 to 10: 1 being no importance for the next 5 to 10 years; 5 being moderate importance for the same periods mentioned; and
10 being maximum importance for the same periods mentioned.
In August, a fourth iteration of the list in a questionnaire was sent to the directors and asked them to rate the new attributes made by the senior administrator in April survey according to their perception of its importance in their success as library directors. For each attribute they rank, a point scale of 1 through 10 was given and asked to choose, with 1 being least important and 10 being most important. A mean score on each attribute is calculated to derive the relative ranking on the final list. This refinement on attributes list made use of
Delphi methodology on twenty ARL university directors out of twenty-six total being invited.
However, the limitation of this study is the lack of random sample geographically in United
States that may influence the outcomes. Table 2 represents the final set of 105 attributes they endorsed.
Table 2 Combined List of 105 Attributes Reviewed by ARL Directors, 2002 Managerial attributes Managing 1. is committed to service 2. is results oriented 3. communicates effectively with staff 53
4. delegates authority 5. facilitates a productive work environment 6. is willing to make tough decisions 7. promotes professional growth in staff 8. manages fiscal resources/budgets 9. engages in fund-raising and donor relations 10. nurtures the development of new programs and services/refines existing ones as needed 11. develops various sources of funds (grants, gifts, contracts, fee-based services) 12. is committed to staff diversity 13. ensures that planned action is implemented and evaluated 14. facilitates the group process 15. resolves conflicts Leading 1. build a shared vision for the library 2. manages/shapes change 3. is able to function in a political environment 4. develops a campus visibility for the library 5. is an advocate for librarians’ role in higher education 6. thinks “outside the box” (in new and creative ways applicable to the problem) 7. builds consensus in carrying out strategic directions 8. leads and participates in consortia and cooperative endeavours 9. is collaborative 10. is entrepreneurial 11. brings issues of broad importance to the university community, fostering wide discussion and action, when appropriate 12. demonstrates effective networking skills 13. keeps the library focused on its mission 14. changes/shapes the library’s culture 15. develops and fosters partnerships with groups and organizations on/off campus 16. leads in a shared decision-making environment Planning 1. sets priorities 2. plans for life cycles of information technologies and services 3. responds to needs of various constituencies 4. creates and implements systems that access the library’s value to its users 5. creates an environment that fosters accountability 54
Personal characteristics Dealing with Others 1. has credibility (trustworthiness, keep commitments, and follow-through) 2. is even handed 3. is self-confident 4. is accessible 5. treats people with dignity/respect 6. is able to work effectively in groups 7. is articulate (good goal/written/presentation skills) 8. has a sense of perspective 9. is diplomatic 10. is open-minded 11. is a good listener 12. is able to compromise 13. has a sense of humor 14. has good interpersonal/people skills Individual Traits (General) 1. is committed to a set of values (integrity) 2. is able to handle stress 3. works on multiple tasks simultaneously 4. is comfortable with ambiguity 5. is committed to job and profession 6. has self-awareness of strengths and weaknesses 7. is honest 8. is energetic 9. is resilient 10. is intelligent 11. analyzes and solves problems 12. has a variety of work experiences 13. is able to “think on one’s feet”–“wing it” 14. is intuitive 15. has broad knowledge of issues 16. is able to ask the “right” question Individual Traits 1. is change focused (Leadership) 2. exercises good judgement 3. articulates direction for the library 4. inspires trust 5. is innovative 6. has organizational agility 7. is persuasive 8. has reasonable risk-taking skills 9. is optimistic 10. understands that one does not have all of the answers 11. is enthusiastic 55
12. is an enabler and facilitator 13. is committed to learning from mistakes 14. takes initiative 15. has team-building skills 16. is committed to explaining decisions General areas of knowledge 1. scholarly communication 2. understands the complex environment in which the library functions 3. knowledge of financial management 4. facilities planning (including remote storage and multi-use buildings) 5. digital libraries 6. planning (strategic, long term) 7. trends in higher education 8. information technology 9. collection management and development (e.g. all formats, preservation, and acquisitions) 10. outcomes (and accreditation) assessment 11. user expectations/information needs 12. intellectual property rights 13. management issues 14. fund-raising 15. community’s view of the library 16. public relations 17. service quality measurement 18. goals (educational, research, and service) of the parent institution 19. information delivery systems 20. publishing industry 21. resource-sharing 22. information literacy 23. teaching and learning theory Note. Adapted from “University library directors in the association of research libraries: The next generation, part two” by P. Hernon, R. R. Powell and A. P. Young, 2002, College & Research Libraries, 63(1), pp. 85-87. Copyright 2002 by Association of College and Research Libraries.
However, the major drawback of this study was focusing only on the library directors or senior administrators in ARL libraries instead of other non-ARL libraries, which captures majority of small, medium academic libraries as well as community college libraries in the
United States. That means only library directors in large research libraries and a small proportion of library directors in Canada and the United States were studied. Focus only on 56
ARL libraries limited the generalizability of the study. It is expected results may not be the same if other kinds of academic libraries are included. Another limitation of this study is that the lists created are based on self-perception from opinion of library directors and there is lack of consent on the precise order of each attribute. If other parties like faculty, administrators or other library staff are being interviewed, the results may be totally different.
As concluded by Hernon et al. (2002) that
Because the expectations and requirements of managerial settings may reasonably
differ, there may not be one set of uniformly desired leadership attributes...Thus, it is
unlikely that any set of leadership attributes may be identified as a fixed set that fits
all organizational contexts. (p. 89)
A parallel study initiated by Fitsimmons (2005) was conducted to compare the competencies desired by the chief academic officer such as deans and provosts who does the hiring of library directors with those recommended by academic library directors. Hernon et al., (2002) list for desirable competencies by library leaders was used for the comparison.
Questionnaires in the form of online survey were distributed to all 4,364 academic institutions drawn from the Higher Education Directory. A total of 320 valid responses were returned for data analysis. This study found the principal differences between the hiring administrators and academic library directors are the former would emphasis on ideological attributes such as professional directions and standards while the later would place more priority on experience. The strength in this study is the thoroughness in the choice of all academic libraries irrespective their size, not limited to the ARL large research university libraries.
Other Studies on Specific Competencies
Some studies focus on one or two specific competencies of academic library leaders.
Winston and Dunkley (2002) studied two leadership competencies of academic librarians 57
namely development and fund-raising through job advertisement analysis in the Chronicle of
Higher Education from January through June 2000. Their findings indicated that the different nature of institutions might require different set of competencies. Large research libraries have more fully developed leadership training and development programs and have more complicated funding needs than those at of smaller libraries. However, the major drawback of this study is it is questionable to correspond the development and fund-raising responsibilities of a library director position through analyzing job advertisements of development position
(Lewis, 2015).
Dole et al. (2005) focused on one single competency namely assessment that is “the ability to measure the libraries’ impact on higher education and to incorporate assessment data into decision-making processes” (p. 125). They studied this competency of academic library leaders at three universities in a limited geographic area that offer master’s degree programs. The small sample size of this study may affect its validity (Lewis, 2015). In contrast, the focus of this current study is the HKSHEIs that provide sub-degree and undergraduate degree programs. Moreover, eight participants from different institutions were invited to join the study to increase the internal and external validity.
Young et al., (2006) continued to conduct a follow up survey for the perceptions of the most important leadership attributes for library directors considered by Generation-X librarians who were born between 1965 and 1979. In this study, twenty Generation-X librarians were contacted and half of them participated. A final list of eighty leadership attributes was compiled after performing several iterations using Delphi method. The top ten leadership attributes identified were: successful in securing resources in terms of funding, technology and staffing, good interpersonal skills, honest, articulated vision that inspire others, builds partnerships within the library or across the campus, a passion for libraries and librarianship, builds working relationships, comfortable with change, strong communication 58
skills, and personally approachable. The authors found that Gen-X librarians have significant differences in leadership attributes required for successful directors with that of ARL directors. Gen-X librarians tends to treasure a balance in life and work. They also value teamwork, fairness, and loyal in an employee-oriented environment. The study characterized the multifaceted of leadership competencies and stressed the importance of intergeneration dialogue (Young et al., 2006).
Emotional Intelligence Competencies List
Hopper (2005) is the first scholar to incorporate emotional intelligence (EI) into the field of library leadership. She conducted a content analysis on 68 publications on leadership from renowned library scholars totaled 63 separated authors to analyze and rank the relative importance of EI competencies based on Goleman’s five elements of emotional intelligence
EI. Making use of the same list Hernon and Rossiter (2006) used in their research for analyzing the publications, Hopper (2005) generated valuable insights in EI competencies for leaders. Although the publications are taken from opinion of library scholars without much base in empirical findings, Hopper made a good contribution to the literature on competencies on library profession with EI elements.
Hernon and Rossiter (2006) examined what EI competencies to be crucial for library leaders. They made use of the five elements namely self-awareness, self-regulation, motivation, empathy, and social skill of EI popularized by Goleman in 1995 to conduct content analysis in job advertisement for library directors that appeared in College &
Research Library News (C&RL News) from 2000 to 2004 to identify and rank the most commonly mentioned EI competencies. They came up with the EI competencies list (Table 3) and they then interviewed several library directors after performing the survey with ARL directors. The whole procedure was repeated with a group of administrators who hire or supervise the library directors. Although the two lists are of considerable difference in it, they 59
discovered an EI leader share much common with transformational leadership. There is a growing awareness of the importance of EI as a competency in the library profession.
Table 3 Characterization of Emotional Intelligence, 2006 Category Traits Self-Awareness 1. Cognitive ability to deal with complex scenarios/situations 2. Realistic understanding of oneself: emotions, strengths, weaknesses, needs, and drives 3. Know where he or she is going—taking the organization 4. Sense of humor 5. Respect individuality and diversity Self-Regulation 1. Stable temperament and ability to maintain an emotional balance under constant tensions 2. Integrity 3. Comfortable in making judgment calls (tie) 4. Comfortable with ambiguity (tie) 5. Flexible in adapting to change or overcoming obstacles 6. Skill at diagnostic, strategic, and tactical reasoning Motivation 1. Visionary—able to build a shared vision and rally others around it 2. Motivate people to develop and adhere to a shared vision 3. Commitment to job, organization, institution, and profession 4. Articulate direction for the library 5. Optimism (even in the face of failure) Empathy 1. Treat people with dignity/ respect 2. Attract, build, and retain talent (tie) 3. Good interpersonal/people skills (tie) 4. Keep organization focused on high-quality service 5. Exercises good judgment 6. Good listener Social Skill 1. Ability to function in a political environment 2. Effective in leading change 3. Develop and foster partnerships 4. Collaborative 5. Build rapport with a wide circle of people (tie) 6. Resonance (inspiring people to work together to solve problems, inspiring excellence) (tie) Note. Adapted from “Emotional intelligence: Which traits are most prized?” by P. Hernon and N. Rossiter, 2006, College & Research Libraries, 67(3), pp. 263-267. Copyright 2006 by Association of College and Research Libraries.
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Subsequently, Promís (2008) built on earlier research by Hernon and Rossiter (2006) on identifying the most crucial emotional intelligence competencies. She extended the classifications of study groups that included job advertisement positions of library directors, assistant directors, unit heads, senior, and junior librarians in C&RL during 2005-2006. A total of 260 job advertisements were analyzed and ranked according to their relative importance or most commonly mentioned competencies related to emotional intelligence using a conversion table to match the traits or terminologies mentioned in the advertisements with corresponding EI competencies in the Goleman’s EI categories framework. Among those, shared vision and mission are the most frequently mentioned competencies, and this was followed by collaboration, cooperation, and good communications skills (Lewis, 2015).
She found that most of the job advertisements posted on C&RL were not intended to attract
EI information professionals but soft skills like EI is what make a successful leader eventually. Consequently, library leader suffers a lot to be competent leader since the research indicates the majority of advertisements gear towards hiring individual with particular hard skills in cataloguing, curation, collection management and so forth. Promís’s study (2008) did shed light on competencies required on all levels of library profession such as advertisement for director yielded the lowest score of EI competencies at 3.9 and assistant director the highest score of EI competencies at 5.3.
A similar study by Kreitz (2009) on ranking EI required by library directors and their senior management members was conducted and a list of ideal EI traits or competencies is created by means of survey. The study population is taken from the ARL libraries in the western part of the United States. However, the sample size is small, and the importance of traits is contextual. A similar survey instrument as with Hernon and Rossiter’s research
(2006) was adopted to prioritize what EI competencies are perceived as most important for successful leadership. Statistical test such as Z statistics was made to assess if any significant 61
difference in the rankings of two competencies lists generated by directors and their senior staff. The major limitation to this study is the small geographical coverage and that may not give rise to a general phenomenon of most America library directors and senior staff perceptions as top EI competencies required for successful careers (Lewis, 2015).
Recent Requirements of Core Competencies by Library Professional Bodies
Ammons-Stephens et al. (2009) are members of the 2008 class of the American
Library Association’s Emerging Leaders Program. They were assigned to create a leadership competency model for Library Leadership Administration and Management
Association (LLAMA), which is a division of the ALA that focuses on leadership and management development in libraries. They found that there are little studies addressing competencies for library leaders in the library literature, and there is no universally agreed definition for competency in the library profession. Thus, they adopted the definition proposed by Kurz and Bartram (2002), who defined competencies as “the behaviors underpinning successful performance; what it is people do in order to meet their objectives; how they go about achieving the required outcomes; what enables their competent performance” (Kurz & Bartram, 2002, p. 235).
These authors are the first to propose a comprehensive leadership competency model for the library leaders regardless of type of library. Their model consists of four meta- competencies concentrated on practices that are instrumental in the conveyance of desired outcomes or results: cognitive ability, vision, interpersonal effectiveness, and managerial effectiveness. The model also consists of 17 broad competencies: problem-solving, decision- thinking, reflective thinking, global thinking, creative/innovative, forward thinking, culturally competent, accountability, team building, development, inspirational/motivation, communication skills, manage change, resource management, strategic planning, collaboration, and flexibility or adaptability. Besides, they separated personal attributes, such 62
as being principled or ethical, honest, humble, gracious, and teachable that profoundly influence the manner by which library leaders lead their organizations. They affirmed that the proposed model would serve as a foundation and framework for leadership competencies an academic library leader should possess to lead effectively. Lewis (2015) commented that this model is a handy tool for self-assessment and job evaluation. The strength of this study lies in the selection of a wide variety of different types and sizes of academic libraries to survey and analyze (Table 4). Hence, the competencies list in the model seems to apply to libraries of all kinds.
Table 4 Four Meta-Competencies Proposed by Ammons-Stephens et al. 2009 Meta-competencies Broad competencies 1. Cognitive Ability 1) Problem-Solving Demonstrates the ability to actively and creatively solve problems Able to solve problems in a thorough, yet timely manner Able to step back from a situation in order to suggest an objective solution Fosters an environment that encourages others to create solutions for their own problems 2) Decision Making Assumes responsibility for making critical decisions Acts decisively, making sound and timely decisions Shows transparency in decision making 3) Reflective Thinking Demonstrates the ability to accurately assess shortcomings and assets of the organization Able to recognize and implement opportunities for continuous Improvement 2. Vision 4) Global Thinking Exhibits the ability to think beyond the institution and current issues therein and considers the impact of the institution in the greater community and beyond 63
Demonstrates the ability to consider ideas, environments, and technologies that impact communities and the institution on a broader scale Able to implement global ideas appropriately scaled for the organization 5) Creative/Innovative Fosters creativity and innovation by encouraging inventive thoughts and experimentation Demonstrates the ability to think innovatively about the mission and goals of the organization 6) Forward Thinking Shows foresight by anticipating problems as well as opportunities Exhibits the ability to envision both positive and negative consequences/outcomes Inspires others to think creatively about what might be, rather than just what is 3. Interpersonal 7) Culturally Competent Effectiveness Exhibits an awareness of and appreciation for diverse cultures and beliefs Fosters an environment where all cultures are respected and valued 8) Accountability Instills trust in others and self Leads by example Assumes responsibility for decisions made 9) Team Building Effectively builds relationships inside and outside the organization Actively promotes and encourages strategic teambuilding Fosters a culture that values innovation/creativity 10) Development Actively seeks ways to grow people and develop staff Views development of staff as an integral part in the growth of the organization Provides opportunities for development through training and mentoring 11) Inspirational/Motivational Inspires individuals to succeed Motivates individuals to actively contribute to the organization 64
Creates an environment of trust and integrity Builds and provides ongoing support for staff Encourages a developmental climate 12) Communication Skills Actively listens Effectively articulates ideas through verbal and written communication Able to give and receive constructive feedback Able to withhold judgment and not participate in gossip Encourages an environment of active communication 4. Managerial 13) Manage Change Effectiveness Able to build internal and external support for change Able to work with others to keep any transitions/ changes running smoothly Demonstrates willingness to take calculated risks 14) Resource Management Demonstrates comprehension of cost efficiency and effectiveness Apportions and distributes resources equitably Able to teach others how to utilize resources in a proficient and useful manner Able to assign projects to colleagues and employees Acts with diligence and care 15) Strategic Planning Identifies clear, well-defined outcomes Exhibits short-term and long-term planning capabilities Able to drive results 16) Collaboration Able to build relationships with community groups and constituents Works with others where sharing resources would be appropriate 17) Flexibility/Adaptability Exhibits an open mind to new ideas Exhibits the ability to maintain a level head through difficult situations Personal attributes 1) Principled / Ethical Practices principles above personalities Stands up for what he/she believes in Makes decisions without begin swayed by political expediency Considers the ethical implications of all personal actions and organizational activity 65
2) Honest Conducts conversations with others in a professional manner Addresses all issues—even sensitive issues—as they arise 3) Humble Gives credit to others as well as one’s self when a task is completed Admits limitations and mistakes 4) Gracious Maintains a positive attitude in critical situations Mitigates gossip and other negative influences in the workplace Open and professional with others despite personal feelings Acknowledges when another does something positive or helpful for the institution 5) Teachable Identifies when assistance is needed and willing to ask for help Internalizes lessons learned from experiences for future use Accepts questions and input from others Influenced, but not manipulated, by others Note. Adapted from “Development core leadership competencies for the library profession” by S. Ammons-Stephens, H. J. Cole, K. Jenkins-Gibbs, C. F. Riehle, and W. H. J. Weare, 2009, Library Leadership & Management, 23(2), pp. 68-71. Copyright 2009 by American Library Association.
In 2009, ALA approved a document of Core Competences of Librarianship (2009) consists of eight basic knowledge that should be possessed by everyone who are graduated from an ALA-accredited master’s program in library and information science (Appendix
A). The content covers eight basic knowledge, including foundations of the profession, information resources, organization of recorded knowledge and information, technological knowledge and skills, reference and user services, research, continuing education and lifelong learning, and administration and management. However, this eight basic knowledge is expected for graduates of library and information science master’s program rather than library leaders to possess. It also does not specify attributes related to leadership.
Moreover, Canadian Association of Research Libraries (CARL) (2010) presented a holistic compendium of core competencies required by 21st century academic research library environment. There are seven components in it: foundational knowledge, interpersonal skills, leadership and management, collections development, information 66
literacy, research and contributions to the profession, and information technology skills. CARL also indicated that the expectation for competencies in leadership and management has increased dramatically. For example, academic library leaders are expected to influence and motivate others to achieve the library’s institutional goals and objectives. They should also be committed to developing skills and knowledge in the aspects of financial management, human resource management, services and resources development, risk management, project management, assessment and evaluation, and partnership and collaboration in order to lead and manage effectively. Thus, their competencies profiles intended to provide guidelines for CARL librarians to better manage their professional careers and identify personal development needs so as to align with the missions of their respective institutions.
Library Leadership & Management Association (LLAMA) is a division of ALA established in 1957. LLAMA built on the initial works done by the members of 2008 class of the ALA’s Emerging Leaders Program, including Ammons-Stephens. In 2011, it adopted a new definition of competencies in the library profession as: “Professional competencies comprise the knowledge, skills, and abilities which are teachable, measurable, and objective and which define and contribute to performance in librarianship” (LLAMA, 2016). In 2016,
LLAMA garnered 282 responses from its members and identified 14 foundational competencies selected by at least 25% of respondents. These competencies are listed by order of importance in Table 5.
Table 5 Fourteen Foundational Competencies Proposed by LLAMA, 2016 Foundational competencies 1) Communication Skills (60.3%) 2) Change Management (59.9%) 3) Team Building (54.3%) 4) Collaboration and Partnerships (44.7%) 5) Emotional Intelligence (40.8%) 67
6) Problem Solving (33.7%) 7) Evidence-Based Decision Making (33.3%) 8) Conflict Resolution (31.6%) 9) Budget Creation and Presentation (30.9%) 10) Forward Thinking (30.1%) 11) Critical Thinking (29.1%) 12) Ethics (28%) 13) Project Management (26.2%) 14) Marketing and Advocacy (26.2%) Note. Adapted from “Leadership and management competencies” by Library Leadership & Management Association, 2016 (http://www.ala.org/llama/leadership-and-management- competencies). Copyright 2016 by American Library Association.
Among these competencies, Communication Skills, Change Management, Team
Building, Collaboration and Partnerships, and Emotional Intelligence were considered as the top five competencies valued by its members. Besides, Problem-Solving was considered as the sixth most important competency. Different from the pioneer study by Ammons-Stephens et al. (2009) on core leadership competencies that applied exclusively for library leaders, these updated competencies are intended for leaders and managers of various roles, career stages, and library types. LLAMA’s list intended to provide a baseline of knowledge, skills, and behaviors for library leadership and a roadmap for library school curriculum and professional development. Definitions of these competencies are provided in Appendix B.
In sum, leadership competencies are well addressed and emphasized globally in many professions. The works from seminal authors Hernon et al., (2001, 2002) and the Core
Leadership Competency Model developed by Ammons-Stephens et al. (2009) have shed light for the literature on academic library leadership. Together, with other factors, seems to influence how library leaders of HKSHEIs perceive and experience the expanding necessary core leadership competencies in the digital age. Mason and Wetherbee (2004) explicated that there is no one-size-fits-all list for defining the required leadership competencies. Despite the work that has been done on constructing the framework of library leadership competencies by various organizations and associations, every practitioner in the profession still awaits and 68
look for a consensus on an accepted and agreed set of core leadership competencies for the profession or for any subset of the main list of the profession. The lack of an agreed-upon set or sets of core leadership competencies means that, although training and development programs are often worthwhile and beneficial to individual participants, there is no accurate way or universal standards to determine if the most effective skills are being taught to library leaders and aspiring library leaders.
Part 4: Self-Financing Higher Education in Hong Kong
The self-financing higher education sector in Hong Kong includes institutions that do not receive any recurrent funding from the government for their operation. In the context of this study, SHEIs refers to non-profit-making institutions that provide locally accredited programs at sub-degree and/or undergraduate levels in Hong Kong. This section reviews the research on development of self-financing higher education in Hong Kong in order to provide more background information. First, the researcher will look into the development of self- financing higher education in Hong Kong. Next, the researcher will discuss the contribution of SHEIs to the society in Hong Kong. Then, the researcher will examine the complex challenges SHEIs face. Finally, the researcher will conclude with the roles academic libraries and librarians played in HKSHEIs.
Development of Self-Financing Higher Education in Hong Kong
An overview. Higher education system, which has existed in Hong Kong for more than a century, has grown dramatically over the past two decades. Several studies explained the paradigm shift of higher education in Hong Kong from elitism to massification within a short period and at little cost borne by the government (Kember, 2010; Wan, 2011; Yung,
2002). Trow (2006) defined a participation rate of 15 to 50% of the relevant age group as mass higher education and more than 50% of such age group as universal access to higher education. According to a University Grants Committee’s (UGC) report compiled in Hong 69
Kong, the participation rate for undergraduates for the 17-20 age cohort was 2% in the 1970s and 18% in 1994 (UGC, 1996). This elitist education system was highly selective and competitive in nature as most of secondary school graduates were unable to obtain a place in the universities. Up to 2000, programs that award undergraduate degrees were predominantly offered by eight publicly-funded institutions.
Massification in Hong Kong’s higher education. Hong Kong experienced a transition from “elite” to “mass” higher education at the beginning of the new millennium.
Wan (2011) outlined the background of the higher education massification in Hong Kong and pointed out that Hong Kong's environment has undergone a structural change from a manufacturing-oriented economy to a service-oriented economy since 1970. Shortly after, the emergence of knowledge-based economy around the 1980s increased the demand for well- educated individuals and lifelong learners who are able to adapt to the erratic changes brought by technology and globalization (Kember, 2010; Wan, 2011). These changes are reinforced with the political, social, and cultural changes brought by the handover of sovereignty to Mainland China in 1997. After the turnover, the new government took a new stance on education that is greatly different from that of the colonial government.
In 2000, the government announced in its Policy Address to double the higher education participation rate and set a target of enabling 60% of the secondary school graduates to receive higher education within ten years. To achieve the target more effectively and economically, the government empowered a “parallel development” of the publicly- funded and self-financing higher education sectors (the Task Force, 2018, p. 2). It encouraged the emergence of self-financing arms of publicly-funded higher education institutions and the establishment of new self-financing privately-run institutions with support measures, such as land grants and interest-free start-up loans from the government. Consequently, the self- financing higher education sector has expanded rapidly since the 2000s. The higher education 70
participation rate has also increased from 33% in 2000/2001 to 66% in 2005/2006 academic year, so the target of 60% higher education participation rate was achieved within only five years (the Task Force, 2018).
Blooming of self-financing higher education sector. The self-financing higher education sector is a crucial part of the tertiary education ecosystem in Hong Kong. Studies indicated that the rapid expansion of higher education system in Hong Kong was mainly achieved by active involvement of privately, self-funding sources (Wan, 2011; Jung &
Postiglione, 2015). According to the Task Force (2018), the number of SHEIs increased significantly from 4 in 2001/2002 to 29 in 2019 at the time this study was conducted. The number of sub-degree programs offered by these institutions increased from 20 in 2001/2002 to 300 in 2017/2018, and degree programs increased from zero to 150 during the same period. In addition, the number of the student intake capacity increased from 13,000 in
2001/2002 to 32,000 in 2017/2018 for full-time sub-degrees and from 15,000 to 24,000 for full-time degree programs during the same period. To sum up, SHEIs provide 66%, 37%, and
67% of all sub-degree, undergraduate degree, and top-up degree student intakes respectively in the 2017/2018 academic year.
Modes of operation in self-financing higher education sector. Based on their respective statutory regimes, there are four types of HKSHEIs. The first type refers to institutions registered under the Post Secondary Colleges Ordinance (Cap. 320) and other institutions established by status that operate on a self-financing basis. The second type refers to institutions registered under the Education Ordinance (Cap. 279) that provide self- financing locally accredited higher education programs. The third type refers to institutions registered under the Non-local Higher and Professional Education (Regulation) Ordinance
(Cap. 493) that provide self-financing locally accredited non-local programs. The last type refers to publicly-funded institutions that offer self-financing higher education programs 71
through their self-financing arms and are governed by their respective ordinances (Lo et al,
2015; the Task Force, 2018).
Presently, there are twenty-nine SHEIs providing locally accredited sub-degree and undergraduate programs in Hong Kong. These institutions vary greatly in their scale and mode of operation as shown in Table 6.
Table 6 Intake Capacity of Institutions Providing Self-Financing Sub-Degree and/or Undergraduate Programs in 2018/2019 Academic Year Intake capacity (number of full-time students) No. of institutions Below 100 4 100 - 499 9 500 - 999 6 1,000 - 1,999 5 2,000 - 3,999 3 4,000 and above 2 Total 29 Note. Adapted from “Task Force on Review of Self-financing Post-secondary Education: Review report” by Task Force on Review of Self-financing Post-secondary Education, 2018 (https://www.cspe.edu.hk/resources/pdf/en/TF%20review%20report_EN.pdf). Copyright 2018 by Task Force on Review of Self-financing Post-secondary Education.
Most of these SHEIs are small in scale, and 19 (65.5%) of them offer less than 1,000 intake places. Those able to provide more than 2,000 intake quotas are mainly the self- financing arms of publicly-funded institutions that focus on providing sub-degree programs.
They also operate self-financing local or non-local top-up programs to facilitate matriculation.
Quality assurance. Presently, three bodies oversee the quality of higher education sector. The first quality assurance body is the Hong Kong Council for Accreditation of
Academic and Vocational Qualifications (HKCAAVQ). It was established in 1990 as an independent statutory body to perform academic accreditation and qualification registration of programs offered by all non-government funded institutions. The second quality assurance 72
body is Quality Assurance Council (QAC). It is a semi-autonomous non-statutory entity established in 2007 under the University Grant Committee (UGC) to conduct quality audits of both the government funded and self-financing programs offered by publicly-funded institutions. The third body is Joint Quality Review Committee (JQRC). It was established in
2005 by the Heads of Universities Committee to conduct peer reviews of self-financing sub- degree programs offered by publicly-funded institutions (Lo et al, 2015; the Task Force,
2018). In addition, programs like those related to healthcare may need to go through accreditation with respective professional bodies to maintain high standards.
Contributions of Self-Financing Higher Education Sector
The self-financing higher education sector plays a significant role in the tertiary education ecosystem in Hong Kong (Lo et al., 2015; the Task Force, 2018; Yung, 2002). In the past, the elitist higher education system has created many hurdles for secondary school graduates who aspire to advance their studies. The establishment of more SHEIs helps to develop “a diversified higher education system, widen students’ choice and encourage healthy competition” (Yung, 2002, p. 33). Now, students are given more opportunities to choose from and their higher education pathway becomes highly adaptable. The Task Force
(2018) also commented that the self-financing higher education sector not only supplements the publicly-funded higher education sector by offering more education choices but also brings in new perspectives and diversity in the program decisions.
Lo et al. (2015) concluded three major contributions of the self-financing higher education sector in Hong Kong. First, self-financing institutions contribute to the dramatic increase in higher education participation rate of the relevant age group in Hong Kong. With the rapid expansion of SHEIs, the participation rate doubled within five years from 33% in
2000/2001 to 66% in 2005/2006 academic year (the Task Force, 2018), reaching the target faster that it was set by the government. In 2018, the higher education participation rate for 73
the 17-20 age cohort in Hong Kong even reached a new height of 77% (World Bank, 2019).
Second, SHEIs help broaden the choices for young people to further their education and get advanced degrees. Thus, this would increase their chance of upward mobility in their career life. Third, self-financing institutions help upgrade the quality of manpower and improve the overall competitiveness of Hong Kong in this accelerated, globalized world.
Challenges Facing Self-Financing Higher Education Institutions in Hong Kong
A number of studies discussed challenges that affected the long-term viability and sustainability of SHEIs in the highly competitive, mass education arena (Jung & Postiglione,
2015; Kember, 2010; Lo et al., 2015; Lo, 2016; So, 2014; the Task Force, 2018; Wan, 2011).
The major challenge facing SHEIs is the saturation of higher education sector after two decades of rapid expansion. According to the Task Force (2018), there is a total supply of
56,100 publicly-funded and self-financing first-year places at undergraduate and sub-degree levels. Due to the low birth rate in Hong Kong, the projected number of secondary school graduates will decrease from 51,200 in 2017 to 43,300 in 2022.
Although the government supports the development of the higher education sector, there is a lack of strategic coordination among institutions to contribute on their strengths and niche areas. Under this circumstance, SHEIs may face greater difficulties in recruiting students. Since SHEIs do not receive government funding, they depend primarily on tuition fees to support staff payroll and campus facilities and services, including the libraries. The projection of insufficient student enrollment will adversely affect their operations and long- term development. For example, one of the SHEIs was taken over by another institution due to its severe financial difficulties in 2016. In addition, SHEIs suffer from high operation cost, and they pay high fees for the accreditation of qualifications (Lo et al., 2015). They usually operate in a rather limited campus space and sometimes in an overcrowded condition. Their facilities are also being kept to the essential minimum to save cost (Kember, 2010). 74
Roles and Responsibilities of Library Leaders of Self-Financing Higher Education
Institutions
According to the Post Secondary College Ordinance (Cap. 320) in Hong Kong, one of the requirements for higher education institutions to be eligible for registration is “the equipment, laboratories, library and general facilities being adequate for the courses offered”
(the Department of Justice, 2019). The library is viewed as one of the major constituents in higher education institutions, and their leaders have important roles and responsibilities to play in supporting the teaching, learning and research activities in these institutions.
Nevertheless, no previous studies related to libraries and their library leaders of
HKSHEIs have been conducted. Library leaders in these SHEIs may operate in tight budget and, therefore, are most cost conscious as their institutions do not receive any government funding. These library leaders are not only affected by the new demands brought by structural changes in the digital age but are also influenced by the complex challenges confronting by their institutions, which include saturation of higher education sector as mentioned earlier.
Higher education is becoming more globalized than before. Universities around the world are competing for the best students, and the extent of student mobility is unprecedentedly high (ACRL, 2019). Academic libraries must align their resources and services more strategically with the mission and strategic initiatives of their parent institutions in a dynamic, globalized higher education environment. As a result, academic libraries are acquiring more information resources in digital formats that can be instantly accessed to support teaching and research. Moreover, library leaders confront budgetary pressure, as these electronic resources are more expensive to acquire and produce (Marcum,
2014). They are aware of the costs and knowledge associated with the electronic resource management in digital age. 75
Moreover, SHEIs in Hong Kong have to go through rigorous quality assurance procedures to ensure credibility and recognition of their programs. Quite often, library leaders have to assist their institution to go through this accreditation process by providing appropriate and up-to-date resources and services. Oakleaf (2010) suggested the library leaders to engage actively in the higher education accreditation processes. For instance, they may “take the initiative to communicate the presence and importance of information literacy language in accreditation documents and leverage them to integrate information literacy skills into teaching and assessment processes throughout campus” (Oakleaf, 2010, p. 55). They may have to prepare the documents for institutional and program accreditation exercises, conduct library tours for assessors, and attend panel meeting to introduce and promote library resources and services. In the context of rapidly changing information landscape, there is a pressing need for library leaders of HKSHEIs to identify and acquire expanding necessary core leadership competencies to stay relevant and demonstrate value.
Conclusion
In this chapter, a literature review covers four sections, which include structural changes bring about new demands, library leadership, core leadership competencies for academic library leaders, and the context of self-financing higher education in Hong Kong are provided. The first section focused on how the structural changes have brought about new demands on the academic libraries and their librarians. The second section first reviewed the application of adaptive leadership in academic libraries. Then it looked into new leadership perspectives, roles, and specializations. The third section examined the core leadership competencies in general context and in academic libraries in detail. Then seminal studies on key leadership attributes or competencies and the introduction of competency lists by library professional bodies were discussed. The last section introduced self-financing higher 76
education in Hong Kong context, which aimed to provide a detailed background of this study.
The next chapter will focus on research design utilized in this study.
77
Chapter Three: Research Design
The purpose of this qualitative study is to examine how library leaders of HKSHEIs perceive and experience the expanding necessary core leadership competencies in the digital age, and how they make sense of acquiring and applying these competencies to lead successfully through an interpretative phenomenological analysis methodology. The central research question guiding this study is: How do library leaders of Hong Kong self-financing higher education institutions perceive and experience expanding necessary core leadership competencies in the digital age, and how do they make sense of acquiring and applying these competencies to lead successfully?
This chapter outlines the research design that is utilized in this study. It begins with a discussion of why constructivism-interpretivism paradigm is a preferred worldview to guide this study. Then it clarifies the reasons for choosing a qualitative research approach to conduct the data collection and analysis. It also explains the justifications of using
Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis (IPA) as the research methodology. After that, it gives an overview of the choice of participants and general setting for this study and explains the data collection and analysis processes. Finally, special attention is given to the criteria for quality qualitative research including ethical considerations, credibility, transferability, self- reflectivity, and transparency. A summary remark is also given.
Constructivism-Interpretivism Paradigm
Constructivism-interpretivism paradigm is chosen as the philosophical worldview to guide this study. Such a philosophical positioning entails the researcher’s beliefs about the nature of reality (ontology) and nature of knowledge (epistemology) (Merriam & Tisdell,
2016). In this research paradigm, reality is being understood as a construction in the mind of the research participants. Reality is subjective rather than objective such that the reality is better interpreted than measured (Merriam, 2002). Instead of one single reality, there are 78
multiple realities, which would be dependent on participants’ interaction with the surroundings. As reality is constructed within a specific social, cultural, and historical context, it is the context and the meaning of this context brought to the participants that are most important (Merriam, 2002). In this study, the researcher interprets and makes sense of the multiple realities subjective to participants’ leadership competency perceptions and experiences within a specific context of HKSHEI libraries.
Ponterotto (2005) affirmed that the meaning behind the participants’ views is thought to be hidden in the constructivism-interpretivism paradigm. Nevertheless, the meaning can be surfaced out through the process of deep reflection simulated by the “interactive researcher- participant dialogue” (Ponterotto, 2005, p. 129). Consequently, the researcher and participants can co-construct the research findings through interactive dialogue and interpretation. The centrality of this dynamic interaction between the researcher and participants constitutes a distinctive nature of this paradigm (Ponterotto, 2005). It is comprehensible that this study falls within the constructivism-interpretivism paradigm.
Because in this study, the researcher seeks to uncover the hidden meaning in the perceptions and lived experience of library leaders on expanding necessary core leadership competencies through interactive dialogues in the semi-structured interviews.
Moreover, the constructivism-interpretivism paradigm undertakes that the meaning is rooted in participants’ experience and interpreted through the researcher’s own perceptions
(Merriam, 2002). It acknowledges that the underlying, values, beliefs, and experiences of the researchers cannot be isolated in the research process. Accordingly, researchers must reflect upon their own assumptions and experiences to avoid any potential bias that may distort the interpretation. In this study, the researcher reflects on the own positionality bore to recognize personal values, judgments, assumptions, preoccupations, and potential biases that may influence the study. 79
Qualitative Research Approach
According to Merriam and Tisdell (2016), qualitative research is concerned with
“meaning” as it seeks to “understand how people interpret their experiences”, “how they construct their worlds”, and “what meaning they attribute to their experience” (Merriam &
Tisdell, 2016, p. 6). It is best suited to address problems that need to be explored to attain a deep understanding (Creswell & Guetterman, 2019). Hence, qualitative research is the most appropriate approach for this study, as it likewise requires exploration and understanding of the library leaders’ perceptions and experiences of the expanding necessary core leadership competencies in the digital age and the meaning they give to them. Guba (1967) noted that qualitative research provides a “rich and detailed supply of information about a particular happening in a particular context” (p. 60). Patton (2002) expounded qualitative research
“permit inquiry into selected issues in great depth with careful attention to detail, context, and nuance” (Patton, 2002, p. 227). As this study aims to explore and understand the uncovered meaning of a context-specific phenomenon, this depth of understanding may emerge from conducting interviews with participants who have lived experience of such phenomenon.
The selection of qualitative research approach of this study also corresponds to the four characteristics of qualitative research identified by Merriam and Tisdell (2016). First, qualitative research focuses on meaning and understanding from the participants’ perspectives. This study also intends to attain an understanding of how library leaders make sense of their perceptions and experiences on expanding necessary core leadership competencies. Second, the researcher is the primary instrument in qualitative research. In this study, the researcher is the one to collect and analyze data through the verbal and non-verbal communication of participants. To avoid potential influences on interpretation process, the researcher acknowledges how personal biases, preconception, or subjectivities may affect data collection and analysis. Third, the process is inductive rather than deductive in 80
qualitative research. The researcher in this study collects and analyzes data to construct concepts, theories, or hypotheses rather than test existing hypotheses deductively. Fourth, the product is richly descriptive in qualitative research. This is in accordance with this study as the researcher asks open-ended questions and prompts participants to share their perceptions and experiences of leadership competencies as much as possible. The researcher describes the findings about the phenomenon comprehensively in words rather than numeric. Furthermore, the researcher goes through the interview process by reading and pondering the transcripts repeatedly in great depth, including both verbal and nonverbal communication of participants. Data in the form of quotes from participants is also needed to be incorporated to support the findings.
Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis
Interpretative phenomenological analysis (IPA) has been chosen as the research methodology for this study. According to Smith et al., (2009), IPA “is a qualitative research approach committed to the examination of how people make sense of their major life experiences” (p. 1). Since all chosen library leaders in this study are part of the local academic library community, engaging them towards sharing their perceptions and lived experience may contribute to a greater understanding of the phenomenon of core leadership competencies in Hong Kong self-financing higher education sector. This study may provide new insights of how those library leaders make sense of the expanding necessary core leadership competencies and how their leadership experience has the potential to enable them to stay relevant and demonstrate value to their parent institutions and with key stakeholders.
IPA is first proposed by Jonathan Smith in his article “Beyond the divide between cognition and discourse: Using interpretative phenomenological analysis in health psychology” published in Psychology and Health in 1996. He contended it is a qualitative approach central of psychology discipline. He then published two seminal works, Qualitative 81
Psychology: A Practical Guide to Research Guide in 2008 and Interpretative
Phenomenological Analysis: Theory, Method and Research co-authored with Paul Flowers and Michael Larkin in 2009 to this research approach unequivocal.
Three Philosophical Underpinnings of IPA
IPA has three philosophical underpinnings namely phenomenology, hermeneutics, and idiography (Smith et al., 2009). Shinebourne (2011) elucidated that IPA taken from each of these underpinnings is to inform its “distinctive epistemological framework and research methodology” (p. 17). The main philosophical contributors on IPA are Husserl, Heidegger,
Merleau-Ponty, Sartre, and Gadamer (Smith et al., 2009). According to Smith et al. (2009),
IPA focuses on convergence and divergence of experience and provides detailed examination of lived experience of small number of participants. It aims to investigate how people make sense of their lived experience and how they provide accounts of these experiences through deep reflection.
Phenomenology. As the foundation element of IPA, phenomenology is primarily concerned with the study of human lived experience. The German philosopher Edmund
Husserl (1859-1938), founder of the school of phenomenology, intended to produce an account of participants’ lived experience in its own terms rather than describing them according to predefined categorical system. This is best demonstrated by his famous saying
“back to the things themselves”. Husserl stressed the importance of analyzing conscious experience as experienced from the first-person point of view. He urged researchers to adopt a phenomenological attitude and “bracket” their preconceptions and foreknowledge to allow the phenomenon to speak for itself and to capture lived experience from the participants’ perspectives.
Husserl believed that phenomenology could be accomplished by deliberately setting aside our preconceived notions and examine directly on the experience in the way it happens 82
to the participants. For example, the eidetic reduction is a technique that one attempts to reduce a phenomenon into its necessary essences. Husserl provided propositions on how to examine and understand lived experience of participants (Shinebourne, 2011). His work contributed to the further development in phenomenology as he established “the importance and relevance of focus on experience and its perception” (Smith et al., 2009, p. 21).
Heidegger built on this foundation to further explore and interpret the lived experience of participants.
Hermeneutics. The second philosophical underpinning of IPA originates from the word hermeneutics, which is the theory of interpretation. Smith et al. (2009) deliberately argued that it is this interpretative endeavor of IPA that distinguishes it from other phenomenological methods. Heidegger observed that the word “phenomenology” is composed of two parts: phenomenon and logos. Phenomenon is primarily “perceptual”, which signifies “show or appear”, while logos is primarily “analytical”, which signifies
“discourse, reason, and judgement” (Smith et al., 2009, pp. 24-25). In the process of revealing the hidden meaning, hermeneutics underlined interpretation of the meaning in the form of language. Through this examination, Heidegger fully illuminated the complementary exercises in phenomenology and connected phenomenology with hermeneutics (Smith et al.,
2009).
Different from Husserl, Heidegger recognized that researchers could not set aside their prior experiences, assumptions, and preconceptions in the research process. Researchers instead overhaul these foreconceptions continually in the interpretation process. Under the concept of the hermeneutic circle, the relationships “between parts and whole” and “between the interpreter and the object of interpretation” are basically dynamic and iterative
(Shinebourne, 2011, p. 21). Smith et al. (2009) gave an example on how the meaning of a word becomes clear given that it is viewed within the sentence’s contextual setting and, in 83
similar manner, the meaning of a sentence can only be understood if one gets the meaning of the individual words. Hermeneutics concerns with whether it is conceivable and liable to uncover the original intended meaning of participants during textual interpretation. In other words, both the participants and researcher are attempting to make sense of how the phenomenon appears through the interactive dialogues in the research process.
The researcher is engaging in not just first order hermeneutic, but in “double hermeneutic” in IPA approach. The participants are making sense of how they experienced the phenomenon as the researcher is asking questions for the purpose of data collection and, later, for data analysis. Therefore, the researcher is likewise trying to make sense of how the participants are making sense of what they have experienced (Smith et al., 2009). On the one hand, the researcher is utilizing the same mental and personal skills and capabilities as with those of the participants. On the other hand, the researcher is different from the participants.
By utilizing double hermeneutic, which is “a two-stage interpretation process” (Smith &
Osborn, 2008, p. 53), the researcher tries to understand what a given experience is like from the perspective of the participants. Furthermore, the researcher attempts to design critical questions that may disclose something meaningful in the participants’ epoché, which was not intended to be meaningful in the first place (Pietkiewicz & Smith, 2014).
Idiography. The third philosophical underpinning of IPA is idiography. IPA is
“especially concerned the particular experience of an individual (Smith & Shinebourne,
2012). The ideographical approach of IPA occurs at two levels. First, this particular experience relates in the sense of detail, or depth of analysis. Second, it is committed to understanding how a phenomenon is being interpreted or understood from the research participants’ perspective in a specific context (Smith et al., 2009). Shinebourne (2011) explicated that IPA focuses on “an in-depth focus on the particular and commitment to a detailed finely-textured analysis, not possible in nomothetic research studies, which focus on 84
aggregated data” (p. 22). Consequently, a systemic data collection about the topic is expected to draw upon from each participant through semi-structured interviews. This is in contrast with taking steps in quantitative approach to get a large sample and deduct the conclusions out of broader themes. Rather, restricting to a small group of participants and performing a more vigorous analysis to reach more precise findings on the topics is what the IPA idiographic approach intents to do.
Justifications of Using IPA Approach
This study focuses on exploring library leaders’ perceptions and experiences on expanding necessary core leadership competencies in the digital age, and how they make sense of acquiring and applying these competencies to lead successfully. It does not lend itself easily to quantification, but emphases on examining personal meaning of these competencies required by the library leaders and how this make sense to them in a particular context of HKSHEI libraries. IPA is seen as an appropriate approach as it is well aligned with the purpose of this study considering the philosophical underpinnings discussed earlier.
Phenomenology intends to seek understanding on human lived experience with special attention to capture the essential truths or essences of the phenomenon. IPA goes further to “explore in detail how participants are making sense of their personal and social world, and the main currency for an IPA study is the meanings particular experiences, events, states hold for participants” (Smith & Osborn, 2008, p. 53). The IPA approach thus provides an opportunity for the researcher to examine and interpret the “lived experience” of participants embedded in a specific context that is unique and distinctive. Furthermore, Smith et al. (2009) underscored that “human beings are sense-making creatures, and therefore the accounts which participants provide will reflect their attempts to make sense of their experience” (p. 3). Therefore, IPA is concerned with subjective experience, which can be 85
“either first-order activity or second-order mental and affective responses to that activity”
(Smith et al., 2009, p. 33).
In this study, through an IPA approach, library leaders would reflect upon their unique leadership experiences through interactive dialogues with the researcher to identify expanding necessary core leadership competencies to lead successfully in the digital age.
Such sense-making process would facilitate the knowledge and understanding of a phenomenon be learned and developed along the way (Smith et al., 2009). Library leaders attempt to make sense of how they perceive and experience in leading the libraries and examining ways to stay relevant and demonstrate value to their respective institutions with various stakeholders. In addition, the very purpose of this research to shed light on existing literature on expanding necessary core library leadership competencies in the specific Hong
Kong context will be fulfilled.
Furthermore, the idiographic focus of IPA aligned with the goal of this study. Smith et al. (2009) pronounced that this idiographic focus concerns primarily with detailed analysis of particular people in a particular context. Consequently, IPA relies on small sample sizes to allow for “the perceptions and understandings of this particular group rather than prematurely make more general claims” (Smith & Osborn, 2008, p. 55). It reduces the experiences of the participants with a phenomenon to a description of a universal essence. In this study, the perceptions and experiences of each library leader were explored in greater detail to capture the common essence from the interactive dialogues. In sum, this IPA approach will provide guidance to researcher in how to select participants being studied, collect data, analyze findings, and interpret the perceptions and lived experience of the participants.
How IPA Shapes Research Questions
In a qualitative research study, research questions should “embed the values, world view and direction of an inquiry” (Trede & Higgs, 2009, p. 18). The idiographic nature of 86
IPA seeks to explore the lived experience of participants in detail and the meaning appended to the experience in a particular context (Pietkiewicz & Smith, 2014). Typically, IPA questions are broad and open. The style of inquiries should be exploratory rather than explanatory. The questions should also reflect on processes rather than outcomes and focus on the meanings rather than causes and effects (Smith et al., 2009).
The researcher adopted an inductive approach by asking open-ended questions “about the understandings, experiences and sense-making activities” of the participants from their perspectives in semi-structured interviews (Smith et al., 2009, p.47). Consequently, this approach helps to generate rich, thick descriptions of how the participants perceive and experience the phenomenon under study. The researcher in the study asked questions that focused on library leaders’ understandings and meanings of their lived experience on acquiring and applying core leadership competencies. Doing so aims to capture and synthesize the essences of their leadership experience and the expanding necessary core leadership competencies in their professional life as library leaders.
Participants and Sampling Strategy
Although there is no rule governing the number of participants in an IPA study, it is proposed to conduct the research with comparatively small sample sizes to facilitate in-depth examination of a phenomenon (Pietkiewicz & Smith, 2014). The study aims to discover a relatively homogeneous sample so that researchers could examine the convergent and divergent perspectives in considerable detail within the chosen sample (Smith et al., 2009).
Smith et al. (2009) deliberated that participants are selected based on the criteria that they can
“grant us access to a particular perspective on the phenomena under study” (Smith et al., p.
49). They focus on a small number of participants and emphasize the importance of quality rather than quantity, and depth rather than breadth. 87
In this study, participants were selected from HKSHEI libraries “through purposive sampling to find a more closely defined group for whom the research question will be significant” (Smith & Osborn, 2008, p. 56). The study targeted a small group of library leaders who can provide a holistic understanding of their leadership experience in the digital age. The researcher sent an invitation letter to library leaders to invite them to participate in the research study shortly after the Institutional Review Board (IRB) approval from
Northeastern University was granted.
Currently there are twenty-nine SHEIs in Hong Kong. Compared to the publicly- funded institutions, most of these institutions are on a smaller scale and serve a small student population. As IPA aims to provide in-depth examination of lived experience of participants in their specific context, only participants that are closely relevant and have personal significance to the research problem should be selected for the study (Pietkiewicz & Smith,
2014). Therefore, participants who meet the following predetermined criterion were invited to join the study.
Participants are library leaders currently working in HKSHEIs. Specifically, these participants are those who are library directors or associate librarians of their respective institutions and have served in senior library positions for over 5 years. They play leadership roles in their libraries, contribute to the strategic developments, and oversee budget resources and staff management. Participants hold a master’s degree or above in library and information science or equivalent. Therefore, the researcher invited eight library leaders from six HKSHEIs to participate and share their perceptions and experiences of expanding necessary core leadership competencies in the digital age and they all accepted the invitations.
Participants that meet the criteria were invited to participate by phone or email. Then, an invitation letter and a consent form were sent to them to provide detailed information of 88
the study as well as their privileges in the study. The participants were invited on a volunteer basis, and no incentives was offered in this study.
Data Collection
In this study, the data was collected through one-on-one, in-depth, semi-structured, and open-ended interview to elicit “rich, detailed, and first-person accounts of experiences and phenomena” (Pietkiewicz & Smith, 2014). The researcher engaged interactively with participants to allow them to give a rich, thick account of personal experience and perceptions of expanding necessary core leadership competencies. The IPA questions were also intended to be focused on “exploring sensory perceptions, mental phenomena (thoughts, memories, associations, fantasies) and, in particular, individual interpretations” (Pietkiewicz
& Smith, 2014, p. 10). Hence, the researcher asked open-ended questions during the interviews and raised prompts to encourage participants to express their thoughts, feelings, concerns, and worries freely and openly. In addition, the interview schedule began with asking descriptive questions before moving to conceivably delicate issues and questions, which require authentic reflections (Smith & Shinebourne, 2012).
Taken into considerations of COVID-19 outbreak, all interviews were conducted via online or telephone, rather than in person. This complied with the change in Northeastern
University’s policy with respect to conducting human subjects research in-person effective on
March 16, 2020. The researcher intended to engage with the participants in a flexible and collaborative manner. Online or telephone interviews were conducted in a private and secured setting chosen by the participants so that they felt comfortable to discuss their own experience. Each interview has lasted about 45 to 60 minutes. The researcher prepared the interview protocol with a set of questions ahead of time, although the semi-structure style was chosen to permit a prominent flexibility. The researcher did vary the sequence of the questions or skip some questions as the dialogue advances to allow such flexibility. 89
The aim of the research interview is to “capture how those being interviewed view their world, to learn their terminology and judgements, and to capture the complexities of their individual perceptions and experiences” (Patton, 2002, p. 348). At the beginning of each interview, the researcher introduced the parameters of the study and inquired the participants whether they have any questions before the formal interview begins. The researcher adopted a stance, which is curious and facilitative, and an approach of inquiry, which is flexible and open-ended, to establish a friendly rapport with each participant. The personally salient accounts were audio-recorded to produce a detailed transcript that captured the participants’ voice for further analysis. Participants signed an informed consent form before they participated in the study. The researcher provided sufficient information about the purpose of the study and procedures involved to delineate any risks and benefits. Participants were fully informed about their privileges to confidentiality and rights to withdraw at any time without any consequences.
Data Analysis
The core features of IPA analysis are portrayed as a move from “what is unique to a participant to what is share among participants, a transfer from description of the experience to an interpretation of the experience, an understanding from the participants’ perspectives, and an emphasis on “personal meaning-making within a particular context” (Cooper et al.,
2012, p. 5). The research process of IPA is dynamic, and the researcher has an active role to play in it. In this study, transcripts from the interview were analyzed in an iterative and inductive manner.
Six-Step IPA Analysis Process
The researcher performed data analysis according to the following steps outlined by
Smith et al. (2009): 90
Step 1: Reading and re-reading. In the initial step, the researcher closely read the transcripts repeatedly to immerse totally in the original data. As the interview is integral to the IPA approach, it is most important for the researcher to engage “in an interpretative relationship with the transcript” (Smith & Osborn, 2008, p. 66). The researcher attempted to capture and make sense of the meanings from the participants’ perspectives. Those meanings, however, must gain through a prolonged engagement with the transcript and interpretation processes. The researcher may gain new insights every time after reading.
Step 2: Initial noting. In the second step, the researcher made notes and annotated with summaries, paraphrases, associations, connections, preliminary interpretations about the observations, and reflections about the interview experience or anything of potential significance. The researcher focused on the content, context, and language use. In particular, the researcher highlighted distinct phrases and emotional reactions (Smith & Shinebourne,
2012). Later phase of annotation included bringing out “similarities and differences, echoes, amplifications and contradictions” that participants were trying to say (Smith & Osborn,
2008, p. 67).
Step 3: Developing emergent themes. In the third step, the researcher reflected the source material to transform notes into emerging themes by means of coding and clustering.
Repeated and significant words or phrases related to central research question were grouped together into concise phrases to consolidate the essential elements of what was found in the text (Smith & Osborn, 2008). This aimed at seeking relationships and clustering themes to make sense, discovering meaning of the lived experience in relation to central question, and finding implications of research findings (Smith et al., 2009). The essential skill here is to obtain expressions across cases that are high level enough to offer approach to theoretical connections within and across other cases, although still in the particularity of specifics being said by participants (Smith & Osborn, 2008). 91
Step 4: Clustering and connecting themes according to conceptual similarities. In the fourth step, the researcher sought for connections between emerging themes, grouped themes together based on conceptual similarities, and provided each cluster with a descriptive label (Smith et al., 2009). The researcher incorporated every single important theme that addressed the central question with short descriptions for each theme and connected them to appropriate passages in the transcript.
First, the themes appeared in the transcript were chronologically ordered. Next, the themes involved more analytical and conceptual ordering (Smith & Osborn, 2008). After that, the themes were clustered, and the clustering of various themes were counter-checked in the transcript to ensure the connections made sense with the actual words and voices of the participants. A few super-ordinate themes were those themes that captured most strongly the concerns on the phenomenon of the participants (Smith & Osborn, 2008). Some specific approaches to investigate the patterns and connections between emergent themes are abstraction, polarization, contextualization, numeration, and function (Smith & Osborn,
2008). The researcher utilized several approaches mentioned along the analysis process. A final table with distinguished super-ordinate themes was made after every transcript was analyzed and interpreted using the above steps. Lastly, a research dairy was kept to note down every detail (Smith et al., 2009; Smith & Osborn, 2008).
Step 5: Moving to the next cases. In the fifth step, the researcher moved to the next participant’s transcript and repeated the previous steps. If possible, it is better to bracket the ideas emerged from the first case while analyzing the second (Smith & Osborn, 2008). The changes in the ‘fore-structure’ of the researcher in interpreting subsequent cases may be influenced by the prior case findings while keeping the commitment of being idiographic in
IPA (Smith et al., 2009). 92
Step 6: Looking for patterns across cases. In the final step, the researcher sought for patterns across cases. This was completed by laying out each table of the clusters of themes, including emergent and super-ordinate, on a large piece of surface, such as conference desk or working bench, as available and looking across those themes or clusters of themes. The result would be the creation of a group table (Smith et al., 2009).
Criteria for Quality Qualitative Research
“All research is concerned with producing valid and reliable knowledge in an ethical manner” (Merriam & Tisdell, 2016, p. 237). This section outlines the criteria for quality qualitative research: ethical considerations, credibility, transferability, and self-reflexivity and transparency.
Ethical Considerations
Careful attention to ethical considerations is required at all stages when conducting qualitative research. IRB approval of Northeastern University was sought to protect the privileges and welfare of human subjects who participate in this study. Since the topic of this research is related to the understanding of core leadership competencies of library leaders of
HKSHEIs, the identity of participants was protected. All participants were required to sign a consent form before the interview. At the beginning of each interview, the researcher explained the parameters of the study and asked the participants if they had any questions before the formal interview began. Participants were well informed about the purpose of the study, the method to maintain anonymity, their rights to withdraw, and the delineation of any risks and benefits (Creswell & Creswell, 2018). The researcher treated the participants equitably in accordance with the guidelines set forth by IRB of Northeastern University and be cautious about the adverse effects that the release of findings may bring. The data collected, such as field notes, transcripts, and password-protected USB flash drive, were locked securely after each usage. 93
Credibility
Credibility describes the internal validity that “deals with the question of how research findings match the reality” (Merriam & Tisdell, 2016, p. 242). To enhance the credibility of this IPA study, the researcher engaged in strategies, including member checking, triangulation of data sources, and rich, thick descriptions. Member checking was conducted by inviting the participants to verify the transcripts and provide feedback to ensure the accuracy of responses to the interview questions. Triangulation allowed cross checking of multiple sources of data collected through observations and interviews to ensure the authenticity of data. Rich, thick description also helped to provide a holistic account of the lived experience from the participants’ perspectives.
The researcher recorded the whole interview process as detailed as possible, which include verbal messages and non-verbal hints such as tone of voice and body gestures. As a professional practitioner, the researcher went through the transcripts as many times as possible to validate and pulled out all the richness of the verbal and non-verbal contents with high precision. The researcher hopes that using the above three strategies of validation would help to provide a more accurate and authentic picture of the lived experience of the participants in their own voices.
Transferability
Transferability describes the external validity that “is concerned with the extent to which the findings of one study can be applied to other situation” (Merriam & Tisdell, 2016, p. 253). By thoroughly documenting the procedures and data analysis techniques, the findings of this study may increase the knowledge base that concerns the academic library leadership competencies. It will shed light on further research that can facilitate and influence the practice contributed to overall library organizational effectiveness. Rich, thick descriptions collected in the interviews, direct quotes from participants, and active involvement in 94
clarifying the notes and messages taken from the interviews with participants and follow-up meetings, if realized up to expectation, will strengthen credibility of the findings, discussions, and conclusion. This will also increase the likelihood of transferring to other context or case studies in different territories.
Self-Reflexivity and Transparency
The researcher is the primary instrument in qualitative research. Patton (2002) described, “The perspective that the researcher brings to a qualitative inquiry is part of the context for the findings” (Patton, 2002, p. 64). As such, the researcher must reflect on their own positionality and be as transparent as possible. In this study, participants will be given back the transcripts for checking and review to ensure the transparency in accordance with the consent form.
Moreover, the researcher, being one of the library leaders of HKSHEIs, carefully bracketed and reflected on her own personal and professional experiences that may bias the study. For instance, the follow-up questions may not be open-ended due to preconceived notions in a certain manner. To eliminate those risks, the researcher was cautious on the way the questions were asked by avoiding closed-ended types of follow up question unless it was necessary. The researcher also kept an open mind of the new perspectives brought about by participants and encouraged a rich, thick description philosophy applied in the data collection process (Creswell & Creswell, 2018).
Limitations
Two main limitations may influence the findings of this study. First, participants were selected purposively from HKSHEI libraries in this study. Although the small sample size facilitated in-depth understanding of the leadership competencies of participants, the absence of diversity limited the generalization and external validity of the findings. Further study was required to represent a general pattern or imply similar findings in other libraries. 95
Moreover, the researcher’s positionality as a librarian and close associate in the same profession may influence the data collection process and the responses of participants. As the primary instrument of data collection and analysis in the research process, the researcher engaged in strategies, including member checking, triangulation of multiple data sources, and rich, thick description, to assure rigor and credibility of the research.
Conclusion
The purpose of this study is to explore how library leaders of HKSHEIs make sense of their perceptions and experiences of expanding necessary core leadership competencies in the digital age. A constructivism-interpretivism paradigm has been chosen to guide this qualitative study. Furthermore, an IPA approach was utilized to allow the researcher to understand and interpret how these library leaders make sense of their personal lived experience in the profession. The IPA approach has also guided the sampling strategy in this study by choosing a small group of participants to allow in-depth examination of the phenomenon.
Using the six-step IPA analytical approach proposed by Smith et al. (2009), the data was obtained from semi-structured interviews with eight library leaders through purposive sampling. Considering of the outbreak of COVID-19, data was gathered through online or telephone interviews with eight participants from six HKSHEIs. The data collected from one participant was then be transcribed, reviewed repeatedly, coded and analyzed to develop themes and make clusters and connections, and look for patterns for addressing the central research question. Those steps were then repeated for the other participants. The criteria for quality qualitative research, including ethical considerations, credibility, transferability, and self-reflexivity and transparency of the design, were strictly observed in this study.
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Chapter Four: Findings
The purpose of this study was to examine how library leaders of Hong Kong self- financing higher education institutions perceive and experience expanding necessary core leadership competencies in the digital age, and how they make sense of acquiring and applying these competencies to lead successfully. This chapter presents the analytical findings that emerged from interviews with eight library leaders who shared their perceptions and lived experience of being a library leader in the Hong Kong higher education context.
This chapter begins with an overview of participant profiles. Next, it describes the findings in four significant themes that emerged through interpretations of the data: 1)
Evolving academic library landscape in the digital age, 2) Reconfiguring academic library leadership, 3) Better positioning to stay relevant and demonstrate value, and 4) Adaptation as an important aspect of library leadership. Finally, it summarizes the findings.
Participant Profiles
To grant access to the phenomenon of core leadership competencies in Hong Kong self-financing higher education sector, this study selected a relatively homogeneous sample.
Eight purposively selected library leaders from six different HKSHEIs were invited to join the study and shared their responses, knowledge, perceptions, and experiences of core leadership competencies. All of them are Hong Kong Chinese. Of those eight participants, five are female and three are male. They all obtained master’s degrees and necessary qualifications in the library profession. They possess at least 20 years of work experience in the library field, and their current job tenures range from two to twenty-five years. Most of them have work experience in both publicly-funded and self-financing higher education sectors in Hong Kong. As the academic library field in Hong Kong is relatively small, the backgrounds of participants were described in a holistic and aggregate manner to protect their confidentiality (Table 7). 97
Table 7 Summary of Participants’ Demographics Participant code Gender Educational background Library experience (years) P1 Female Master’s degree 20+ P2 Female Master’s degree 20+ P3 Female Master’s degree 25+ P4 Female Master’s degree 30 P5 Male Master’s degree 25+ P6 Female Master’s degree 20+ P7 Male Master’s degree 25+ P8 Male Master’s degree 25+
All participants possess extensive leadership experiences in academic libraries.
Although the library leaders may have different titles in different higher education institutions, they all exhibited leadership behaviors and attributes while performing their roles and responsibilities. Through their rich, thick descriptions of their lived experience as library leaders of HKSHEIs, the researcher was able to discover a more comprehensive meaning of the phenomenon of core leadership competencies for academic library leaders in this specific context.
Emergent Themes and Subthemes
After the interviews were performed via Zoom with seven participants and one telephone interview with one participant, notes and transcriptions were prepared based on data taken with each participant. The written transcripts were then sent to each participant by email for their review and approval to complete the member checking process. All the participants reviewed and approved the transcripts with no substantive changes. Data from the interview transcripts were carefully read, re-read, and analyzed in detail to identify keywords, phrases, concepts, and emotional reactions. After several rounds of coding, categorizing, and analysis, four significant themes and 12 subthemes finally emerged as shown in Table 8.
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Table 8 Themes and Subthemes Emerged from Data Analysis Themes Subthemes 1) Evolving academic library a) Impacts of emerging technologies on landscape in the digital age academic libraries b) Challenges brought by changing user behaviors and demands c) Changing roles and functions of academic libraries 2) Reconfiguring academic library a) New dimension of academic library leadership leadership b) Reflections of changes in academic library leadership journeys 3) Better positioning to stay a) Positioning with institutions relevant and demonstrate value b) Positioning with faculty c) Positioning with students d) Pressure faced and ways to approach 4) Adaptation as an important a) Reframing mindset to embrace a culture of aspect of library leadership change b) How adaptation becomes part of the leadership c) Importance of adaptations in a time of COVID-19 pandemic
Theme 1: Evolving Academic Library Landscape in the Digital Age
All participants agreed that academic libraries are still performing their same roles and functions in providing resources and services to support the teaching, learning, and research in their parent institutions, nevertheless, they observed that academic libraries are operating in a rapidly changing environment in the digital age. In the interviews, participants discussed the impacts brought by emerging technologies and changing user behaviors and demands in the digital age. They also shared their thoughts and insights on different workable strategies to address these impacts and new demands.
Impacts of emerging technologies on academic libraries. All participants agreed that new technologies impact on academic libraries in varying degrees. They highlighted three 99
emerging technologies that bring greater changes in library operation: discovery platforms, digitization of information resources, and social media. Participant 4, the most experienced library leader in this study with nearly 30 years in the field, gave a detail account about the evolution of library automation systems since the early 90s:
In the library profession, we have talked about digital concept for many years. It is already considered “digital” in concept when libraries tried to use technology to automate their daily operations. I recalled that back in around 1997 or before, many publicly-funded academic libraries in Hong Kong started to implement integrated library systems such as INNOPAC to automate their operations and engage their users in a more effective way. The developments of emerging technologies have a positive impact on libraries. The new discovery platform, which enables a more convenient, user-friendly search option, started to emerge in recent years. The operation of libraries has evolved from card catalogue to online catalogue and from physical access to virtual online access. Such change in academic libraries is tremendous.
Participant 5 also added that his library has invested more in its infrastructure, including network, Wi-Fi, and systems to better integrate new technologies that complement existing resources. He focused on improving the discovery layer of library systems, which changed significantly from the past. Similarly, Participant 6 described how the new library discovery platform helped users to find information in the most effective and efficient ways:
New discovery platforms facilitate access to information resources with just one click. I think library systems today must enable users to search across platforms, so that they can find library subscribed resources and open access information more flexibly and interchangeably. Furthermore, they must be able to access full-text information and thus increase the relevancy that caters for user needs.
Three other participants also described the changes brought by the development in electronic publishing and digital technology. They said that information resources have changed from print-based to digital-based so that they can be accessed, retrieved, and shared more easily. Participant 4 recalled that e-books and e-journals are made available abundantly in the late 90s. Participant 6 further described the scale of digitization from book to chapter level and the widely use of OCR (optical character recognition) technology since the 2000s: 100
Information used to be retrieved at the book level, but today’s information can be retrieved at the chapter level. Users used to read an entire book, but now they may just read a specific chapter to take out the essential information. What’s more, publishers now digitize segments of a chapter instead of an entire book for easy retrieval. OCR also enables users to even search effectively for specific wordings or phrases.
She commented that users now need fast and instant access to information, and in a more accurate way:
It may be regarded as the so-called “instant eating” habit of students. I observed there are different user behaviors in different disciplines. For example, when comparing subjects of humanities with those of technologies, technical students may tend to use more specific chapters or articles for their study.
She further added that users have heightened expectations of accessing to scholarly information nowadays:
They want to search information across different platforms with just one click of a button. New practices require more fine-tuning in the back end of the library management systems to facilitate searching and retrieval.
Participant 5 commented that the use of electronic books was not bounded by opening hours or physical spaces of the libraries and can be accessed by several users simultaneously.
He explained how the new institutional repository (IR) service launched by his library facilitated information retrieval:
We have developed our IR service a few years ago. We digitized graduate theses from printed copies. In the past, our library only had printed copy of theses, and it took a long time for users to obtain these theses as they were housed in closed stacks. After we digitized these theses and uploaded them to our IR platform, users can retrieve and download the information instantly via this online platform without our intermediation.
Moreover, four participants portrayed the use of social media in their libraries.
Participant 1 and Participant 8 introduced the use of social media in user education services.
For instance, Participant 1 suggested uploading their digital and information literacy programs to social media platforms like YouTube to encourage more viewing. Moreover, 101
Participant 2 and Participant 4 described the use of social media as a means to promote and market the library resources and services. Participant 4 also indicated that it is important to connect students with tools that they are familiar with. Therefore, she created Instagram account for her library to update students with the latest library news and developments.
Similarly, Participant 2 stressed that social media like Facebook helped to connect her library with more users, and new communication tool such as WhatsApp and Zoom enabled them to provide instant enquiry service. Nevertheless, she expressed her concerns on the manpower in providing new services with the emerging technologies:
Some people may think that technology helps to save manpower. Instead, I think more manpower is needed to develop new services with emerging technology. In the past, we have more time to reply to user enquiries. With new tools and communication channels like emails, WhatsApp, and Facebook, we have to respond to user enquiries without any delay as users hope for instant responses.
Participant 8 also admitted that new information technology influences academic libraries greatly such that they have to keep up with and fully utilize it in different aspects of library services.
Participant 3 and Participant 8 depicted the impacts of emerging technologies on the roles and functions of academic libraries. Participant 3 expressed that:
The emergence of digital information technology and network infrastructure brings about significant transformation in the roles of academic libraries. One can easily access information online with computer and many other portable devices without the library’s intermediation.
Participant 8 also commented on the passive role of today’s academic libraries boldly:
In my opinion, the role of libraries has become more passive as users can find information easily by themselves. Although users can find information easily on the Internet, they are not sure whether it is correct. Changing user behaviors impose great challenges on libraries and their librarians, so librarians have to work proactively to see what they can offer.
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From the above comments from the participants, we can see that the emerging technologies have influenced the roles and functions of academic libraries tremendously.
Challenges brought by changing user behaviors and demands. All participants discussed the challenges brought by changing user behaviors and demands, which can be divided into three main categories: information seeking, instant accessibility, and physical library space. Some participants observed that there is a fundamental change in information seeking behavior of their users. These participants expressed their concerns and were possibly worried about their students’ digital and information literacy. Participant 1, being an expert in providing user services and user education for over 20 years, admitted the challenges she faced:
In the past, users were required to visit libraries physically to make use of their resources and services such as attending library classes or workshops. Now, fewer users prefer to come to libraries and receive face-to-face services. As users can always find information on Google on their own, they do not think very strongly about the need to come to libraries. They also perceive that they are information literate and they do not need our help. Changing user behaviors imposed more challenges to libraries. Libraries have to attract users to visit and rethink the ways we teach digital and information literacy skills.
Participant 8 also reiterated this same point:
In the past, users were more active in seeking assistance from libraries. They came to the libraries to look for information and searched library resources to get the information they need. Now, users are more passive. As they can get information on the Internet on their own, they do not need to come to the libraries and ask for our help. Besides, users have heightened expectation of how fast they can gain access to the information they need.
Both Participant 5 and Participant 7 commented on the point of instant accessibility of information resources. Participant 5 asserted that:
Now, users are not willing to wait for one minute and expect to get the answer instantly. Hence, library staff are expected to provide fast and accurate response to users. In addition, users expect instant troubleshooting of technical issues when searching in our library system. Otherwise, they may get frustrated if they cannot retrieve the online information immediately. 103
Similarly, Participant 7 shared his view of user demand on instant accessibility of information resources:
The ways that users fulfill their information needs are greatly different from what they were. They want to gain instant access of resources they search for in the most efficient and convenient way. Users can obtain an enormous amount of information resources on the Internet easily now.
Moreover, two participants discussed about new demands on the design and utilization of physical library space. According to Participant 2:
Now, users not only need resources from libraries, but also want to have good learning environment with a well-furnished setting, including spaces for learning commons and discussion rooms. Besides library materials, they also want to have computer facilities. To them, library is more than just books, it should be a place to collaborate and socialize with peers.
Participant 7 echoed her response on physical library space and connected this user demand with respect to the Hong Kong context:
Even in the digital age, our students still expect libraries to provide an environment that are conducive to learning. As we know, they need a good environment for them to study quietly or to learn collaboratively. Especially in Hong Kong over-crowded living environment, it is almost impossible for our students to discuss their group projects at home. They also cannot do that either in a public area, such as a café.
Participant 2 concluded the challenges faced by academic libraries brought by changing user behaviors and demands:
Now users do not just come to libraries for reading books. They expect that an academic library is a place that comprises of all kinds of resources and a wide range of services. They consider it to be a place easy to reach for everyone to get information and services both physically and virtually.
Changing roles and functions of academic libraries. All participants shared their perspectives and insights on the changing roles and functions of academic libraries brought by the changing user behaviors and demands. Two participants commented on the use of new tools and practices to better connect with users in the digital age. Participant 1 said: 104
We have to develop more online services to respond to new user demands and to improve user experience. We also have to adopt new tools to provide more animations and videos in order to make our online programs more interactive and visually appealing. We utilize new social media platforms like YouTube to upload our online courses to enhance access. I think we have to explore the use of more new tools and keep ourselves updated of emerging technologies.
Participant 2 also suggested applying new tools such as Facebook and WhatsApp to connect with users. She made a stronger claim that:
As a librarian, I cannot respond like my subordinates by asking why I have to do that. I think library services in the digital age need to be more diversified and comprehensive. As we are working in self-financing institution libraries, it is important for us to work within our limited resources and explore different new possibilities to the best of our abilities.
Participant 6 stressed the importance of putting herself in the users’ shoes:
I think about this question frequently: ‘How can I help users find information in the most effective way?’ ‘How can I decide if a platform is good enough?’ My selection criteria are that our resources and services should be convenient for users to access and use. That is why I have to monitor their usage statistics closely so that I can make a sound decision on providing better resources and services.
Participant 7 highlighted the interaction between libraries and their users when developing strategies for library:
The most important change is that library services have become more versatile in the digital age. New delivery modes of library services open up many new possibilities. Libraries employ new tools to support new pedagogies and research activities. Learning resources have also evolved a lot. There are push and pull factors: not only do libraries actively promote the use of new tools, students also create new demands such as asking for more online supports, more e-journals, or more access to their course materials via mobile phones. My view is that libraries and their users are in fact complementing and helping one another in developing new tools and practices in addressing new demands.
Summary of Theme 1. From the participants’ responses and comments, it is evident that academic libraries are operating in an evolving landscape in the digital age. Participants highlighted the impacts of emerging technologies, such as discovery platforms, digitization of 105
information resources, and social media, and changing user behaviors and demands, such as information seeking, instant accessibility, and physical library space, on the library operations. As such, participants seem to face challenges and pressure in varying degrees when they have to enhance and update their library resources and services with the limited budget and manpower available in the Hong Kong self-financing higher education sector.
Nevertheless, I perceived that all participants in this study are experienced and skillful problem-solvers as they addressed the above challenges with positive attitudes and proactive manners. They valued the experience of their users and always tried their best to better connect with them. They also stressed interaction between libraries and their users and highlighted the complementary roles played by users in developing new tools and practices to address new demands.
Theme 2: Reconfiguring Academic Library Leadership
All participants perceived that the roles and responsibilities of library leaders have been greatly extended in the digital age. Library leaders are expected to keep abreast with the latest technological developments and cater for the changing behaviors and demands of their users. As such, they need to reconfigure their leadership and empower their staff to provide new resource and service initiatives.
New dimension of academic library leadership. Participants expressed that a different kind of leadership is needed to be successful in the new academic library landscape.
Participant 3, who is a library leader that serves in the same institution library for 23 years, commented that:
Library leadership in the digital age is completely different from what it was in the past. In today’s rapidly changing technological environment, academic library leaders have to take responsibility to explore the potential of proactive cultural change, where this cultural change is very common in face of environmental challenges, and how the library and its people adapt to a new changing culture. This is very crucial in ensuring present and future success of the library. Library leaders should adapt their roles and 106
responsibilities to become more efficient when serving students and staff in the institution.
She affirmed that it is demanding to be a library leader in the digital age, as they need to possess both professional knowledge and technological skills. She further portrayed what a knowledgeable leader is like to her:
In this electronic information environment, a library leader should be familiar with a wide range of digital contents, have the knowledge to distinguish the information and useful resources, and be able to find effective ways to present information to users. A library leader is expected to act as an information expert with the depth of knowledge, information research, and even basic technological skills to advise teachers, staff, and students on skills, contents, topics, tools, and experiences.
Besides, a library leader has to become knowledgeable in a growing number of subjects. Say, I know nothing about nursing or physiotherapy, so I need to learn from their syllabi, talk to the faculty, and understand what they need. Our library does not have many professional staff acted as subject librarians unlike other local university libraries. Our role is to liaise and consult with different faculty in resource acquisitions to ensure that relevant collection resources are acquired. Therefore, leaders should be able to demonstrate personal confidence and competency to work with faculty and be familiar with the subject areas.
Participant 8 echoed on her views and shared his feelings openly as being a library leader in
HKSHEI:
Originally, I thought self-financing institution libraries are easier to manage, as they are relatively small and just have a small team of staff. In reality, it is not. Their librarians have to find different ways to resolve problems and meet new demands as resources and manpower are relatively less. Librarians in small academic libraries have to be all-round professionals. They act as a “one-man band” and need to have multi-tasking skills. Their roles are multiple, and I think they need to develop different leadership skills to lead effectively.
Participant 4, being the most experienced library leader and has a bigger team of staff among other participants, shared her views and thoughts of leading a mixed generation team of staff: 107
As I have a team of staff consisting older, middle, and young generations, I, as leader, have to see the bigger picture and try to understand fully the differences in leading this mixed-age team.
She further noted that leaders like herself have gone through many changes in the digital age and understand how to manage her staff well in the team. However, she considered that the middle management might be in an embarrassing situation as they were trained with the old and traditional practices, but have to supervise and oversee subordinates who are familiar with new tools and practices. She showed confidence in herself as she has more hands-on experience in library management. She elaborated further that:
I see my own shadow in the past when I look into how the middle management supervises their subordinates. I cannot control but give them guidance, such as they need to be more tolerant and more understanding in what their subordinates do, and they have to give those staff more opportunities to try new things. I empower my middle management colleagues to supervise their own section and avoid directly supervising their junior staff.
She stated that she assessed her middle management colleagues by professional knowledge they acquired as it can benefit users:
They need to make decisions based on profession judgment, not based on personal preference, but it is always difficult for them to distinguish them. Personal preference meant that this work is difficult, so I do not want to do it. Professional judgment meant that, although this work is difficult, I want to do it, as it is good and will benefit our users. I told my staff that it is not difficult for us to make a correct decision: just identify which option is best for our users. I seldom find it hard to decide between different options, for instance, A is not good for users and B is good for them, so it is obvious to me.
Participant 2 stressed her roles have been extended through participating in the collaborative library project:
In the past, we seldom get together and collaborate like this. Now we have more sharing and are able to learn from each other. The implementation of the new Aleph system made interlibrary loan services among us possible. We not only provide resources to our own users, but also share them with users in our partner libraries. We do not just focus on our own business as we previously did.
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Participant 6 stressed the impacts of technological advancement on library leadership.
She recalled that:
Librarians used to be more focused on applying the technical skills related to cataloguing and circulation services. Now we shift the focus to systems that automate all aspects of library tasks and functions. For example, we use new discovery platform to link up information across different platforms of databases. We also transfer student information from registry systems to our library systems. As you can see, all things rely on systems now. Our roles are changing profoundly as we now rely heavily on systems to provide library resources and services. Librarians may not be familiar with this new area. As not all librarians possess strong technical skills, we have to allocate more resources and manpower to manage and oversee various systems in the library. The roles of the system librarians are getting more and more important.
In HKSHEI libraries, sometimes the roles and responsibilities of the system librarians are shared by librarians and associate librarians due to limited manpower, which in turn added to their pressure and workload.
Similarly, Participant 8 suggested library leaders to fine tune their roles with new technological developments and stressed it is important for them to possess information technology skills:
I have to keep up with latest technological developments to fulfill and perform my roles with new and expanding IT requirements. I need to know how to fulfill the needs of evolving trends and play an active part in it. Not only do I need to have the knowledge to handle IT matters in my libraries skillfully and independently, but I also have to assume a new role in educating my subordinates and users in order to properly use technology.
He further explained that library leaders should continue to acquire new knowledge to enhance their competencies:
Several years ago, I tried to explore digital and information literacy education from a different perspective, so I pursued a master’s degree in education that enabled me to look at this topic from an educator’s angle instead of a librarian’s angle. I was able to identify gaps in our digital and information literacy education. It is important for me to look from a different perspective to fill that gap. I realized changes are so big as I have studied library and information science many years ago. Thus, it is important for librarians to continue to acquire new knowledge and skills. 109
Participant 7 explicitly shared his views about what library leadership looks like in the digital age:
The difference lies in the ways that library leaders manage changes and resources. Leaders have to possess strong abilities so that they can prioritize tasks to fulfill demands, such as digital initiatives and new infrastructure, laid out in digital library context. They should keep up with the latest technological trends and IT skills, and cannot rely on the old ways of doing things. They also need the flexibility to adapt to the ever-changing library landscape that are getting more and more demanding.
He also stressed the importance for library leaders to possess global mindset in the Hong
Kong context:
All our library resources are from the outside world, whether they are from western countries or China. Therefore, library leaders should have a global perspective. All databases we use, such as CNKI, ProQuest, and EBSCO, are of international origin. Although the WiseNews database is developed locally, it still covers news information from Hong Kong, Taiwan, and other Asian countries. You know, this is not always the same in some countries as some places like Australia and US, their news databases may still focus on local news.
Reflections of changes in academic library leadership journeys. Being a practical profession, library leaders demonstrate their library leadership attributes through what they have done. In the interviews, most participants reflected on the change in their library leadership journey. For instance, Participant 2 frankly shared how the experience of participating in a collaborative library project affected her leadership:
When I was deciding whether to join the QESS project, I felt uncertain and stressful about what would happen if I have to work with other large libraries. My library is only a small one, so other librarians may see all our weaknesses or shortcomings. I considered for a long time and sought advice from my senior management. I also had to convince them that I am capable to handle all issues in the collaboration process. Finally, I found the project was manageable to me and it would achieve the desired outcomes. Then I gained more confidence and believe the project will extend and accelerate our pace of developments. I became less concerned of our own shortcomings and more focused on how to improve my library instead. Therefore, I think a leader has to be courageous to accept new challenges. Now, there are continuous challenges along the way in the library field. It will affect a lot if you only sit behind the curtain and be afraid of everything when you need to work and collaborate with other libraries. 110
Participant 3 recounted her change from being the “Jack of all trades” in a previous printed environment to a library leader who has new roles, practices, and duties for providing digital contents:
At the time, when my library only had printed collections, I could focus on purchasing textbooks and reference materials in the syllabi to satisfy user needs of book borrowing, cataloguing books, answering journal and reference enquiries from staff and students, and supervising only a very small team of library assistants. Nevertheless, as more and more e-resources were incorporated into our library collections and made available to use on and off campus, we hired more staff to manage the library collections and daily operations.
She further added that:
As a leader, I should strive to take the lead on the use of information technology that offers new learning opportunities for my team, our users, and myself. In considering the evolving needs of the users, I also have to manage the library budget within my limit and set priority sensibly, considering the limited budget allocation for the library as one of the self-financing institutions in particular. This also couples with the ever- increasing cost of purchasing and subscribing the e-resources. I have to take the leadership role not only to retain the flexibility to manage the library budget, but also explore the possibility for the opportunity to participate in cross-institutional collaboration.
She found she gained new skills and knowledge in the ethics, legality of subscriptions, and the licensing of subscription products like e-books and e-databases. She also worked closely together with the teaching staff who are very demanding on scholarly resources not only for teaching, but also to support their research work because her institution encourages all teaching staff to commit in research, conference papers, and presentations.
In addition, she played another role as a change agent by creating a change team for a new integrated library system in her library:
I remember when our library decided to shift to a new integrated library system, using Aleph to enhance user services and to achieve improvements in library performance, I tried to build a change team and mobilize my staff to commit to change. First, I elaborated in an open manner with all stakeholders and my team for the impacts and benefits of the change. It was a really very difficult time for the whole team, as we did not have much knowledge of advance library systems. We had not seen that before 111
and had hardly any prior experience in incorporating such a large number of e-books into the catalogue of the new integrated library system. Thus, we worked as a team, participating in training sessions, learning from each other, sharing experiences, and sharpening our wills to learn how to make things happen. During the change period, I understand that some team members were resistant to change as they felt fear and pressure in the change process. Therefore, I created a culture of change by building meaning, sharing, and trust and engaging my staff into the discussion. As a library leader, I am open to staff suggestions and strive to build strong bonds and a strong sense of belonging among team members. I think this is the key to success at the end.
Participant 4 expressed that there were many differences in her roles and responsibilities when compared to those in the past:
In the past, I was less involved in administration works. Now, being the head of the library, I have to oversee all aspects of library operations. I require working closely with the management team and conforming to the missions of my institution. I have seen a big improvement in my management skills, such as communication and interpersonal skills, but I can no longer focus on building up my professional skills as more administrative works are assigned. The change is so great to me. Perhaps I have to accept the reality that there are different roles and responsibilities to play at the librarian level.
She further elaborated on the new leadership skills required when she became a librarian:
I need to develop other leadership skills, such as collaboration, cooperation, and partnership with other stakeholders. I also need to learn how to work effectively with both administrative and academic department heads. This is a different type of skill sets. I need to be more holistic in my new roles. The leadership skills required for my present roles are more diverse and versatile.
Participant 7, an experienced library leader who had worked for a long time in a public university library, recalled that:
My roles as a librarian are to oversee the entire operation of my library, manage different sections, and participate in inter-institutional activities with other universities and colleges. Not only the scope of work is different from before, the number of partners I collaborate with has also increased. I cover a much wider scope now as I do not concentrate on one particular area. Instead, I collaborate with different units within my own institution and with other institutions to satisfy the institutional demands for library services.
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Three participants emphasized that team building is an important attribute of their leadership, especially when they are working in smaller libraries. For instance, Participant 6 shared her views that:
Although everyone assumes a different role in the library, we are supposed to be multi-tasking in small libraries as resources and manpower are relatively less abundant. For instance, the staff in the cataloguing section cannot just perform the cataloguing tasks; they also need to help perform other duties, such as operating the counter. Team building means you have to assist others in the team if needed. Especially in the current COVID-19 situation, staff work from home requires more teamwork to support each other to get things done. Leaders need to act as facilitators and coordinators among the team. They should identify staff strengths and distribute tasks to them accordingly in a fair manner.
Participant 4 and Participant 7 reflected on their experience of building a strong team.
They both emphasized trust as the most crucial element in team building. Participant 4 suggested that more understanding, more patience, and, most importantly, more compassion towards staff are necessary to build a strong team:
I believe trust is a two-way. Some people talk about trust as important in a casual manner. Nevertheless, it is difficult to build trust and completely believe in your colleagues in what they do. It takes time for a team to work well together. You will make your staff feel important if there is trust. It will be difficult for a team to move forward if there is no trust. Trust needs to be built on numerous criteria like allowing sufficient time to build up the bond and work well together. Sometimes I joke with my staff that if you make your supervisor sleep well, then you have done your job properly and that she trusts you.
Participant 7 further added that:
As leader, on the one hand, I have to give my team sufficient trust and believe they can do it so we can depend on each other. On the other hand, I do not prefer micro- management. I motivate my team, assess their progress based on the situation developed, and monitor to see if any adjustment is needed along the way. I have to participate in the process and cannot be an outsider. I do not like micro-management; otherwise, the staff will lose confidence or think you do not trust them. I feel there are strong team spirit and strong bond among staff. The library has developed a healthy culture with trust and mutual understanding.
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Summary of Theme 2. Today, most SHEI libraries in Hong Kong are organized based on functions and departmental activities, but library leaders are still expected to be holistic and all-round to adjust and allocate resources and manpower in a better way to meet new challenges and demands in the rapidly changing environment. A different kind of leadership is seen as the roles and responsibilities of participants are becoming multiple and expanding.
Participants reflected on the changes in their leadership journey such as collaborating in joint library projects, acting as a change agent for implementing a new integrated system, and building a strong team in their libraries through trust.
Theme 3: Better Positioning to Stay Relevant and Demonstrate Value
Academic libraries suffer from a blurred identity in the digital age. With advanced technology, library users are given more choices and flexibility to access information resources. Some participants mentioned that users are no longer required to visit libraries physically to get information or services they need. Besides, libraries face keen competition among other information providers, such as Google and Wikipedia, in providing scholarly information to their users. In order to stay relevant and demonstrate value, all participants agreed that a better positioning of academic libraries is required. They articulated strategies to more effectively communicate the identity and value of the academic libraries to the parent institutions and their stakeholders. They also mentioned the pressure and difficulties they faced in positioning themselves effectively to meet the new and evolving expectations.
Positioning with parent institutions. All participants agreed that it is of utmost importance to align themselves closely with the parent institution’s mission, vision, and goals. Participant 3 best elaborated this:
Academic library developmental strategies should align closely with the mission, values, and goals of the parent institution. There is a need for the library to continue to evolve in response to changing circumstances. In the digital age, library leaders face the challenge to refine our roles as gateway to information and knowledge and adjust our position within our academic institutions. To demonstrate our value, contribute to 114
the academic and research goals of institution as the leader in the library, I have the responsibility to create new technology-based services for teaching, learning, and research.
She gave an example to how she adjusted the positioning of the library to support information discovery and access:
My library participated in collaborative library projects, such as QESS project, to enhance the entire library management systems and worked with vendors for e- resources and licensing consortia. Such project builds, preserves, and facilitates access to resources required and creates a virtual environment to provide access to support user resource discovery and access. Thus, there is an increasing role for library leaders. If a library is to preserve its relevancy and values within the parent institution, we need to act as partners in teaching and research processes.
She further illustrated her expanding role:
I support program accreditation and keep liaising and consulting with faculty and students for the developments of library collections. My more important role is to promote my library, engage the library users both online and face-to-face, and provide digital and information literacy instructions, such as orientation sessions, training sessions, and topical workshops. It is important to align closely with the mission of our institution and strive to incorporate institutional strategies through our library services, collections, and collaboration.
Moreover, several participants focused on articulating library value in the institutional and program accreditation exercises. Participant 2 described her participation in the accreditation processes:
Library service is one of the aspects one must look into in any accreditation exercises regardless of the size of libraries. Whenever we participate in accreditation exercises, we always focus on the uniqueness of our library, such as housing unique collections in arts and humanities and providing responsive services. We show our strengths in collections and services to support the institution.
She stressed that library and institution are in fact very closely tied and related. She used a metaphor of a “window” to describe the position of a library in the institution:
If an outsider wants to know about an institution, the library is always the first point to visit and look into. A library acts like a window of an institution and a centre for keeping and disseminating information resources to users. Although our library does 115
not have many databases and electronic resources, we are able to develop an amiable relationship with our students and staff. We are always able to provide instant response to our students’ most concerned areas. We can tell whether users are satisfied with our services. We make students happy and build their sense of belongings towards our institution. Thus, the library is a place helps to nurture and retain students. In addition, if a guest has a good impression on the library, this will strengthen the way they see our institution.
Two participants highlighted the importance of maintaining effective communication with senior management in order to understand their goals and expectations toward the library. For instance, Participant 6 said that:
For senior management, they are more cost considering. We have to justify to them about our spending. So, library’s collections and services need to be cost-effective, especially when acquiring expensive e-databases.
Participant 5 shared his experience of applying communication skills in budgeting:
Self-financing institution libraries have tight budget. If libraries want to enhance existing or develop new services, leaders need to solicit additional budget through communicating and negotiating with senior management in annual budget meetings. Several years ago, we planned to extend the library building from three floors to six floors. We carefully planned, gathered and analyzed information, and prepared a proposal to our senior management for consideration and they approved finally. Throughout this process, I found good communication and presentation skills are important for me to get the funds and resources successfully.
Participant 7 also emphasized that every department in the institution should not only focus on its own business, but instead has to work collaboratively with other parties to achieve the common goal. He gave an example of organizing a cross-divisional editorial board initiated by his library:
It is important to market the services you can provide. My library publishes newsletters periodically to promote new services in different areas, such as collections, services, digital initiative, and so on. As this requires work across different divisions, we formed a cross-divisional editorial board, which was led by the head of public services. We reengineered and redeployed our units to form a cross- divisional partnership that can truly and effectively help promote new library services to our users.
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Positioning with faculty. Four participants stressed the importance of having effective communication with faculty for library leaders. They stressed the importance of providing value-added service to faculty in their institutions. Participant 1 and Participant 4 both focused on building partnership with their faculty staff to organize orientations and develop digital and information literacy programs for their students. For instance, Participant 1 gave a specific example of developing a tailor-made workshop with faculty:
About a year ago, our institution launched a new business program. We were requested to provide a tailor-made library workshop, focusing on a case study, which we have never done before. We discussed thoroughly with faculty to understand the focus and requirements of this program. Then we collaborated closely to develop a workshop to assist first year students to complete this specific assignment.
Participant 4 also mentioned two collaborative services namely “Library as a Place” and
“Librarians in Class” for faculty:
We try all means to collaborate with our faculty. We have a “Library as a Place” service to collaborate with them in organizing activities, such as new book releases or book talks. We also allow them to conduct classes in the library. It is not to treat the library as a classroom, but to make use of the library facilities, services, and resources effectively to enhance students’ digital and information literacy skills. They are always welcome to come to the library, or we can go to their classroom as well.
We also have a “Librarians in Class” service, in which the faculty teaches half the class session and the librarian teaches the other half on how to use library resources. I hope gradually the faculty will rely on us and develop more demands on our services. Hence, the importance of the library is demonstrated, so they will not forget us for even one minute when it comes to organizing activities for new students.
I hope, through organizing more activities, the demands for the library will be gradually developed. I explained to my colleagues not to be scared of providing additional services. If more services are provided, we will get more manpower in the future. If we do nothing, then nothing can be achieved. I also encourage my staff to do more outreach, especially partnering with faculty, to promote the library resources and services to our new students.
Likewise, two participants focused on communicating with faculty about the library resources. Participant 2 recalled that in her previous institution, the library leader acted as a 117
public relations manager to communicate with different stakeholders. She highlighted the benefits of maintaining effective communication with faculty:
Sometimes in corridor chitchat, I shared with them what was available in the library and what were the difficulties that we confronted. Faculty would then have a better understanding of how the library is doing and what the library can offer. These casual talks help to avoid preconceptions and misunderstandings, such as you are a library with little resources and so forth and foster more respect to the library. I can also learn from them about what new courses will be offered, or which program has fewer or more students. By learning ahead about these latest developments, the library is able to prepare better and provide services more relevant to them. It is a win-win situation.
Participant 6 also suggested that:
Library leaders have to communicate with faculty about the library budget to acquire suitable materials. We need to let them know how the library can assist them in teaching and learning. We need to go to classrooms to promote library collections and services to their students.
Nevertheless, Participant 8 expressed his worry about how to demonstrate value to the faculty:
Sometimes, it is more difficult to convince the faculty to seek help from us, as they may not perceive library staff as teaching staff. Some faculty do not know clearly that the library can provide help in teaching and learning processes through acquiring suitable materials or contributing in curriculum development. We can also provide trainings to their students on how to find information resources related to their disciplines.
Positioning with students. Participant 4 stressed the importance of staying relevant to students’ needs and expectations and tried different approaches to engage with her students:
We offer a “Learning Support Librarian” service to work with students as an academic buddy. We work with them hand in hand to improve academic performance. They need to understand that the existence of library is important, and they have to pay more visits to the library. In turn, we value our students and organize activities for them. We initiate a “Personal Librarian” service to communicate and help them on a one-on-one basis. We also offer real time online tutorials to them in the COVID-19 period. Hence, the number of participants increased dramatically.
She further explained why they have to foster relationship with students: 118
I encourage my staff to establish good relationships with new students since they are in the first year of their study. If we can build good relationships with them, it will last throughout the four years of their study. It is easier for counter staff to foster good relationships with students as students see them every day in the library. If students realize that we can really help them, they will find value in our library.
Participant 8 also commented that:
Students will perceive that the library is able to provide direct value to them if we can assist them in their studies. For instance, we can help them to find information they cannot find or teach them how to use software for managing references and citations more effectively.
Moreover, Participant 7 suggested redefining the physical library space to stay relevant with students’ changing learning needs:
To stay relevant, library has to take the lead to adapt to change in research and societal demands. For example, traditionally library provides users a quiet place to study and to look for information. Now, the library environment provides more options for users. It can be a place for learning and collaboration, a cultural hub, and a place to promote knowledge both online and offline. Thus, it is important to adjust flexibly to new situations in order to stay relevant.
Participant 3 concluded that being able to stay relevant and demonstrate value is most important to library leaders:
We should perform up to expectation in our areas of expertise, and ideally go beyond what is required. We also have to broadcast the library services more openly to school community and let everyone knows of its service coverage. Otherwise, all the efforts would be in vain.
Pressure faced and ways to approach. Due to limited budget and manpower, library leaders in small SHEIs may face more pressure in order to stay relevant and demonstrate value. Participant 3 admitted that she faced a lot of pressure when making change, but she persisted:
My library further strengthens our position by identifying opportunities for new service developments and innovations. We hope to keep up with new developments in information technology and meet the evolving user needs. SHEIs, however, face pressure in budget cut continuously. There was a time when we were asked to 119
implement a budget cut plan. This cut impacted a lot on my library. It is then important to look for a collaborative solution by strengthening the consortia work, building, and sharing infrastructure, collections, resources, and expertise with other libraries. All these are key to achieve sustainable development goals. Thanks to the QESS project held in 2014, my library has collaborated with other self-financing institutions in purchasing e-books for share access and upgrading the library management systems that help facilitate effective user information discovery needs and make interlibrary loan service possible.
She concluded how her efforts made in the QESS project and other initiatives helped her management know how hard the library has done to improve and enhance its resources and services. Her library also yielded very good results in annual user surveys as users were satisfied with their good services. Consequently, the management also recognized and supported the library.
Three participants felt pressure with limited budgets and manpower to provide necessary resources and services that are needed in a higher education institution academic library. Participant 2 articulated strategy to acquire suitable electronic resources to work within her means:
What I have to do is to provide best services within the given budget. I have to decide how to use limited budget to provide everything we need. I feel high pressure in picking the right mix of resources. My strategy is to choose the database based on content and price. It is better for us to choose aggregator databases that comprise of many subjects instead of specific databases that comprise a single subject. However, it is important to demonstrate to the accreditation agents that we provide the same quality of resources like other universities in these exercises.
Participant 4 shared her dilemma in providing orientations for all new students:
The most difficult part is that we cannot conduct this in-house orientation on a compulsory basis. I am also afraid that we will not have sufficient manpower to handle over 1,000 new students as we have just a few librarians responsible for this orientation service. It is such a dilemma unlike in some bigger libraries, where they have librarians specifically assigned to do this job. We are in a difficult position, on the one hand, we are eager to provide orientations for all new students; on the other hand, I am afraid that we do not have sufficient manpower in doing that.
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Participant 5 shared his experience in requesting for additional manpower for new reference services, but he finally convinced the management through effective communication:
Budget is tight in self-financing institutions. It is hard for us to request for more manpower. Many years ago, I requested management to increase manpower in our reference services. I provided in-depth analysis to support my proposal that would benefit students eventually. Finally, they accepted our proposal.
He also felt that library leaders need to be quick problem-solvers to resolve ad hoc or sudden events. They should assess or judge by individual situations before coming up a solution. He gave three rare and interesting examples to illustrate:
A few years ago, I went back to library early in the morning after typhoon signal no. 10. I found the whole floor was flooded with one foot tall of water. I immediately called upon the custodian staff to dry the floor, as I was afraid the water would cause damage to our collections. To settle the problem in a quick and neat way, I think experience is important for us to resolve sudden events like this. Another case I want to share is when we found an unconscious student on the library floor, we handled the matter immediately based on prior experience and common sense. There is no policy or precedent to follow and handle such ad hoc events. Finally, many years ago, a user was found to be emotionally unstable and screamed suddenly in the library. To prevent from disturbing other users, we calmed him down skillfully and later referred to our student affairs to follow up.
On top of being a fast problem-solver, he thought experience is important to a practical profession like being a librarian on above examples:
I cannot find any existing guidelines or policies to address and follow for these kinds of emergencies. Fortunately, as I have worked long enough in the institution, I am familiar with staff who can help me settle these urgent issues. I feel like l have the advantage to go through these stressful events smoothly without causing anything major. I have acquired the know-how of solving crises like these without a standard policy to follow along.
Similarly, Participant 6 shared her views on problem-solving skills:
In a library, there are always sudden issues that needed to be resolved. For instance, a teaching staff who replaced a colleague who suddenly resigned urgently need some textbooks for course preparation. As it would take time for new books to arrive, I helped to borrow them in other libraries immediately to fulfill the urgent request of 121
that teaching staff. Sometimes we have sudden library visits from special guests. Because the library has a nice scene, we always receive sudden requests for visits by guests within a short notice. I need to introduce the library, and the guests may also ask information about the institution, so I need to prepare urgently.
Summary of Theme 3. All participants agreed that being able to stay relevant and demonstrate value is important for today’s academic libraries. They suggested that better positioning with the parent institutions and their key stakeholders, including faculty and students, is necessary. Participants seem to be more proactive in aligning themselves closely with institution’s mission, vision, and goals. They also work closely with the senior management and faculty to provide value-added services to support the teaching, learning, and research goals. They apply problem-solving skills, innovation, and proper budget allocation to cope with the challenges and pressure they face.
Theme 4: Adaptation as an Important Aspect of Library Leadership
All the participants in the study made adaptations proactively in the ever-changing library landscape to stay relevant and demonstrate value to stakeholders in the digital age.
They reframed their mindset to embrace a culture of change. They gave examples of the adaptations they have made, including measures in COVID-19 situation to demonstrate how adaptation has been an important aspect of their leadership.
Reframing mindset to embrace a culture of change. Participant 3 expressed that in today’s rapidly changing technological environment, academic library leaders have the responsibility to explore the potential of cultural change. She asserted “how library adapt to that new changing culture is a crucial element to ensure present and future success”. Three participants noted the importance of reframing mindset to embrace a culture of change to avoid burnout, to mix well with the existing culture in the team, and to improve work relationship. Participant 5 stressed “leaders first need to adjust their own mindset” and explained why it makes sense for doing so: 122
The previous mode of study was taken in a rather slow pace. Now the pace for learning and obtaining information is very fast as new technologies and new services appear every day. If leaders do not adjust well, they will feel like what an idiom says, “burn the midnight candle”. They will be burned out in the profession eventually. I view myself as a professional, and other people in the institution treat themselves as a professional. They reflect their self-image on you being more professional and have high expectation on you being the leader in the library. If the leader responds slowly or is indecisive, this will lead to complaints sooner or later. It is hard for library leaders to do well, especially in self-financing institution libraries with relatively tight budget. We also have high pressure as users expect our libraries the same as publicly- funded institution libraries in terms of resources, services, and facilities provided. Therefore, I need to have positive thinking. I myself do physical exercise to relieve stress, such as cycling indoors and walking my dog. I also encourage my staff to do more physical exercise. Pressure accumulated will very likely lead to burnout, so it is important to adjust my mindset accordingly.
Participant 4 also suggested ways to reframe mindset to mix well with existing culture in her team:
Adaptation is not difficult to me as I have a more open mindset. In my career, I was given more opportunities to attend overseas conferences and seminars. Nevertheless, I need to see how to mix well with the existing culture. If my staff uses old practices, I cannot force them to change immediately. I shall set objectives and timelines for them to follow and achieve. If they are still doing things on their own ways, they may likely need more time and effort to get the same results, but I will let them judge and self- regulate the practices by trial and error. I will not push them but give them time to improve and evaluate if there are any significant drawbacks. If there is none, I will tolerate. Sometimes, the staff have to feel comfortable. I always ask my staff if they enjoy their work. If they do not enjoy, they cannot be productive. I will give them a chance to practice and improve. As a leader, it was difficult, but I have to manage subordinates with different preferences, styles, and characters skillfully.
She gave an example to illustrate why it is important for a leader to be open-minded and let staff try things on their own:
I will let my staff try even if their ideas may not always work in academic environment. Some digitally born staff do not have a step-by step action plan for doing things as we do. They try to resolve problems by searching here and there in the Internet until they get the answer. They try to work out solutions by trial and error and expect to have fast responses this way. Compared to them, we still prefer the old practices. We like to plan in detail and know when and how to complete. New generation staff are so used to Internet and do not rely on formal planning. A leader 123
needs to be open-minded because, if staff follow our practices, they will only become our shadow. I also wonder whether this style can really help them to work in this era. A leader has to let staff approach problems on their own ways and not criticize them. Even if their ways do not work, we can give them a small laughter.
Likewise, Participant 2 reframed mindset to improve work relationship with her team:
In the past, I felt nervous and could not accept others making mistakes in the workplace. This made everyone anxious and tense. I also felt I was hard on myself. Now, I change my mindset and try to see things from other peoples’ perspectives. I become more concerned about the needs of my staff and give them support accordingly. Our work relationship improved, and no one wants to leave the institution anymore.
How adaptation becomes part of the leadership. To adapt to new demands, participants recalled the adaptations they have made, including ongoing development for their profession and set priorities in resource allocation on new and existing services, such as restructuring and redeployment of certain units within the library. They involved their staff in the decision-making process as they understood that it is critical for their staff to know how to adapt well in the digital age.
All participants shared their experiences on the adaptation they made and how adaptation became part of their leadership. Participant 7 stressed the importance of self- preparation and the ability to allocate resources properly and effectively for making adaptation and explicitly stated the adaptations he made in different areas:
Personally, I pursue new knowledge through self-development by attending leadership seminars, workshops, and peer experience sharing sessions. I also encourage my team to update knowledge by attending trainings, workshops, and seminars, and conducting small research projects, or trying something new. I allocate and prioritize resources based on the latest demands or when there is a new service needed to be promoted. I attempt to make it more efficient in some areas and withdraw some obsolete and outdated services or resources to free up the resources. For instance, we conduct periodic reviews of the serial subscription based on research and curriculum needs, we withdraw those less relevant subscriptions. In managing user services, if some services can consolidate, then we consolidate them, free up the resources, introduce, and promote new services accordingly. That means we focus on 124
what is most currently needed by users. As resources are given in a limited manner, a leader should learn to work within the means.
He further gave an example related to the expansion of his technical service unit into a new one with both technical services and digital initiatives last year:
The new team deals with digital projects, such as digitization and provides new digital-related services. We restructured and transferred staff previously in the information section so the team leader can oversee the new unit as he has relevant experience. This is the kind of redeployment and reassignment we are doing to optimize operation.
Participant 5 described how he engaged and supported his staff at all levels in the adaptation process through holding regular meetings and demand-driven meetings:
To better engage my staff of all levels, I hold regular meetings with them in every quarter. What’s more, I hold demand-driven meetings with my staff and welcome all of them to join voluntarily. I give my staff opportunity to meet with me anytime, either personally or on a team basis. They can discuss everything either work-related or personal with me. I will also get into handling their personal issues like a human resources officer. Although junior staff may be afraid of meeting with the librarian, I actively offer them chances to do so. This way, I can help resolve the problem immediately and avoid the same problem in the future.
He further shared his leadership philosophy:
I do not use a top-down approach in leading my staff. I like to communicate with them to gather ideas, insights, and suggestions. As a leader, I need to be analytical and quick in decision-making. I have to balance all staff interest and communicate effectively to both senior management and subordinates. I have to consider the situation carefully and be more flexible with the new demands.
Participant 6 recited the adaptation she had made:
I maintain good communication with senior management to understand their views and expectations of the library. My intention is to make the library and its services more visible to our users. I publish a monthly library newsletter to highlight and promote our resources and services although much time and effort are required. It is meaningful to do this as the newsletter received positive feedback from users. Leaders initiate new projects or services, assign tasks to suitable staff thoughtfully, and develop their abilities and skills gradually. Leaders should also listen to staff voices. For instance, in a weeding and disposing project, I discuss with my subordinates 125
about what this project aims to achieve. Then I will let them explore ways to achieve the objectives and give them guidance along the way.
Similarly, Participant 3 summed up adaptability needs in an earlier call:
Due to the changes in digital environment and service integration, library leaders should motivate their staff members, initiate innovations, and develop strategies for the changes. A good library leader needs to detect the need for change, not sit there and do nothing. They need to realize what they need to change and prepare to adapt by being flexible in choosing the right leadership style to lead in a new situation.
She echoed Participant 4 on the importance of staff autonomy and empowerment for younger professionals to improve their abilities to lead and perform their tasks more effectively. She explained the adaptations she made in leading her team:
At the time, I only had a small team, and there were many inexperienced staff. I used a command-and-control approach and an autocratic leadership style to manage library and made all the decisions with little inputs from the team members. With more members joining our team in the library, the library staff structure has changed. Under the current hierarchy, I now have different ranks of staff to share responsibility in different areas of library works. I now let my staff to take a more participating role in decision-making process. In other words, shared leadership and distributed leadership can be made possible as we get more talented and potential members available in the library team. I fully believe everyone has the power within themselves.
She further suggested that it is important for her to create a positive and innovative culture so that she can help her staff grow to their fullest potential and optimize participation in the workforce:
The most challenging for me is when I explore my staff potentials and talents, I give them a little direction to help them realize their potentials and contributions to library missions, provide opportunities in decision-making, encourage them to share and exchange ideas, and share their expertise through meetings. We hold many meetings each year. I even ask my staff to host in-house training sessions for their co-workers. I believe building a harmonious team is critical for the library success.
Importance of adaptations in a time of COVID-19 pandemic. All participants agreed that COVID-19 exerted new demands, heavy pressure, and complex challenges in the library profession. As COVID-19 is unprecedented, participants put various measures into use by 126
adapting skillfully and safely to ensure non-interruption of the library resources and services and to maintain a safe and healthy environment for their users. In some self-financing academic libraries with tighter resources and manpower, COVID-19 pandemic did cause much stress to their leaders. Participant 4 stated that she needed to apply leadership skill sets in COVID-19 situation, such as the abilities to collaborate, cooperate, and work more closely with both academic and administrative units to continue the library services. Participant 2 also suggested that COVID-19 is a good example to demonstrate the importance of a leader to have a high level of crisis awareness and adaptability because the opening hours and loan policy are all subjected to change.
Participant 2 exclaimed that many things were different due to COVID-19 pandemic, and she stressed the importance of being adaptable in this time of uncertainty:
We closed our library and arranged staff to work from home. We are not sure when the situation will resume to normalcy. We received many enquiries from our users, as they cannot come back to the campus. We adjusted our loan policy quickly as users look for instant feedback. If leaders have crisis awareness and sense of adaptability, they can respond swiftly to unusual situations. This may cause less trouble for users.
Participant 7 stressed the importance of incorporating and applying different competencies in COVID-19 to cover all facets for academic libraries, including opening hours, facilities, sterilization procedures, and inter-departmental collaboration, and the importance of forward thinking in the planning process:
We review twice a week to adjust these measures. To supplement with the ongoing pandemic at least until the middle of next year, we have planned ahead of time and install short-term plans incrementally up to September when school resumes for a new term. We foresee that class may be conducted online instead of classroom teaching, so we have to plan beforehand for new student orientations and user education programs. I think forward thinking is important. A leader should not only engage with current issues, but also plan ahead of time. COVID-19 is a good example to demonstrate the importance of planning for current situations and for the future needs.
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He also made use of prior experience in handling the SARS outbreak and modified it in the
COVID-19 situation. He stressed the importance of trust within the team in handling this crisis:
We developed a business continuity plan during the SARS outbreak in 2002-2004. This time we modified it to adapt to the new COVID-19 situation. Therefore, we can respond more quickly and develop a contingency plan to ensure everything is in an organized manner in the early stage of the outbreak. Throughout the whole process, I realize the importance of team building. I think my library has done a good job in organizing its staff. There is trust within the team. The strategic planning is also good so that we can mobilize staff swiftly and make everyone staying proactive. The process is smooth, as everyone knows how and what to do and take an active role in the situation.
He also stressed the adaptations helped him to mobilize staff flexibly and make everyone stay proactive in the critical situation. Consequently, the senior management felt very satisfied with the performance of the library:
We have planned ahead of time to adapt for the changes and demands arisen from COVID-19. For instance, the library has created a COVID-19 information resources protocol with our professional expertise of handling information. Other units can rely on us to bring them useful information from authoritative sources. This act added credit to our accountability. In helping the institution to get updated information and news on COVID-19, the library leadership is manifested.
Other participants faced different challenges in this period. Both Participant 3 and
Participant 6 mentioned that it was challenging for library leaders to arrange staff to work from home and engage with library users in this period. Participant 6 shared the measures she took in ensuring her staff to work in an effective manner:
We explore more flexible and innovative approaches for staff to work in a safe environment while not affecting their productivity. For instance, we requested our IT department to gain our staff remote access right to office files. We also asked catalogers to scan copies of book information to bring home for work. As we expected, fewer users will visit the library in this period, so we will arrange some tasks for staff to work from home, such as compiling online guides for users.
Participant 3 shared the measures she took in engaging users: 128
We never stop engaging our users even in a time of COVID-19. Besides posting the latest news on the library website, we keep emailing our users with the library information. We do not only update them on the new arrangements of the library, including opening hours and safety measures, but also inform them what new resources are added into our collections. We encourage them to use our resources online even if they cannot come to the campus in this period. We produce many online guides, videos, and leaflets to let our users know how to conduct a better search and make a better use of our discovery platform to look for authoritative resources. We also keep arranging trials of electronic resources for our faculty and invite them to provide feedback to us. Most importantly, we invite them to participate in our workshops, so we can stay connected and they also get necessary support from our library.
Although Participant 4 believed that COVID-19 provided a good opportunity for staff to learn to be more adaptive and flexible, she admitted that it was hard to coach them at the beginning:
As a leader, I need to think about how to respond to the changes by myself. I act like an “anchor” for my staff to rely on. I worked on Saturdays and Sundays at that period, as I know I was expected to respond in a quick manner. I made way for my staff to follow along and encouraged them to adapt to each new measure. I advised them to make every decision based on professional judgment and not on personal preference to prevent recurrence of undesirable incidents. My meaning on professional judgment is that, although the given task is difficult, I have to do it, as it is good and beneficial to others.
From Participant 4’s above comments, she seemed very concerned with the growth and developments of her subordinates, especially in a challenging situation like this COVID-19.
Participant 8 expressed his concerns of the challenges and impacts brought by
COVID-19 to smaller libraries:
Suddenly, all things stopped, and we cannot do things as planned. Our school closed and switched to online learning mode. We do not just need to provide library resources, but also have to satisfy the sudden demands. Sudden changes imposed more challenges to smaller libraries, which requires change management and crisis management skills. Imagine suddenly no students turn up, and we do not have sufficient resources to support online learning. COVID-19 is unprecedented and lasts for such a long time, so we try to work with limited resources and adapt carefully. We need to be very decisive. Unlike what we did in the past, we make weekly plans instead of annual plans as the situation is changing quickly. We need more skills to 129
handle in this fast-changing environment. We are more concerned with young and inexperienced staff as they may not adapt easily. Therefore, there is more workload for the library leaders.
Summary of Theme 4. According to the participants, leaders have to adjust their mindsets flexibly to the changing contexts in order for today’s libraries to adapt successfully in the fast-changing environment. To be more competent, they look for different opportunities for professional developments through seminars, workshops, and training courses for acquiring updated knowledge and skills for themselves and their subordinates on a continuous basis. In their real-life practices, they also find positive and innovative ways and make adaptations on various aspects, including resource management, staff management, team building, crisis management, and close communication with all their stakeholders.
Conclusion
The central question of this study is: How do library leaders of Hong Kong self- financing higher education institutions perceive and experience expanding necessary core leadership competencies in the digital age, and how do they make sense of acquiring and applying these competencies to lead successfully? In response to the research question, this interpretative phenomenological analysis study allows in-depth investigation to gain insights into participants’ perceptions and lived experience of the expanding necessary core leadership competencies in the digital age. The participants made sense of these competencies by giving live examples and experiences from their professional careers.
The findings in this chapter have illuminated four significant themes. First, participants observed that academic libraries are currently operating in a rapid changing environment in the digital age. They highlighted the impacts of emerging technologies, such as discovery platforms, digitization of information resources, and social media, and changing user behaviors and demands, such as information seeking, instant accessibility, and physical library space, on the library operations. The new demands bring about challenges and 130
pressure under the tight budget and manpower given in the self-financing higher education sector in Hong Kong. Nevertheless, all the participants seemed to be effective problem- solvers as they addressed the complex challenges in a proactive and positive manner.
Second, participants observed that the roles and responsibilities of library leaders have been extended in the digital age. They reflected on the change in their leadership journeys.
They are expected to be holistic and all-round to prioritize resources and manpower in the most cost-efficient ways. Hence, they are expected to keep up with the latest knowledge, skills, and abilities in applying new tools and new practices proficiently. It is also necessary for them to empower their staff to provide professional service to users, as there are many other administrative roles and projects for collaboration, partnership, and cooperation for library leaders today.
Third, all participants agreed that staying relevant and demonstrating value are of utmost importance for academic libraries in the digital age. They suggested that a better positioning with their parent institutions, faculty, and students is required. Along the way, they faced pressure in meeting the new and evolving expectations of their stakeholders due to limited budget and manpower. Nevertheless, they seemed proactively in articulating strategies to resolve the problems and communicate more effectively the identity and value of academic libraries to their parent institutions and with key stakeholders.
Fourth, the findings of this study also highlighted the adaptations made by the participants to meet the new demands and how adaptation has been an important aspect of their leadership. Participants stressed the importance of reframing their mindset to embrace a culture of change in the digital age. They also gave vivid examples of the adaptations they have made, including managing a change team for the new integrated library system, and various measures taken for the COVID-19 pandemic. 131
In the next chapter, discussion of the findings in relationship to the existing literature and theoretical framework, implications for practice, limitations, and recommendations for further research, and a conclusion will be presented. 132
Chapter Five: Discussion and Implications of Findings
The purpose of this qualitative study was to examine how library leaders perceive and experience the expanding necessary core leadership competencies in the digital age, and how they make sense of acquiring and applying these competencies to lead successfully, with a focus on the Hong Kong higher education context. The research question that guided this study is “How do library leaders of Hong Kong self-financing higher education institutions perceive and experience expanding necessary core leadership competencies in the digital age, and how do they make sense of acquiring and applying these competencies to lead successfully?”
This study adopted an interpretative phenomenological analysis (IPA) approach to gain in-depth understanding of how those library leaders make sense of the expanding necessary core leadership competencies and how their leadership experience has the potential to enable them to stay relevant and demonstrate value to parent institutions. Through this research approach, the researcher strived to make sense of these unique leadership experiences from the participants’ perspectives. Eight purposively selected library leaders with at least 20 years of work experience in the library field, from six different HKSHEIs, were interviewed in this study. They shared their valuable insights and lived experience of the expanding necessary core leadership competencies that are needed for now, and in the future, and strategies to facilitate their acquisition and their further application.
This study also utilized the adaptive leadership theory proposed by Heifetz et al.
(2009) as the theoretical framework to explore the nature and meaning of the phenomenon experienced, but unexplained, by the participants so that the knowledge and understanding gained can be used in more informed and successful manners. As discussed in Chapter One, adaptive leadership is “a practice of mobilizing people to tackle tough challenges and thrive”, it emphasizes the importance of adaptation to a complex and changing environment by 133
individuals and organizations (Heifetz et al., 2009, p. 14). Heifetz et al. (2009) identified two types of challenges faced by leaders in leading change: adaptive and technical. Technical challenges are well-defined problems and can be resolved with existing expertise while adaptive challenges are not clear-cut, and can only addressed through changes in people’s underlying assumptions, values, beliefs, and norms, by means of reflections, and continuous learning. As change must come from the collective intelligence of the staff at all levels, adaptive leaders need to possess an experimental mindset and engage all other stakeholders to diagnosis, interpret challenging situations, and implement feasible solutions. There are three key activities in the iterative process: observation, interpretation, and intervention. Six principles for leading adaptive work are Get on the balcony, Identifying the adaptive challenges, Regulate distress, Maintain disciplined attention, Give the work back to people, and Protect voices of leadership from below.
In this current study, four significant themes emerged from data analysis: 1) Evolving academic library landscape in the digital age, 2) Reconfiguring academic library leadership,
3) Better positioning to stay relevant and demonstrate value, and 4) Adaptation as an important aspect of library leadership. This chapter discusses these findings in relationship to the existing literature and theoretical framework, implications for practice, limitations, and recommendations for further research before drawing a conclusion at the end of this research study.
Discussion of Findings in Relationship to the Literature and Theoretical Framework
The findings of this study provided insights regarding library leaders’ perceptions and experiences of the core leadership competencies required for them to lead successfully in the digital age in the Hong Kong higher education context. Participants expressed their views on the expanding necessary core leadership competencies and shared their experiences of the 134
adaptations they made in the leadership journey. A discussion of findings in relationship to the existing literature and theoretical framework was provided as followed.
Finding 1: Evolving Academic Library Landscape in the Digital Age
This finding delineated academic libraries in HKSHEIs are operating in a rapidly changing environment in the digital age. Although academic libraries are still performing their same roles and functions in providing resources and services to support the scholarship, teaching, and learning in their parent institutions, all participants in this study observed that their libraries have undergone tremendous changes in the operating environment brought by emerging technologies and changing user behaviors and demands in the digital age.
Using a theoretical lens of adaptive leadership proposed by Heifetz et al. (2009), academic libraries in the digital age are operating in an “adaptive context” situation that demands a response outside their current skill sets. It appears to consist of a gap between what they can do and what they are expected to do by the current expertise and procedures.
This is also aligned with Corrall’s (2010) claim that the global information landscape has become convergent, diffuse, and expansive in the past two decades. She described the key features of contemporary academic library landscape as “overlapping roles, broad skillsets, stretched identities, specialized niches and competency gaps in strategic specialties” (Corrall,
2010, p. 576).
In this study, the participants experienced unprecedented challenges unlike anything they have ever encountered in the digital age. They highlighted the intense and complex challenges brought by emerging technologies, such as discovery platforms, digitization of information resources, and social media, and changing user behaviors and demands, such as information seeking, instant accessibility, and physical library space, on their library operations. These participants seemed to face adaptive challenges instead of technical problems as they are complex in nature and cannot be resolved with existing expertise or 135
technical decisions. According to Heifetz et al. (2009), technical problems are well-defined and can be resolved with existing expertise while adaptive challenges are complex and require people to change their underlying assumptions, values, beliefs, and norms and adopt an experimental mindset. Therefore, adaptive leaders have to engage all other stakeholders to diagnose and interpret challenging situations and implement effective interventions.
Participants in this study and several trends reports (ACRL, 2019; Becker et al, 2017;
Gwyer, 2015; Pinfield et al., 2017) both described the intense and complex adaptive challenges brought by the emerging technologies in the digital age. They observed that rapid developments of digital technology have completely altered the manners on how scholarly information is created, stored, accessed, and communicated. Academic libraries now are required to support a trend of datafied scholarship, as an enormous amount of scholarly information is assessable in an “open, networked and algorithmically-driven” environment
(Pinfield et al., 2017, p. 4). The participants adopt new discovery platforms that are cohesive for managing and curating both print and digital contents to meet users’ heightened expectations of ubiquitous access. As a result, Participant 6, for example, praised how the new discovery platforms “facilitate access to resources with just one click” and “enable users to search across platforms, so that they can find library subscribed resources and open access information more flexibly and interchangeably”. This is consistent with the New Media
Consortium (NMC) Horizon Report (Becker et al., 2017) in which one trend anticipated that new tools would be continuing to be developed to enhance access and retrieval of a broader spectrum of information resources. Nevertheless, the increasing sophistication of these platforms require new knowledge, skills, and abilities of library staff at all levels to implement and manage well.
Furthermore, participants faced challenges and pressure in fulfilling new demands arise from changing user behaviors in the digital age. Despite that academic libraries are still 136
serving a user group predominantly made up of students and faculty, there are changes in ways they perceived information seeking, instant accessibility, and physical library space.
This is relevant to Gwyer’s (2015) findings that the pedagogy within global higher education has moved “from a print-based and largely individual model to a collaborative and electronic model (on campus) and an online model (for distance learning)” (p. 277). A biennial environmental scan conducted by ACRL (2019) also found that academic libraries are now serving a different group of college students known as Generation Z. These digital-born students are more reliant on the Internet as the primary source of obtaining information and conducting research, and they expect instant accessibility of information resources for their learning (Cox, 2019).
Two participants expressed their concerns of their students’ digital and information literacy skills. They observed that this digital-born generation trends to accessing the most familiar information sources on the Internet and selecting them based on convenience over comprehensiveness. They said students prefer to find information for their assignments and projects in a quick and effortless manner and are often not sure if that information they picked is real or fake. Such change in information seeking behavior marginalizes the librarians’ traditional roles as information gatekeepers and specialists. For example,
Participant 1 exclaimed that, “As users can always find information on Google on their own, they do not think very strongly about the need to come to libraries. They also perceive that they are information literate, and they do not need our help”. This is consistent with the findings of ACRL (2019) and Cox (2019) about the information seeking behaviors of
Generation Z students. Therefore, participants believed that the role of librarians in developing digital and information literate students is getting more and more important in the digital age. They suggested rethinking the ways in which digital and information literacy 137
skills were taught and adopting new tools and practices to make the programs more interactive and visually appealing.
Three participants revealed that users now expect an instant accessibility of information resources. Participant 5 asserted that “users are not willing to wait for one minute and expect to get the answer instantly”. Similarly, Participant 7 commented that users “want to gain instant access of resources they search for in the most efficient and convenient way”.
Participant 6 described this as the “instant eating” habit of students. This is consistent with the findings of Harger (2019) in which users expect to gain immediate access to library resources and services.
Moreover, participants talked about the new demands on redefining physical library space to cater for diverse learning needs with respect to Hong Kong’s overcrowded living environment. This is consistent with Dempsey’s (2015) observation that there is an evolutionary change in physical library space in the digital age. He suggested academic libraries should redefine their physical spaces to focus on user experiences instead of focusing on physical collections. Likewise, two participants suggested to redesign the physical library space by providing more collaborative spaces equipped with advanced information technology equipment for their students to communicate, socialize, and collaborate with their peers. This finding is also relevant to the SCONUL study (2017) that academic libraries can expedite this new trend of connected learning by constructing new learning common spaces and Makerspaces to enhance sharing and collaboration among users.
Adaptive challenges are difficult to tackle because their solutions require people to change their underlying assumptions, values, beliefs, and norms (Heifetz et al., 2009).
Academic libraries have long enjoyed their status as the heart of the campus (Rothstein,
1955). Nevertheless, the participants seemed to face pressure in varying degrees when they have to enhance and upgrade their libraries’ resources, services, and facilities with limited 138
budget and manpower available in Hong Kong self-financing higher education sector.
Nevertheless, all participants are experienced and skillful problem-solvers as they proactively addressed the adaptive challenges they face with positive attitudes. For instance, they implemented new discovery platforms, developed institutional repositories, redefined physical library spaces, and utilized new tools like social media to enhance their services and better connect with their users. Both Participant 2 and Participant 3 expressed that they worked collaboratively as one team to upgrade the library management systems that help facilitate effective user information discovery needs and make interlibrary loan service possible. This is aligned with the Heifetz and Laurie’s (1997) claim that adaptive leaders possess an experimental mindset and solutions to adaptive challenges reside in the collective intelligence of all stakeholders.
The researcher feels especially impressed that the participants valued so much on the user experiences and always tried their best to develop practical strategies to address on the new challenges and demands arise from the emerging technologies and changing user behaviors. They also valued the interaction between libraries and their users and highlighted the complementary roles played by users in developing new tools and practices to fulfill new demands. Participant 6 used a metaphor of a “bridge” to describe the very existence of academic libraries:
The academic library serves as a bridge to link up different stakeholders: students,
faculty, and senior management. We help to communicate between different parties
on what our users need. We also help to connect our students to information and the
creation of knowledge.
Finding 2: Reconfiguring Academic Library Leadership
This finding depicted participants’ perceptions of library leadership and the differences on their roles and responsibilities as library leaders in the digital age. Participants 139
recognized that the roles and responsibilities of library leaders have been greatly extended in the digital age. For instance, Participant 8 described his new roles in educating his subordinates and users on how to use technology properly. This is consistent with the findings of numerous studies investigated the evolving and expanding roles of librarians in today’s networked environment (Bell & Shank, 2004; Corrall, 2010; Cox & Corrall, 2013;
Pinfield et al., 2017; Vassilakaki & Moniarou-Papaconstantinou, 2015). For instance, Corrall
(2010) used the term “blended professionals” to highlight the boundary spanning nature of academic librarian’s roles in today’s networked environment.
Participants expressed that a different kind of leadership is needed to lead successfully. Similarly, adaptive leadership also requires leaders to readjust their roles and responsibilities based on the changing situation. Before making this adjustment, leaders have to “get on the balcony” to take a distanced view in order to observe and gain perspectives that are not visible from the ground. For instance, Participant 3 is a good observer to get the overall picture of a need to readjust the roles and responsibilities to the rapidly changing environment. She said that she not only has to adapt to her new roles and responsibilities proactively, but also has the responsibilities to explore how the library and its people adapt to a new changing culture as this is very crucial in ensuring present and future success of the library. Her views echoed with Marcum’s (2016) findings that library leadership needs recalibration to adapt successfully in the digital age.
Participant 7 felt that library leaders cannot rely on the old ways of doing things, but have to adapt flexibly to the ever-changing academic library landscape that is getting more and more demanding. He commented that library leaders now need to possess strong capabilities to prioritize tasks to fulfill demands. As academic libraries are shifting their focus from collections to services, they need competent leaders to prioritize resources strategically and develop talented staff to contribute in the learning and research process. Participant 2 140
articulated a strategy on building up suitable electronic resources to facilitate users’ access and retrieval to information. The results of the shifts also agree with Marcum’s claim (2016) that library leaders are responsible for strategically articulating the digital library’s endeavors to serve a more extensive user group in more globalized environment now.
All participants observed the fact that information resources have evolved gradually from physical access to virtual online access and library services have shifted from collection-oriented to service-oriented. They noticed that new practices and new perspectives have been incorporated into their libraries. Participant 1 gave an example on a close collaboration with her faculty to develop a tailor-made workshop for the new business program. Participant 4 described her unceasing efforts in providing library orientations and workshops to engage with students in a detail manner. This is consistent with the trend of the emergence of service-oriented libraries identified by SCONUL study (Pinfield et al., 2017).
Sweeney (1994) proposed that a more flattened organization sat with empowered cross-functional teams is necessary in a post-hierarchical library. Although the current study indicated most of the HKSHEI libraries are still organized by functional units and departmental activities, participants are expected to adjust and allocate resources and manpower more flexibly to meet the challenges brought by emerging technologies and changing user behaviors and demands. For instance, Participant 7 expanded his technical service unit into a new one with both technical services and digital initiatives in supporting a variety of digital content production and delivery endeavors.
Adaptive leadership is a practical leadership framework focuses on mobilizing followers to tackle through challenges. As such, it is follower-centered rather than leader- centered. Similarly, three participants emphasized that team building is an important attribute of their leadership as the resources and manpower are restricted in self-financing institutions.
For instance, Participant 6 suggested leaders to act as facilitators and coordinators among 141
their teams to identify staff strengths and distribute tasks more fairly. Specifically, Participant
1, Participant 3, and Participant 4 stressed the importance of staff autonomy and empowerment in providing new resource and service initiatives. They suggested that library leaders should empower their junior associates by delegating them authority and decision- making powers to boost their confidence and morale. Likewise, this staff empowerment emphasized by the above participants is consistent with the principle of “giving the work back to people” so as to mobilize “the responsibility of the primary stakeholders in doing their share of the adaptive work” in the adaptive leadership model (Heifetz et al., 2009, p.
305).
All the above findings aligned closely with Wilson’s (2004) four key structural changes in the new digital society that reconfigure leadership: “rapid and fast-reaching technologies, especially in the aspect of digitalization of information and communications technology”, “accelerated globalization”, “a shift toward knowledge as the central factor of production”, and “more distributed, less hierarchical organizational forms with greatly accelerated movement within and across organizations and industrial sectors” (Wilson, 2004, p. 858). As pointed out by Marcum (2016) that, such changes challenged libraries in a dramatic way and called for a different kind of leadership.
All participants are experienced professionals and have served in the library field for at least 20 years. They reflected on the changes in their library leadership journey. They echoed on Wilson’s (2004) claim such that leadership in the digital age requires “new attitudes, new skills, and new knowledge gained through unique professional experiences” and it stresses on leaders’ innovation and adaptation in a rapidly changing environment (p.
858). For instance, Participant 2 clearly noted that it is important for a leader to have courage to accept new challenges in taking part in collaborative library projects. 142
Participant 3 described her change from being an autocratic style leader and the “Jack of all trades” to a liberal leader that values on staff involvement. She would encourage her staff to take a more participating role in the decision-making process. She also created a positive and innovative culture to help her staff grow to their full potential. What she mentioned resembles fostering the “adaptive culture” to meet the ongoing adaptive challenges by encouraging staff involvement as proposed by Heifetz et al. (2009).
Participant 7 recalled on his expanding leadership role that he not only oversees the entire operation of his own library, but also works closely with other units in the institution and participates in collaborative activities with other institutions. As the scope and dimension of academic library leadership have been greatly extended in the digital age, participants have to reconfigure their leadership to adjust quickly to changing needs and dynamic environment to survive and remain pertinent. Five participants stressed the importance of being knowledgeable for library leaders in the digital age as their roles have become more complex and multi-functional. For instance, Participant 3 affirmed they need to possess both professional knowledge and technological skills so that they should be able to demonstrate personal confidence and competency in their works. Participant 8 also suggested library leaders to fine tune their roles with new technological developments and continue to acquire new knowledge to enhance their competencies. These findings are closely aligned with
Corrall’s (2010) claim on the need of an extended skill set for “blended professionals”, which requires a meshing of “technical, professional, managerial, and interpersonal skills” in the context of continuing educational change and technological developments (p. 573).
The existing literature showed that academic library leadership is a neglected topic
(Gertzog, 1992; Harger, 2019; Karp & Murdock, 1998; Le, 2015; Mason & Wetherbee, 2004;
Phillips, 2014; Riggs, 2001). Not only few empirical studies have been conducted, smaller academic libraries also received little attention in research. In addition, no previous studies 143
have been conducted for libraries and their library leaders in HKSHEIs. This current study helps to fill the gap of existing literature as participants shared their insights and perceptions on library leadership and, more importantly, demonstrated and elaborated their library leadership attributes on what they have done. Hence, the researcher is able to have a better understanding of library leadership in these smaller academic libraries and how it has evolved over time.
From the participants’ responses, the researcher perceived that academic library leaders of HKSHEIs are expected to be holistic and all-round such that they can reinvent and reengineer work processes that focus on information accessibility and user-centric services.
They too have to be more adaptive and flexible in resolving problems and meeting new demands in the changing environment as resources and manpower are tighter in their institutions.
This is inconsistent with Mech’s (1990) findings when he examined the external roles of 354 academic library directors as figurehead, liaison, monitor, spokesperson, and negotiator and the internal roles as leader, disseminator, entrepreneur, disturbance handler, and resource allocator. He found that baccalaureate and community college directors were less externally oriented. In fact, participants in this study were actively involved as collaborators, partners, and leaders with faculty and other librarians in collaborative projects like QESS and as liaison with accreditation bodies and publishers. Because Mech’s study on librarian roles was conducted a long time ago, the operating environment for smaller libraries has also changed.
Adaptive leadership is a practical leadership framework that focuses on facilitating an adaptive process, which encourages followers to contemplate for changes brought by environmental forces. Similarly, librarianship is also a practical profession. From the interviews, the researcher observed that participants are using the essence of adaptive 144
leadership without being aware of what it is. For example, Participant 3 vividly described the details of building a change team for implementing the new integrated library system in her library:
First, she “got on the balcony” to gain a clearer picture of her institution’s “structures, cultures, and defaults” that shape how her staff respond to changes (Heifetz et al., 2009, p.
49). Heifetz et al. (2009) used the metaphor of “getting on the balcony” by a leader to describe, it is important to gain a distanced perspective of what is really happening. She elaborated in an open manner with all stakeholders, including her teammates, about the impacts and benefits of such change. She also sought constant support from management to provide her with the right staff to engage in the planning process. According to Heifetz et al.
(2009), this principle is a prerequisite for another five principles in adaptive leadership.
Next, she “identified the adaptive challenge” of having to implement a new integrated library system she had never come across before and incorporated a large number of e-books into the catalogue of this system she had hardly any prior experience. She realized that it was a very difficult time for the whole team, as they did not have much knowledge of advanced library systems. This supports the claim of Heifetz et al. (2009) that adaptive challenges are difficult to tackle because their solutions require people to change their underlying assumptions, values, beliefs, and norms. Hence, she committed to reconfigure the old ways of doing things by building a change team to mobilize her staff to commit to change.
During the change period, she understood that some team members were resistant to change as they felt fear and pressure in the change process. Therefore, she “regulated the distress” through trust, support, and encouragement yet helped get her staff out of their comfort zones. She also resolved conflicts of contrasting values by working closely as a team, participating in the training sessions, learning from each other, sharing experiences, and sharpening their will to learn and make things happen. 145
To prevent work avoidance behavior of the staff, she also “maintained disciplined attention” by creating a culture of change through building meaning, sharing, and trust as well as engaging her staff into the discussion and letting them know what the short term wins are, allocating necessary resources for the staff training, providing guidance, and monitoring progress to sustain the change process.
Then, she “gave the work back to people” by empowering her staff to make their own decisions confidently. This gave staff a sense of achievement and satisfaction, which in turn made them more willing to take up more responsibility with a positive attitude.
Finally, she “protected voices of leadership from below” by actively engaging staff members in the decision-making process and resisting silencing anyone’s opinion.
From the above example, Participant 3 was capable of applying the six principles of adaptive leadership effectively to mobilize all her staff to engage fully in the adaptive process for a change initiative in her institution. Hence, she was able to foster commitment and build strong bonds and a strong sense of belonging through communicating with staff in a friendly and open manner. It became her key to success at the end.
Finding 3: Better Positioning to Stay Relevant and Demonstrate Value
This finding described participants’ perceptions and sense-making of finding ways to stay relevant and demonstrate value to their parent institutions and with key stakeholders.
According to ACRL’s (2016) value of academic libraries statement, academic libraries contribute to “support recruitment, retention, and matriculation”, “enhance student learning”,
“support faculty research and teaching”, and “raise institutional visibility and contribute to the community” in higher education institutions (ACRL, 2016, p. 1). As there is a growing concern about assessment, accountability, and value in the higher education sector, library leaders must align themselves closely with the institution’s mission, vision, and goals and 146
demonstrate value of their academic libraries on all realms of institutional importance in clear and measurable manners.
Nevertheless, the findings of this study showed that academic libraries suffer from a blurred identity as users are given more choices and flexibility to access information resources in the digital world. Academic libraries are no longer the primary sources of information, and they face keen competition among other information providers, such as
Google and Wikipedia, in providing scholarly information to their users. Both Participant 1 and Participant 8 exclaimed that users are no longer required to visit libraries physically to obtain information or services they needed. Their views echoed with Cox’s (2019) findings that, “the ubiquity and convenience of digital devices make a visit to the library a matter of choice rather than necessity” (Cox, 2019, p. 5) and the SCONUL study that, “what a library is and what a librarian stands for is becoming less clear” (Pinfield et al., 2017, p. 20). The utilization of library’s physical resources and facilities has kept on declining.
In this current study, all participants admitted that it is important for library leaders to communicate the library’s value effectively to their parent institutions and with key stakeholders. They suggested that a better positioning is necessary for their libraries to stay relevant and demonstrate value. This is closely aligned with the Cox’s (2018) claim that a strong position in the institution is crucial for any academic library as it is closely linked to its
“recognition, resourcing, and prospects” (Cox, 2018, p. 217). Specifically, participants discussed their positioning with institutions, faculty, and students though they might have different priorities and strategies. Moreover, they are concerned about continuous improvement as to how to stay relevant and demonstrate value internally through collecting user feedback and conducting surveys and externally through proactively participating in institution and program accreditation exercises. 147
Participant 3 admitted that library leaders face challenges to refine their roles as gateway to information and knowledge and adjust their position within parent institutions.
Nevertheless, she believed that it is important for library leaders to align closely with the parent institution’s mission and strive to incorporate institutional strategies through their library services, collections, and collaboration. She elaborated explicitly on a multiple of positioning strategies with institution she has taken, which include creating new technology- based services, participating in collaborative projects to enhance user resource discovery and access, supporting program accreditation for developments of unique collections, engaging the library users both online and face-to-face, and providing digital and information literacy instructions. This is consistent with the findings of Oakleaf (2010), which “emphasizes library value within the context of overarching institutions” (p. 11) and that “there are no simple solutions to the challenge of articulating academic library value” (p. 18).
Moreover, participants articulated strategies for better positioning with faculty and students in teaching, learning, and researching processes. For instance, Participant 4 described the “Library as a Place” and “Librarians in Class” services to collaborate with faculty and the “Learning Support Librarian” and “Personal Librarian” services to engage with students. Participant 7 also suggested redefining the physical library space to a place for learning and collaboration, a cultural hub, and a place to promote knowledge both online and offline to stay relevant with students’ changing learning needs. Although the participants might have different priorities in their institutions, they indicated that they were able to
“provide an impact on all realms of institutional importance” through strategic positioning with institutions, faculty, and students (ACRL, 2016, p. 2).
Internally, participants emphasized measures, such as collecting user feedback and conducting surveys, for the library resources and services. For instance, Participant 3 invited her teaching staff to provide feedback during the trials of electronic resources. She said her 148
library yielded very good results in the annual user surveys that helped the management know what the library has done, and users were satisfied with its good services. She believed that this is why the management recognized and supported her library. Similarly, Participant 6 received positive feedback from users for the newly published monthly library newsletter, which drove her to continue such initiative. In addition, Participant 4 described various channels available in her institution for collecting user feedback for library resources and services, including online suggestion forms, feedback forms, user groups made up of students, and regular meetings with faculty.
Externally, several participants focused on articulating library value through proactively participating in the institutional and program accreditation exercises. They perceived it is a good way to align with institutional priorities, as SHEIs have to go through rigorous quality assurance procedures to ensure credibility and recognition of their programs.
For instance, Participant 2 suggested demonstrating the strengths in their library collections and services, which in turn support her institution. Participant 3 supported program accreditation by liaising and consulting with faculty and students for the developments of library collections and services. Participant 7 showed his library’s support to the programs in terms of resource availability during the visits of professional bodies. All these aligned with the suggestion of Oakleaf (2010) that library leaders have to engage proactively in the higher education accreditation processes to stay relevant and demonstrate value.
In the interviews, participants mentioned the challenges, pressure, and difficulties they faced in positioning themselves effectively to stay relevant and demonstrate value due to budgetary and manpower constraints. For instance, Participant 4 shared her dilemma in providing orientations for all new students due to limited manpower. Nevertheless, they seem to be able to reflect on the priorities of their parent institutions and with key stakeholders and
“adapt functionally, physically, strategically, and organizationally” through better positioning 149
(Cox, 2018, p. 218). For instance, Participant 3 faced a lot of pressure when making change in a declining budget situation, but she strengthened her library’s position by identifying opportunities for new service developments and innovations like collaborating with other libraries in QESS project.
Participants also shared their experiences in providing necessary resources and services that are needed in a higher education institution library with limited budgets and manpower. For instance, Participant 2 articulated a strategy in acquiring suitable electronic resources that comprise of multiple subjects to support teaching and research within her means. Participant 5 convinced the senior management for additional manpower for providing new reference services through effective communication. From their responses, the researcher perceived that library leaders diligently align themselves closely with institution’s mission, vision, and goals to remain relevant. In addition, they communicate effectively the identity and value of the academic libraries to their parent institutions and with key stakeholders in the teaching, learning, and researching processes to demonstrate value. This resonated with the findings of Hernon (2006), in which “academic libraries must leverage scarce resources to maximize the value of their collections to the audiences they serve while continually trying to improve the services they deliver as well as the preservation of, and access to, diverse collection” (Hernon, 2006, p. 12). All participants in this current study are experienced library professionals. They demonstrate high levels of problem-solving skills and have successfully developed workable strategies to better position their libraries for more
“recognition, resourcing, and prospects” (Cox, 2018, p. 217).
Finding 4: Adaptation as an Important Aspect of Library Leadership
This finding portrayed participants’ perception of adaptation in their leadership journeys and how adaptation has become an important aspect of their leadership. In the earlier themes, participants explicitly implied that they faced many challenges and pressure 150
brought by emerging technologies and changing user behaviors and demands in the digital age. Not only are the roles and functions of academic libraries changing, but the roles and responsibilities of library leaders are also greatly extended. Participants reflected on the changes perceived in their leadership journeys and found they should reconfigure their necessary core leadership competencies to stay relevant and demonstrate value to the parent institutions and their stakeholders.
Participants expressed that it is important for them to reframe the mindset and embrace a culture of change. For instance, Participant 5 stressed that “leaders first need to adjust their own mindset” to avoid burnout. He said he needs to have positive thinking and do physical exercise to relieve stress. Participant 4 suggested to reframe her mindset so as to mix well with existing culture in her library. Participant 2 also described how the reframing of mindset help improving work relationship with her team. Such belief and practice in reframing in mindset is in line with the theoretical framework adopted in this study such that the development of the solutions of adaptive challenges require people to change their underlying assumptions, values, beliefs, and norms (Heifetz et al., 2009).
Some participants make practical use of the principles of adaptive leadership in their daily work. For instance, Participant 5 described how he engaged and supported his staff at all levels in the adaptive process through holding regular meetings and demand-driven meetings in order to resolve all the issues encountered by the staff. Participant 4 also stated it is important for a leader to be open-minded and let staff try things on their own and not criticize them. She said even if their ways do not work, we can give them a small laughter. In addition, both Participant 4 and Participant 7 emphasized trust as the most important element in team building. All these findings resonated with the spirit of creating a “holding environment” in adaptive leadership theory that enables leaders to organize a diverse work group to discuss the differences and challenges confronting them, to frame and provide 151
platform to debate issues and narrow the gaps, and, furthermore, clarify any assumptions behind different contrasting perspectives and values.
These findings are also relevant to the claim made by Heifetz et al. (2009) that an experimental mindset is required to begin an iterative process of observation, interpretation, and effective intervention to adaptive issues. Thinking experimentally allows adaptive leaders and their staff at all levels to explore unanticipated possibilities and connect them to reflection and continuous learning. Coincidently, participants also stressed the importance of reflections and continuous learning in their adaptive process. For instance, both Participant 5 and Participant 8 mentioned library leaders should have professional reflection and all participants emphasized the needs of their team members and themselves to have professional development in the changing environment.
All participants in this study shared their insights and experiences on how adaptation has become part of their leadership endeavors with statements like:
. “educate staff to be adaptive to meet changing user demands as the objectives of library is to provide good services to users” (Participant 1) . “provide workshops to help frontline staff to train their adaptability” (Participant 2) . “a good library leader needs to detect the need to change, cannot sit there and do nothing, need to realize what we need to change, to prepare to adopt by flexibly to choose the right leadership style in new situation” (Participant 3) . “COVID-19 provides a good opportunity for staff to learn to be more adaptive and flexible” (Participant 4) . “leaders need to be flexible so that they can assess or judge by individual situation before coming up a solution” (Participant 5) . “in dealing with COVID-19 pandemic, we need more flexible ways to work, minimize risks but not affect productivity” (Participant 6) . “leaders need to have flexibility so that they can adapt to the changes that are getting more and more demanding” (Participant 7) . “leaders need to be very skillful in adapting to new changes and cannot delay decisions as may cause other problems” (Participant 8). 152
Furthermore, five participants mentioned Adaptability/Flexibility as one of the five crucial core leadership competencies in the digital age. In the interviews, many participants had illustrated the adaptations they made during the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020. They said
COVID-19 provides a good opportunity for library leaders and staff to learn to be more adaptive and flexible in setting opening hours, arranging staff duties during work from home, collaborating with other units for safety, hygiene measurements to users, reinforcing the library online platform for broadcasting important news for users, and offering more online learning sessions and workshops when face-to face classroom teaching is not possible to conduct. Library leaders need to learn how to balance between physical and electronic resources and to do more with less. The researcher is particularly impressed by the measures taken by Participant 7 that he initiated a COVID-19 online information resources protocol with the librarians’ professional expertise in curating relevant information from authoritative sources to provide the most accurate updated news for all stakeholders.
Nevertheless, none of the participants mentioned applying the practice of adaptive leadership in the interviews. This is aligned with the findings of Wong and Chan (2018), in which “it appears that many libraries have initiated and are managing adaptive changes without the awareness of the adaptive leadership approach” (p. 109). From the above discussion, it can be seen that the participants’ behaviors often resembled the behaviors implied by the adaptive leadership model. According to Heifetz et al. (2009), adaptive leaders are those able to mobilize, motivate, direct, and focus the attention of others to address and resolve issues on their own in times of changes. Leaders have to identify if the problem is adaptive, surface it out, and formulate solutions by mobilizing the staff in the decision- making process, orchestrating any conflicts that occurred due to different definitions of values and meanings the staff believe in and those who are resistant to change, and associating discussions for new initiatives. Leaders also need to put everyone in a new 153
definition of work process and mindsets that are completely different from what they are familiar with. As it is always the small pieces that make the big picture, Heifetz et al.’s
(2009) adaptive leadership provides a useful theoretical lens for this study.
Finding 5: Five Most Crucial Leadership Competencies to Lead Successfully in the
Digital Age
Competencies comprise of knowledge, skills, and abilities that define and contribute to performance and are closely related to organization’s mission, vision, and goals (LLAMA,
2016). In a practical profession like librarianship, competencies should not exist in a vacuum and must be applied to real life situations. It is not the intention of this study to provide a comprehensive list of core leadership competencies; instead, it aims to achieve a deeper understanding of how library leaders in HKSHEIs perceive and experience these core leadership competencies from their own perspectives to facilitate further acquisition and application. All participants acknowledged that leadership competencies are important attributes for them to lead successfully in the digital age. They made sense of these competencies by giving live examples and experiences from the course of their professional careers. The researcher also tried to make sense of their responses and found the findings are closely aligned with the results of the seminal studies and the competency lists proposed by library professional bodies.
In this current study, eight participants were asked how they perceive and experience the five most crucial necessary core leadership competencies for them to lead successfully in the digital age. They identified a total of 16 core leadership competencies listed in alphabetical order: (1) Adaptability/Flexibility, (2) Being Knowledgeable, (3) Being
Visionary, (4) Collaboration/Teamwork, (5) Communication Skills, (6) Courageous, (7)
Creative/Innovative, (8) Decision-Making, (9) Ethical/Principled, (10) Forward Thinking,
(11) Inspirational/Motivational, (12) Problem-Solving, (13) Reflective Thinking, (14) 154
Relationship Management, (15) Resource Management, and (16) Strategic Planning. Results are shown in Table 9.
Table 9 Five Most Crucial Leadership Competencies for Library Leaders in the Digital Age Number of Competencies P1 P2 P3 P4 P5 P6 P7 P8 occurrences (1) Adaptability/Flexibility Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes 5 (2) Being Knowledgeable Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes 5 (3) Being Visionary Yes 1 (4) Collaboration/Teamwork Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes 6 (5) Communication Skills Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes 6 (6) Courageous Yes 1 (7) Creative/Innovative Yes Yes 2 (8) Decision-Making Yes Yes 2 (9) Ethical/Principled Yes 1 (10) Forward Thinking Yes 1 (11) Inspirational/Motivational Yes Yes 2 (12) Problem-Solving Yes Yes Yes 3 (13) Reflective Thinking Yes 1 (14) Relationship Management Yes 1 (15) Resource Management Yes Yes 2 (16) Strategic Planning Yes 1
Based on the number of occurrences, the findings indicated that (4)
Collaboration/Teamwork and (5) Communication Skills are the most highly valued leadership competencies mentioned by six participants. (1) Adaptability/Flexibility and (2)
Being Knowledgeable are the second most highly valued leadership competencies mentioned by five participants. (12) Problem-Solving is third most highly valued leadership competency mentioned by three participants. Participants gave live examples and shared thoughts and feelings to support and justify the competency list they mentioned. The findings exhibited the multifaceted nature of core leadership competencies in the library profession. There are commonalities in the participants’ simultaneous responses though some participants indicated that they found it difficult to identify the five most crucial leadership competencies during the interviews. For instance, Participants 5 did not explicitly list out the five competencies; 155
instead, he gave vivid examples of how those competencies applied to his works. On the whole, participants did give a very rich description on how and why they chose those competencies over the others.
Collaboration/Teamwork. Six participants (75%) mentioned this competency:
Participant 2, Participant 3, Participant 4, Participant 6, Participant 7, and Participant 8.
While collaboration and teamwork both associate with a group of people working towards a shared vision or goal, collaboration involves joint working with different parties within and outside the institution while teamwork occurs within the library. From the comments and examples, the participants stressed collaborating within and outside of their institutions and team building within their libraries are equally important.
Participants mentioned two types of collaboration. Within the institution, library leaders collaborate with different parties to align with institution’s mission, vision, and goals.
Participants gave numerous examples of this inter-departmental collaboration. For instance,
Participant 4 described such collaborative efforts of “Library as a Place” and “Librarians in
Class” with faculty and Participant 7 also gave an example of organizing a “cross-divisional editorial board” initiated by his library to emphasize that every department in the institution should work collaboratively to achieve the common goal. In addition, participants shared their experiences about inter-institutional collaboration. One of the key projects undertaken among these self-financing institution libraries is the QESS project in 2014. Participants also reflected on how important it is for them to work closely as one team in the adaptive process.
They shared the difficulties and challenges in mobilizing staff and formed a change team to tackle the tasks that they have not come across before. Participant 4 even quoted a proverb “If you want to go fast, go by yourself. If you want to go further, go with the team” to stress the importance of team building. 156
Communication Skills. Six participants (75%) mentioned this competency:
Participant 2, Participant 3, Participant 4, Participant 5, Participant 6, and Participant 8. In the library context, leaders need to maintain good communication with their subordinates within the libraries and with other key stakeholders, including senior management, faculty, and students outside the libraries. As indicated by Participant 2, library leaders need to know how to communicate effectively and how to present their messages explicitly and clearly to others to be successful. Most participants stressed the importance of maintaining effective communication with their subordinates in the library operation. Specifically, Participant 7 described what communication means to him and why it is important to communicate well with subordinates:
A leader needs to have communication skills to make things transparent, to make sure to express effectively, to convey messages and guidelines to team, and to ensure everyone knows what is going on in the process, and not partially understand. It is not good for everyone to go on their own way; instead, leaders should try to make everyone go at the same pace. Otherwise, the whole library operation will be less effective.
Adaptability/Flexibility. Five participants (62.5%) selected this competency:
Participant 1, Participant 2, Participant 3, Participant 4, and Participant 5. These participants shared their insights on adaptability and flexibility and asserted their importance in the ever- changing environment. Participant 1 explained why being adaptable and flexible is important for library leaders of HKSHEIs and gave two real life examples about balancing resources between the weekdays and the weekends to extend library opening hours and adjusting workflow carefully to arrange proper jobs for part-time students to illustrate her choice. She opined that “competent leaders are those who know how to make use of prior experiences flexibly in new situations”. In addition, Participant 2 commented that many things were different due to COVID-19 pandemic, thus she stressed the importance of being adaptable and flexible especially in this time of uncertainty. She thought if leaders have crisis 157
awareness and sense of adaptability, they can respond swiftly to unusual situations and may cause less trouble for users. Participant 4 added that it is important for a leader to be open- minded and let staff try things on their own.
Being Knowledgeable. Five participants (62.5%) selected this competency:
Participant 1, Participant 2, Participant 3, Participant 4, and Participant 8. Participant 3 affirmed that it is demanding to be a library leader in the digital age, as they need to possess both professional knowledge and technological skills. They are expected to act as an information expert in the digital environment and demonstrate personal confidence and competency to work with faculty in different subject areas. Participant 4 also suggested library leaders be more receptive to emerging technologies and apply them as much as possible in their works. She said it is important to make decisions based on profession judgment, not based on personal preference, for the best of users. Participant 8 opined library leaders to fine tune their roles with new technological developments and stressed they should continue to acquire new knowledge to enhance their overall competencies.
Problem-Solving. Three participants (37.5%) selected this competency: Participant 1,
Participant 5, and Participant 6. Library users now require instant response to their enquiries.
Participant 1 emphasized the importance of problem-solving skills in the library profession.
She shared a situational experience about handling user complaints and stressed the need to train frontline staff to handle problems skillfully and build their confidence in handling complaints. Participant 5 stated that leaders have to assess or judge by individual situation before coming up a solution. He gave three rare and interesting examples to demonstrate the importance of problem-solving skills for library leaders to resolve ad hoc or sudden events, including handling flooding after a typhoon, helping an unconscious student, and calming down an emotionally unstable user in the library. He stressed the importance of problem- 158
solving skills for library leaders and thought experience is important for the library profession.
All participants acknowledged leadership competencies are important attributes for them to apply and adapt to an ever-changing environment and contribute to performance in librarianship. This is consistent with the claims of Ammons-Stephens et al. (2009) that it is the core competencies of library leaders that make the services that libraries offer successful and those who fall short of these competencies would not be able “to initiate, facilitate, and deliver successful services” (p. 71). The findings of this study about five crucial core leadership competencies identified by participants support previous seminal studies on academic library leadership in the digital age. For instance, Hernon et al. (2001, 2002) identified similar competencies, including “is collaborative”, “has team-building skills”,
“communicates effectively with staff”, “is change focused”, “has broad knowledge of issues”, and “analyzes and solves problems”, in their seminal studies that comprised of 105 attributes for ARL directors. Similarly, Ammons-Stephens et al. (2009) also include all these five core leadership competencies in their comprehensive leadership competency model that consisted of four meta-competencies and 17 broad competencies as listed in Table 4.
In addition, the findings of this study shares similarities and differences with the latest competency list updated by the library professional body, LLAMA. In 2016, LLAMA garnered 282 responses from its members and identified 14 foundational competencies selected by at least 25% of respondents. In this current study, eight participants also identified
16 core leadership competencies. A comparison of findings between this study and LLAMA on core leadership competency is shown in Table 10. Both lists are ranked by the number of occurrences and the percentages of responses.
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Table 10 Comparison of Findings between this Study and LLAMA (2016) on Core Leadership Competencies This study’s findings LLAMA’s findings 1st Collaboration/Teamwork (75%) 1st Communication Skills (60.3%) 1st Communication Skills (75%) 2nd Change Management (59.9%) 2nd Adaptability/Flexibility (62.5%) 3rd Team Building (54.3%) 2nd Being Knowledgeable (62.5%) 4th Collaboration and Partnerships (44.7%) 3rd Problem-Solving (37.5%) 5th Emotional Intelligence (40.8%) 4th Creative/Innovative (25%) 6th Problem-Solving (33.7%) 4th Decision-Making (25%) 7th Evidence-Based Decision Making (33.3%) 4th Inspirational/Motivational (25%) 8th Conflict Resolution (31.6%) 4th Resource Management (25%) 9th Budget Creation and Presentation (30.9%) 5th Being Visionary (12.5%) 10th Forward Thinking (30.1%) 5th Courageous (12.5%) 11th Critical Thinking (29.1%) 5th Ethical/Principled (12.5%) 12th Ethics (28%) 5th Forward Thinking (12.5%) 13th Project Management (26.2%) 5th Reflective Thinking (12.5%) 13th Marketing and Advocacy (26.2%) 5th Relationship Management (12.5%) 5th Strategic Planning (12.5%)
The researcher found similarities and differences when comparing these two findings.
Communication Skills is considered as the most important competency by both the participants in this study and LLAMA members. Six participants (75%) in this study emphasized the importance for leaders to possess this competency so that they can maintain good communication with their subordinates within the libraries and with other key stakeholders, including senior management, faculty, and students outside the libraries.
Similarly, LLAMA (2016) stated that library leaders with this competency effectively and efficiently employ verbal, non-verbal, and written communication methods to interact with their subordinates and stakeholders.
Six participants (75%) in this study also perceived Collaboration/Teamwork as the most important competency for them to lead successfully. The researcher combined collaboration and teamwork into the same category of response as both competencies 160
associate with work and engage others to work towards a shared vision or goal. This is also consistent with Gwyer’s (2015) findings of a meta-trend: collaboration, both externally and internally, is impacting the academic libraries. To cater for this trend, she suggested library staff should develop new skill sets in the area of networking related to influencing and negotiation, community building, cross-sector working, international working, and interoperability. Similarly, LLAMA’s members rated Team Building and Collaboration and
Partnership as the third and fourth most important competencies. LLAMA (2016) described that library leaders with Team Building competency unify their subordinates to work for a shared vision, and those with Collaboration and Partnership competency cooperate with others within the library and with other institutions to achieve a common goal.
In this current study, five participants (62.5%) perceived Adaptability/Flexibility as the second most crucial leadership competency in an ever-changing environment. Their views shared some commonalities with the second most important competency, Change
Management, which was identified by LLAMA’s members. LLAMA (2016) described library leaders who possess this competency as those who “provide an environment open to innovation and collaboration by ensuring continuous two-way communication, flexibility, and willingness to learn from mistakes made, and by providing the training necessary to make the change happen”. In this study, Participants 1 explained why being adaptable and flexible is important for library leaders of HKSHEIs as resources and manpower are relatively less abundant. Participant 2 also stressed the importance of adaptability, especially in time of uncertainty like COVID-19. Participant 4 stated it is important for a leader to be open-minded and let staff try things on their own. Their responses explicitly demonstrated that Adaptability/Flexibility is important in any change management.
In addition, three participants (37.5%) in this study perceived Problem-Solving as the fifth most crucial competencies. Participants stressed the needs of problem-solving skills in 161
the library profession as users now expect instant response to their enquiries, and library leaders need to resolve ad hoc or sudden events in real life situations. Coincidentally,
Problem-Solving is the sixth most crucial competencies identified by LLAMA members.
LLAMA (2016) described library leaders with this competency solve problems by “taking proactive measures to avoid conflicts and address issues when they arise, and guiding employees to find appropriate information” (p. 2).
Nevertheless, there are differences between the findings of this study and LLAMA’s competency list. Five participants (62.5%) perceived Being Knowledgeable as the second most crucial core leadership competency. Participants emphasized the importance of library leaders to possess both professional knowledge and technological skills in the digital age.
Nevertheless, this competency is not found in LLAMA’s list.
In addition, LLAMA members identified Emotional Intelligence (EI) as the fifth most crucial competency. They stressed the importance of library leaders to manage the five elements of EI: self-awareness, self-regulation, motivation, empathy, and social skills for themselves and others. Nevertheless, in this current study, none of the participants identified such elements of EI competencies. This is probably because Asian people are more introverted, and they do not easily express their emotional feelings openly.
From the above comparison, the researcher found the five most crucial core leadership competencies identified in this study shared similarities and differences with the foundational competencies identified by LLAMA (2016). The competencies of
Collaboration/Teamwork, Communication Skills, Adaptability/Flexibility, Being
Knowledgeable, and Problem-Solving are more useful and relevant in the context of this study and should be able to provide a roadmap for professional development.
Moreover, the findings of this study on five crucial core leadership competencies seems to partially align with the study by Le (2015) on examining the academic library 162
leadership skills from those who held senior academic library leadership positions throughout the United States. He concluded that vision, integrity, management skills, collaboration skills, and communications are the five most important attributes for academic library leaders there.
Communication and collaboration skills are common in these two studies. Vision, integrity, and management skills also matched with this study on other crucial core competencies identified by some participants such as (3) Being Visionary and (9) Ethical/Principled, and general management skills such as (1) Adaptability/Flexibility, (14) Relationship
Management, (15) Resource Management, (16) Strategic Planning, and (8) Decision-Making.
Participants in this study are constantly aware and prepare themselves to lead successfully in the rapidly changing environment. The researcher noticed that they used phrases and metaphors like the “Jack of all trades”, a “versatile player”, a “one-man band”, and an “anchor” to describe how it is like being a library leader in smaller institution libraries. They suggested that library leaders must be holistic in applying different competencies. As indicated by Participant 8, library leaders in smaller institutions need to know in almost every aspect of undertakings and obligations. Hence, they need to have a basic knowledge in all aspects though they are not expected to be an expert in a specific field.
The only worry is that those library leaders are constantly facing challenges and pressure due to limited budget and manpower. For instance, Participant 4 shared her worry for being unable to communicate fully with subordinates due to heavy workload. Participant
5 used the idiom “burn the midnight candle” to describe library leaders who work long hours diligently. More support should be provided to these library leaders, and it is important for them to adjust well so that they will not get burn out in the profession eventually.
Implications for Practice
The major findings of this qualitative research may contribute to a better understanding of perceptions and experiences of the core leadership competencies and the 163
application of adaptive leadership theory in today’s ever-changing academic library landscape. These findings are relevant and useful to a broad range of audience, including the library leaders, their library staff at all levels, their parent institutions, and their key stakeholders.
Implications for Library Leaders
This current study strengthens the notion that academic libraries faced complex challenges brought by emerging technologies and changing user behaviors and demands in the digital age that require library leaders to reconfigure their leadership. Participants suggested ways to better position themselves and their libraries to stay relevant and demonstrate value to their parent institutions and with key stakeholders. To further strengthen their positioning, they also identified and detailed the applications of five most crucial core leadership competencies as tools that facilitate and contribute to their roles in “supporting recruitment, retention, and matriculation”, “enhancing student learning”, “supporting faculty research and teaching”, “raising institutional visibility and contribute to the community”, and leading successfully in today’s changing higher education environment (ACRL, 2016, p. 1).
The findings of this study may fill the gap of the existing literature and greatly enhance the knowledge of academic library leadership for current and aspiring library leaders of Hong Kong and possibly other librarians working in smaller academic libraries throughout the world. The essence of the participants’ lived experience may potentially serve as checkpoints and best practices for library leaders in other institutions who may find these changes and challenges easier to adapt and resolve in a similar context. The attributes related to six principles of adaptive leadership as proposed by Heifetz et al. (2019) may potentially facilitate and strengthen academic library leadership skills in a dynamic environment.
In addition, participants mentioned many new strategies and initiatives, such as
“library as a place”, “librarians in class”, a restructure of a new technical and digital initiative 164
unit, participation in QESS project collaborating with other academic libraries, development of own Institution Repositories for unique collections, and measures taken during the
COVID-19 pandemic. Through their strategic leadership of skillfully and flexibly maximizing resource allocation, building up a strong work team, and collaborating with others in sharing expertise and resources in their libraries, the limiting factors in resources and manpower commonly seen in today’s libraries are hopefully addressed. These continuous efforts, energies, and wisdom exerted and exhibited by dedicated library leaders in the specific Hong Kong higher education context may act as practical reference guides for other library leaders to consider in their own respective institutions in order for their libraries to stay relevant and demonstrate value.
Given the importance of adaptive leadership played in their profession, library leaders should be more aware on how to acquire and apply the principles of this leadership theory.
They should strengthen their adaptive capacity through continuous reflection and learning and help fostering an adaptive culture to enable their libraries to meet ongoing adaptive challenges in the future.
Implications for Library Staff at All Levels
The style of adaptive leadership is follower-centered rather than leader-centered as it emphasizes on mobilizing people to adapt and thrive in the changing environment. According to Heifetz and Laurie (1997), “Solutions to adaptive challenges reside not in the executive suite but in the collective intelligence of employees at all levels” (p. 126). Similarly, the findings of this study showed that library leaders cannot rely on their own efforts to tackle the complex challenges and pressure faced in the digital age, but they have to rely on teamwork within their libraries and collaboration with different parties within and outside their institutions. This means a collective effort made by library staff at all levels is required to make the leadership a successful one when coping with adaptive challenges. 165
In situations where there are only limited budget and manpower available in some
HKSHEIs, each library staff member should possess a can-do spirit and attitude and boldly contribute their ideas and efforts in the adaptive process. It is deemed necessary for library staff at all levels to sharpen their knowledge, skills, abilities, and, most importantly, their wills to learn and make things happen. Very often, they are required to come out of their comfort zones and live into the disequilibrium that is “an uncomfortable state to uncertainty, disorder, conflict, or chaos” (Heifetz et al., 2009). They need to alter their underlying assumptions, values, beliefs, and norms to implement feasible solutions in addressing adaptive challenges.
In this current study, participants stressed the importance of staff autonomy and professional development. They viewed “Being Knowledgeable” as one of the five most crucial leadership competencies for them to lead successfully in the digital age. Therefore, library staff at all levels should seize chances to participate in relevant training sessions, learn from each other, and share experiences to develop themselves personally and professionally.
Doing so will positively benefit the growth and development of academic libraries and their people.
Implications for Parent Institutions and Their Key Stakeholders
Academic libraries play a significant role in supporting the scholarship, teaching, and learning activities in their institutions. The findings of this study identified that better positioning is essential for academic libraries and their leaders to stay relevant and demonstrate value and it also brought implications for their parent institutions and with key stakeholders, including faculty and students.
For parent institutions. In this current study, all participants recognized the importance of aligning themselves closely with the institution’s mission, vision, and goals and suggested ways to better position themselves for better “recognition, resourcing, and 166
prospects” (Cox, 2018, p. 217). They argued that a library leader nowadays is not just a service-provider or partner but a true and dedicated leader in their parent institutions. Library leaders are eager to participate in the strategic planning and important decision-making processes in their institutions instead of just focusing on own library matters. They are more visionary and eyeing on the overall developments of the institutions and how libraries can be an active part in overall development. One participant even said that library staff should be proud of their profession as they always offer selfless service to others. As library staff is actively contributing in their respective roles, they drive the library profession to reach a higher state to support the institutions and the stakeholders they serve.
In return, the parent institutions should communicate to library leaders more closely to better understand the complexity of their current operating environment. They should treat library leaders as essential members of the top management team and involve them more in their institution’s decision-making process for further development. For instance, recent initiatives of some institutions in this study reflected on the need to strengthen library infrastructure and to redefine physical spaces to better integrate emerging technologies and cater for diverse learning needs. Institutions should recognize the contributions made by their libraries by providing more resources and support to them.
For faculty. According to participants, faculty inputs are important for library leaders to leverage their resources and provide professional services. It is suggested that faculty should work hand in hand with their libraries to help select and acquire appropriate library resources and coordinate information of literacy instructions for their programs. They should value the professional expertise of librarians in handing scholarly information and treat them as a close partner in teaching and research processes.
Participants mentioned that the “Library as a Place” and “Librarians in Class” services collaborated with their faculty. Such collaboration helps promote the library resources and 167
services to their students and enhance the librarian’s role in student learning. It is suggested that faculty should encourage their students to attend orientations and workshops offered by libraries to improve their digital and information literacy skills. In addition, this will bring about a positive change in students’ information seeking behavior and make them consider library resources as more reliable and accurate sources for their research assignments.
Hopefully, this will improve their overall academic achievements in the long run.
For students. Students are the key stakeholders of all academic libraries as most of
HKSHEIs are teaching-oriented rather than research-oriented. It is suggested that students should make the best use of their libraries both physically and virtually as all library staff are trying their best to offer a full range of resources and services and provide support in the learning journey. Students should treat the libraries as their learning partners. For instance, some participants offer services such as “Learning Support Librarian” to work with students as an academic buddy for better academic performance and “Personal Librarian” to help them on a one-on-one basis. They should also be more proactive in enhancing their information literacy and digital literacy skills in this new era by attending workshops or related activities offered by their libraries in order to become more effective lifelong learners.
Moreover, one participant mentioned the push and pull factors between libraries and their users when developing strategies. He commented that libraries and their users are in fact complementing and helping one another in developing new tools and practices in addressing new demands. Therefore, students can assist academic libraries in improving their resources and services through actively participating in activities like library surveys, user group meetings, or feedback forms.
Limitations
This current study is the first one made in relations to academic libraries and their library leaders of self-financing higher education sector in Hong Kong. It is also able to 168
capture the adaptations made by library leaders during the time of COVID-19 pandemic.
However, as with the majority of studies, this research is subjected to several limitations.
The first limitation is related to the objectivity and researcher bias that may allow personal judgment and values to enter into the study. In this qualitative study, the researcher acts as the primary instrument and the only person for collecting and analyzing data. In addition, the researcher is an experienced librarian and is working in one of the HKSHEIs.
Although the researcher reflected on her positionality on how it may influence the interpretation of data at the outset of the study and tried every means to start away from such, it is difficult to completely avoid personal values, judgments, assumptions, preoccupations, and biases in the data collection and analysis processes. This IPA study depends on the researcher’s interpretation and understanding of how the library leaders of HKSHEIs make sense of their perceptions, acquisition, and subsequent application on library leadership competencies in their professional experiences.
The second limitation is related to the small sample size that was used. Presently, there are twenty-nine SHEIs in Hong Kong. In this current study, only eight library leaders from six of these institutions were selected for data collection due to the constraint in time and manpower for subsequent data transcription and data analysis. Although the IPA study intended to conduct the research with comparatively small sample sizes to facilitate in-depth examination of a phenomenon (Pietkiewicz & Smith, 2014), the small sample size may also affect the representation and generalization of the results.
The third limitation is related to the language translation of this qualitative research.
Although the interview protocol in this study was prepared in English, most of the interviews were conducted in Cantonese. To protect the participants’ confidentially, the researcher is the only one who did all the translation and transcription. Despite that member checking of transcripts has been conducted to ensure the accuracy of participants’ responses to the 169
interview questions, there may be deviations between the participants’ actual intended meaning and the researcher’s interpretation and representation during the whole process in translating, coding, and noting of related words or phrases, clustering into patterns, and developing emergent themes.
Finally, the interviews were taken during the time of COVID-19 pandemic. Most higher education institutions began closing their campuses and switching to online teaching.
During this time of disruption and uncertainty, academic libraries face more adaptive challenges of how to ensure the safety of their staff and users by shutting down physical spaces, while still providing a high level of resources and services when their users moved online. Hence, this may bias some of the responses made by the participants because they might have been exposed to COVID-19 threat at the time of conducting this interview. Yet, this may shed new understanding on how the academic libraries confront with the daily operation issues in critical moments like this.
Recommendations for Further Research
It has been noted that little research has been conducted on the topic of library leadership competencies for smaller academic libraries and hardly in the specific Hong Kong higher education context. Consequently, some recommendations of further research are provided as follows.
Firstly, it is suggested to conduct a mixed method of quantitative and qualitative research of library leaders of HKSHEIs on their perceptions and experiences of core leadership competencies that are needed in the digital age. This will help balance the potential personal bias from the qualitative study. Quantitative study allows collecting and analyzing numeric data on a large scale that can hopefully yield an unbiased result for the whole spectrum of similar institutions. 170
Secondly, the current study was conducted from only the perspective of library leaders. It is suggested that the further research can be conducted from the perspectives of library staff members other than the library leaders of HKSHEIs. This will help capture the voices and insights from other library staff members who are concerned about the leadership competencies they perceived as necessary for the success of current and future academic libraries.
Thirdly, it is suggested to conduct a qualitative study on the professional leadership development of library leaders in these institutions. As mentioned by several participants in the study, professional development is crucial for themselves and their staff in surviving and resolving the adaptive challenges brought by emerging technologies and changing user behaviors and demands in the digital age. For instance, one participant was concerned about developing the leadership skills and competencies of her middle management staff while another participant mentioned the goals of training their junior staff to become para- professionals and professionals in the long run.
Fourthly, this study interviewed participants from institutions serving different student sizes, though they are all self-financing. For example, one institution serves much more than
1,000 students while another one serves less than 1,000 students, so the library scale and scope of service may be different. In addition, the way library leaders plan for allocating resources, staff management, and collection development can be very different. Further research may purposively select libraries or student bodies with comparable sizes, so it would be more meaningful to compare their findings for analysis and recommendations.
Finally, many participants mentioned the adaptations they made during the crisis of
COVID-19 pandemic. It is suggested that a future study on how COVID-19 impacts on library resources and services and how library leaders are approaching the challenges can be conducted. 171
Conclusion
The purpose of this study is to examine the core leadership competencies for library leaders to lead successfully in the digital age. The researcher used an interpretative phenomenological analysis (IPA) approach to address the central question: How do library leaders of Hong Kong self-financing higher education institutions perceive and experience expanding necessary core leadership competencies in the digital age, and how do they make sense of acquiring and applying these competencies to lead successfully?
Through conducting semi-structured interviews with eight participants from HKSHEI libraries, four significant themes and 12 subthemes emerged that describe the phenomenon of library leaders’ perceptions and lived experience of core leadership competencies. The four significant themes are: 1) Evolving academic library landscape in the digital age, 2)
Reconfiguring academic library leadership, 3) Better positioning to stay relevant and demonstrate value, and 4) Adaptation as an important aspect of library leadership.
This study identified 16 core leadership competencies, with five of them being the most valued by participants: Collaboration/Teamwork, Communication Skills,
Adaptability/Flexibility, Being Knowledgeable, and Problem-Solving. The findings support previous study results in the literature on academic library leadership in the digital age such as Hernon et al. (2001, 2002) and Ammons-Stephens et al. (2009). The findings have strong similarities with those competencies updated by library professional bodies such as LLAMA
(2016). Therefore, the findings of this study can help guide the local academic library leaders by making use of the insights and ideas behind those competencies. This new knowledge and understanding of core leadership competencies can possibly be applied and transferred to other libraries in various higher education institutions in similar context around the world in order to benefit all their library stakeholders. 172
Library leaders make use of these core leadership competencies in their profession to stay relevant and demonstrate value to their parent institutions and key stakeholders. When they shared their lived experience in acquiring and applying those competencies, they seem to have incorporated these competencies into their professional life already. It appears to the researcher that participants are experienced and skillful problem-solvers who work adaptively and flexibly with limited conditions in budget and manpower. They adapt flexibly to emergent technologies and changing user behaviors and demands and effectively apply new tools, practices, and perspectives in their working environments. For example, Participant 3 illustrated the diverse and expanding roles played by today’s library leaders, “So as a library leader, I consider myself not only a service provider, but also a partner, a leader working with faculty, students, other units in my institution, and other professional information providers to contribute to overall institution’s vision, mission, and goals”.
The adaptive leadership theory proposed by Heifetz et al. (2009) provides a useful theoretical lens for the researcher to make sense on the phenomenon of library leaders’ perceptions and lived experience of core leadership competencies. Participants described the various adaptations they made and confirmed that adaptation has become an important aspect of their leadership. They applied the main concepts and six guiding principles of adaptive leadership in varying degrees when facing adaptive challenges: Get on the balcony,
Identifying the adaptive challenges, Regulate distress, Maintain disciplined attention, Give the work back to people, and Protect voices of leadership from below (Heifetz et al., 2009).
Some participants also created a “holding environment” to engage their subordinates in productive dialogues during demand-driven staff meetings, resolve the conflicts arise, and come up with constructive solutions for the ongoing adaptive challenges in a safe and supportive environment. 173
According to the participants, the incident of COVID-19 acts as a catalyst and an accelerator for library leaders to learn and adapt to rapidly changing environments through applying necessary core leadership competencies more frequently in that period. Library leaders can also learn and practice adaptive leadership in this context if they are more responsive, adaptable, and improvisational whenever they face complex challenges (Heifetz,
1994). This will help library leaders of HKSHEIs and other library leaders in similar contexts tackle adaptive challenges more successfully in the digital age.
The findings may not fully depict adaptive leadership as a whole, but they do cover some of its areas to shed light on varying leadership attributes. For instance, it appears that participants are using the essence of adaptive leadership without being aware of what it is.
None of the participants mentioned applying the theory of adaptive leadership in the interviews. Therefore, library leaders of HKSHEIs should learn and apply the core leadership competencies identified in this study and supplement with the principles of adaptive leadership theory so that they can observe, interpret, and intervene the adaptive challenges they face in the ever-changing environment more effectively.
As a scholar practitioner in library field for over twenty years, I will apply the core leadership competencies identified in this study and their implications for library leaders in my work. I will sharpen my knowledge, skills, and abilities in communication, collaboration, teamwork, adaptability, flexibility, and problem-solving that will assist me in engaging more effectively with my associates, including the subordinates and other leaders in my institution.
I also will strengthen the positioning of the library with my institution and key stakeholders by consistently implementing plans derived from strategic management meetings with my institution, including improving the accessibility of library resources and digital literacy of our users. 174
To ensure a more adaptable library environment, I will advocate and encourage collaboration of all kinds and leverage the resources and manpower to support scholarship, teaching, and learning endeavors. I will promote and participate in on-going lifelong professional development with my team. I will strive to fulfill the needs of my stakeholders by providing new and innovative resources and services. Above all, I will be more open to new initiatives and suggestions from staff at all levels to make the library more adaptable to challenges and changes in the digital age.
As self-financing academic library leaders, we need to orchestrate concerted efforts with all key stakeholders, including, but not limited to, library staff, faculty, and students, in our information community to make a difference in today’s academic libraries.
175
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Appendix A: American Library Association’s Core Competences of Librarianship
Final version Approved by the ALA Executive Board, October 25th 2008 Approved and adopted as policy by the ALA Council, January 27th 2009
This document defines the basic knowledge to be possessed by all persons graduating from an ALA-accredited master’s program in library and information studies. Librarians working in school, academic, public, special, and governmental libraries, and in other contexts will need to possess specialized knowledge beyond that specified here.
CONTENTS 1. Foundations of the Profession 2. Information Resources 3. Organization of Recorded Knowledge and Information 4. Technological Knowledge and Skills 5. Reference and User Services 6. Research 7. Continuing Education and Lifelong Learning 8. Administration and Management
A person graduating from an ALA-accredited master’s program in library and information studies should know and, where appropriate, be able to employ:
1. Foundations of the Profession 1A. The ethics, values, and foundational principles of the library and information profession. 1B. The role of library and information professionals in the promotion of democratic principles and intellectual freedom (including freedom of expression, thought, and conscience). 1C. The history of libraries and librarianship. 1D. The history of human communication and its impact on libraries. 1E. Current types of library (school, public, academic, special, etc.) and closely related information agencies. 1F. National and international social, public, information, economic, and cultural policies and trends of significance to the library and information profession. 1G. The legal framework within which libraries and information agencies operate. That framework includes laws relating to copyright, privacy, freedom of expression, equal rights (e.g., the Americans with Disabilities Act), and intellectual property. 1H. The importance of effective advocacy for libraries, librarians, other library workers, and library services. 1I. The techniques used to analyze complex problems and create appropriate solutions. 1J. Effective communication techniques (verbal and written). 1K. Certification and/or licensure requirements of specialized areas of the profession. 188
2. Information Resources 2A. Concepts and issues related to the lifecycle of recorded knowledge and information, from creation through various stages of use to disposition. 2B. Concepts, issues, and methods related to the acquisition and disposition of resources, including evaluation, selection, purchasing, processing, storing, and deselection.
2C. Concepts, issues, and methods related to the management of various collections. 2D. Concepts, issues, and methods related to the maintenance of collections, including preservation and conservation.
3. Organization of Recorded Knowledge and Information 3A. The principles involved in the organization and representation of recorded knowledge and information. 3B. The developmental, descriptive, and evaluative skills needed to organize recorded knowledge and information resources. 3C. The systems of cataloging, metadata, indexing, and classification standards and methods used to organize recorded knowledge and information.
4. Technological Knowledge and Skills 4A. Information, communication, assistive, and related technologies as they affect the resources, service delivery, and uses of libraries and other information agencies. 4B. The application of information, communication, assistive, and related technology and tools consistent with professional ethics and prevailing service norms and applications. 4C. The methods of assessing and evaluating the specifications, efficacy, and cost efficiency of technology based products and services. 4D. The principles and techniques necessary to identify and analyze emerging technologies and innovations in order to recognize and implement relevant technological improvements.
5. Reference and User Services 5A. The concepts, principles, and techniques of reference and user services that provide access to relevant and accurate recorded knowledge and information to individuals of all ages and groups. 5B. Techniques used to retrieve, evaluate, and synthesize information from diverse sources for use by individuals of all ages and groups. 5C. The methods used to interact successfully with individuals of all ages and groups to provide consultation, mediation, and guidance in their use of recorded knowledge and information. 5D. Information literacy/information competence techniques and methods, numerical literacy, and statistical literacy. 5E. The principles and methods of advocacy used to reach specific audiences to promote and explain concepts and services. 189
5F. The principles of assessment and response to diversity in user needs, user communities, and user preferences. 5G. The principles and methods used to assess the impact of current and emerging situations or circumstances on the design and implementation of appropriate services or resource development.
6. Research 6A. The fundamentals of quantitative and qualitative research methods. 6B. The central research findings and research literature of the field. 6C. The principles and methods used to assess the actual and potential value of new research.
7. Continuing Education and Lifelong Learning 7A. The necessity of continuing professional development of practitioners in libraries and other information agencies. 7B. The role of the library in the lifelong learning of patrons, including an understanding of lifelong learning in the provision of quality service and the use of lifelong learning in the promotion of library services. 7C. Learning theories, instructional methods, and achievement measures; and their application in libraries and other information agencies. 7D. The principles related to the teaching and learning of concepts, processes and skills used in seeking, evaluating, and using recorded knowledge and information.
8. Administration and Management 8A. The principles of planning and budgeting in libraries and other information agencies. 8B. The principles of effective personnel practices and human resource development. 8C. The concepts behind and methods for assessment and evaluation of library services and their outcomes. 8D. The concepts behind, and methods for, developing partnerships, collaborations, networks, and other structures with all stakeholders and within communities served. 8E. The concepts behind, issues relating to, and methods for, principled, transformational leadership.
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Appendix B: Definition of 14 LLAMA’s Foundational Competencies
In 2016, the Library Leadership and Management Association (LLAMA) Competencies Committee has identified and defined 14 foundational competencies that can be used for personal leadership and management development, benchmarking and evaluation as follows:
1. Communication Skills A leader effectively employs a wide range of well-developed verbal, non-verbal and written communication methods to interact with employees and stakeholders, conveying information clearly and efficiently and using active listening for consistent, mutual understanding.
2. Change Management A leader provides an environment open to innovation and collaboration by ensuring continuous two-way communication, flexibility, and willingness to learn from mistakes made, and by providing the training necessary to make the change happen.
3. Team Building A leader unifies a group of individuals behind a commonly-shared vision by using strong communication skills to encourage dedication to mutual accountability, investment in the team’s goal and purpose, and support for success of the team and its members.
4. Collaboration and Partnerships A leader works, and encourages others to work, in cooperation with others within the library as well as with other organizations in order to achieve a common goal. Leaders look for ways to strengthen the role of the library in the community by seeking out opportunities to work with others in a mutually beneficial way, engaging stakeholders, and building relationships.
5. Emotional Intelligence A leader is effective in understanding and improving the way he or she perceives and manages his or her own and other people’s emotions, applying concepts such as self- awareness, self-regulation, motivation, empathy, and social skills to inform interpersonal interactions.
6. Problem Solving A leader solves problems – taking proactive measures to avoid conflicts and address issues when they arise, and guiding employees to find appropriate information that allows them to generate and evaluate a diverse set of alternative solutions – to prevent issues from escalating and to encourage employees’ abilities to do the same.
7. Evidence-based Decision Making A leader makes use of research derived from trials, literature reviews, or other activities that provides objective information on issues of concern in order to help determine 191
whether a particular policy or program will work at their organization and to demonstrate its effectiveness.
8. Conflict Resolution A leader supports differences of opinion, and helps individuals resolve conflict in a constructive manner when it threatens to become counterproductive to the organization’s mission and strategic goals, encouraging communication, collaboration and compromise.
9. Budget Creation and Presentation A leader creates a budget that considers the needs of the department or organization, incorporates the input of team members, and reflects the institutional mission and priorities, and then communicates the value of library services to stakeholders, presenting qualitative and quantitative data to making a case for their proposed budget.
10. Forward Thinking A leader maintains an understanding of important trends and developments in the library landscape, and uses that understanding to position their library to take advantage of opportunities as they arise, moving the library forward from a position of strength.
11. Critical Thinking A leader applies critical thinking, which implies a high level of understanding, the ability to break a problem down into its constituent parts, and the skills to effectively analyze and assess the issues, to their library’s challenges to identify and implement solutions.
12. Ethics A leader uses ethics in the process of deciding what should be done, reflecting on the reasons for a proposed course of action that takes into account the organization’s decision-making process, its system of production and maintenance, and its culture and values, with the goal of bringing forth the resources so that people can make better decisions.
13. Project Management A leader takes deliberate steps to execute, monitor, analyze and report on the progress of a work group charged with the creation of a unique product, service or result in order to deliver the on-time/on-budget results, learning and integration that the project and its stakeholders require.
14. Marketing and Advocacy A leader collaboratively creates key activities and goals of the organization and aggressively seeks out opportunities to communicate the goals with both internal and external constituencies.
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Appendix C: Northeastern University IRB Approval
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Appendix D: Recruitment Email
Dear Librarian,
My name is Jade WONG Lai King, and I am undertaking a dissertation research for my Doctor of Education study at the College of Professional Studies, Northeastern University. The study seeks to examine how library leaders of Hong Kong self-financing higher education institutions perceive and experience the expanding necessary core leadership competencies in the digital age, and how they make sense of acquiring and applying these competencies to lead successfully.
You are cordially invited to participate in this study and share your perceptions and experiences of being a library leader in the digital age. If you would like to participate in this study, you will be invited to an online or telephone interview, which will last approximately 45-60 minutes, at a date and time, which is convenient for you. In the interview, you will be asked a few open-ended questions about your personal leadership experience in Hong Kong self-financing higher education institution libraries.
In order to obtain the essences of your responses, the interview will be audio-taped, and I will take notes during the process with your consent. Also, your participation and identity will be kept confidential at all times. Pseudonyms will be used to protect your confidentiality with respect to your responses.
Participation in this research is completely voluntary. You can withdraw at any time you feel necessary, and you can refuse to answer any interview question. If you agree to participate, you are requested to sign an informed consent form before the interview starts. All information provided during the interview will be kept confidential, and they will be destroyed three years following the completion of the study.
This research has been approved by the Institutional Review Board (IRB) of Northeastern University. If you have any questions or need further information about the purpose and scope of this research, please feel free to contact me by email to [email protected] or by phone at (852) ******** for clarification.
Thank you very much for your help.
Respectfully,
Jade Wong Lai King Doctoral Candidate, College of Professional Studies Northeastern University, Boston 194
Appendix E: Informed Consent Form
Northeastern University, College of Professional Studies Name of Investigator(s): Professor Harvey SHAPIRO (Principal Investigator); Jade WONG Lai King (Student Researcher) Title of Project: Core Leadership Competencies for Library Leaders of Hong Kong Self-Financing Higher Education Institution in the Digital Age: An Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis
Informed Consent to Participate in a Research Study We are inviting you to take part in a research study. This form will tell you about the study, but the student researcher will explain it to you first. You may ask this person any questions that you have. When you are ready to make a decision, you may tell the researcher if you want to participate or not. You do not have to participate if you do not want to. If you decide to participate, the researcher will ask you to sign this statement and will give you a copy to keep.
Key Information Your consent is being sought for participation in a research project, and your participation is voluntary. The purpose of this interpretative phenomenological analysis is to examine how library leaders of Hong Kong self-financing higher education institutions perceive and experience the expanding necessary core leadership competencies in the digital age and how they make sense of acquiring and applying these competencies to lead successfully. The anticipated amount of time that your participation will take will be around 1.5 hours. The procedures that you will be asked to complete will be:
. To participate in one online or telephone interview for around 45-60 minutes. During the interview, you will be asked to respond to some open-ended questions about your personal leadership experience.
. After the interview, you may be contacted to answer follow-up questions via email or telephone and comment on the interview transcripts for verification purpose where necessary. We expect the verification process will take around 30 minutes.
There are no foreseeable risks or discomfort associated with your participation in this study.
There will also be no direct benefit to you for taking part in the study. There are no alternative procedures.
Why am I being asked to take part in this research study? We are asking you to be in this study because you have been identified as someone who has a great deal to share about your library leadership experience in a self-financing higher education institution in Hong Kong. 195
Why is this research study being done? The purpose of this interpretative phenomenological analysis is to examine how library leaders of Hong Kong self-financing higher education institutions perceive and experience the expanding necessary core leadership competencies in the digital age, and how they make sense of acquiring and applying these competencies to lead successfully.
What will I be asked to do? If you decide to take part in this study, we will ask you to participate in one online or telephone interview. The researcher will invite you to respond to some open-ended questions about your personal leadership experience in Hong Kong self-financing higher education institution libraries. To ensure capturing what you say, our conversations during the interview will be audio-recorded. After that, we may ask you follow-up questions via email or telephone and invite you to comment on the interview transcripts for verification purpose.
Where will this take place, and how much of my time will it take? The interview will be conducted via online or telephone at a date and time that is convenient for you. This interview will take around 45 to 60 minutes. Where necessary, the researcher may contact you to ask follow-up questions and comment on the interview transcripts for verification purpose via email or telephone. We expect this verification process will take around 30 minutes.
Will there be any risk or discomfort to me? There are no foreseeable risks or discomfort associated with your participation in this study.
Will I benefit by being in this research? There will be no direct benefit to you for taking part in the study. However, your participation will contribute to extending the knowledge about core leadership competencies of library leaders in the digital age.
Who will see the information about me? Your participation in this study will be confidential. Only the researchers on this study will see the information about you. No reports or publications will use information that can identify you in any way or any individual as being of this project.
Any information that is obtained in connection with this study and that can be identified with an individual will remain confidential. I will label all data gathered with pseudonyms, whether institution-level or individual-level. No names will be associated with any interview information; any information that could be used to identify a participant will be altered to protect their confidentiality; the recording of the interview will not be labeled with the participant’s name, but rather a pseudonym; all data files will be encrypted and password protected; and only the researchers will have access to the files.
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The personal computer, personal external hard drive, hard copies of the field notes and interview transcripts will be stored in a locked drawer at the home of the Student Researcher to protect confidentiality of the participants as well as from potential loss or damage during the period when the investigation is taking place.
After the thesis project is completed, any hard copy materials containing confidential interviewee information will be destroyed. All electronic data stored on the Student Researcher’s personal computer and personal external hard drive will remain untouched and be kept in a locked drawer in the home of the Student Researcher. These remaining data and documents, including the signed consent forms, will be destroyed three years following the completion of the study.
The data will be used for the Student Researcher’s doctoral thesis study and, potentially, for future journal articles, books, presentations, or research. Even in these potential instances, confidentiality will be protected for all participants.
In rare instances, authorized people may request to see research information about you and other people in this study. This is done only to ensure that the research is done properly. We would only permit people who are authorized by organizations, such as the Northeastern University Institutional Review Board, to see this information.
Your de-identified information could be used for further research without additional informed consent.
If I do not want to take part in the study, what choices do I have? If you decide that you no longer want to participate in the interview, you are encouraged to inform the researcher of your decision. The information already obtained through your participation will not be included in the data analysis and final report of the study.
What will happen if I suffer any harm from this research? You can disengage from the research at any time you feel uncomfortable or harmed. However, no special arrangements will be made for compensation or for payment for treatment solely because of your participation in this research.
Can I stop my participation in this study? Your participation in this research is completely voluntary. You do not have to participate if you do not want to, and you can refuse to answer any question. Even if you begin the study, you may quit at any time. If you do not participate or if you decide to quit, you will not lose any rights, benefits, or services that you would otherwise have as an employee in your institution.
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Who can I contact if I have questions or problems? If you have any questions about this study, please feel free to contact Jade WONG Lai King at [email protected] or her mobile phone at (852) ********, the person mainly responsible for the research. You can also contact Professor Harvey SHAPIRO at [email protected], the Principal Investigator
Who can I contact about my rights as a participant? If you have any questions about your rights in this research, you may contact Nan C. Regina, Director, Human Subject Research Protection, Mail Stop: 560-177, 360 Huntington Avenue, Northeastern University, Boston, MA 02115. Tel: 617.373.4588, Email: [email protected]. You may call anonymously if you wish.
Will I be paid for my participation? You will not be paid for your participation.
Will it cost me anything to participate? It will not cost you anything to participate in this study.
Is there anything else I need to know? N/A
This study has been reviewed and approved by the Northeastern University Institutional Review Board #: CPS20-06-17.
I agree to take part in this research.
______Signature of person agreeing to take part Date
______Printed name of person above
______Signature of person who explained the study to the Date participant above and obtained consent
______Printed name of person above 198
Appendix F: Interview Protocol
RESEARCH TOPIC Core Leadership Competencies for Library Leaders of Hong Kong Self-Financing Higher Education Institutions in the Digital Age: An Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis
Interviewee (Title and Name): ______Institution: ______Interviewee code: ______Interviewer: ______Date and Time: ______
Part I: Introductory Session Objectives (5-7 minutes)
Build rapport, describe the study, answer any questions (under typical circumstances an informed consent form would be reviewed and signed here).
Introductory Protocol You have been selected to speak with us today because you have been identified as someone who has a great deal to share about your library leadership experience in a self-financing higher education institution in Hong Kong. My research project focuses on the participants’ perceptions and experiences about core library leadership competencies in the digital age. Through this study, we hope to gain more insight into how library leaders of Hong Kong self- financing higher education institutions perceive and experience the expanding necessary core leadership competencies in the digital age, and how they make sense of acquiring and applying these competencies to lead successfully. Hopefully, this will allow us to identify what leadership competencies are needed now, and in the future, and strategies to facilitate their acquisition and their further application.
Because your responses are important and I want to make sure to capture everything you say, I would like to audio tape our conversation today. Do I have your permission to record this interview? I will also be taking written notes. I can assure you that all responses will be confidential and only a pseudonym will be used when quoting from the transcripts. I will be the only one privy to the tapes which will be eventually destroyed after they are transcribed. To meet our human subjects requirements at the university, you must sign the form I have with me. Essentially, this document states that: (1) all information will be held confidential, (2) your participation is voluntary and you may stop at any time if you feel uncomfortable, and (3) we do not intend to inflict any harm. Do you have any questions about the interview process or how your data will be used? 199
This interview should last about 45-60 minutes. During this time, I have several questions that I would like to cover. If time begins to run short, it may be necessary to interrupt you in order to push ahead and complete this line of questioning. Do you have any questions at this time?
Part II: Interviewee Background (5-10 minutes)
Objective: To establish rapport and obtain the story of in the participants’ general with the research topic. This section should be brief as it is not the focus of the study.
1. Could you tell me briefly your journey of becoming a library leader in self-financing higher education institution?
Part III: Interviewee Questions
1. How do you perceive what an academic library looks like in the digital age? (Possible prompts: new demands, new practices and perspectives, new identity for libraries and library leaders, new tools, etc.)
2. In what ways do you perceive that library leadership in the digital age are different than it did in the past? (Possible prompts: new leadership perspectives, roles, and specializations, etc. Can you elaborate more?)
3. What are the similarities and differences on your roles or responsibilities in the digital age now compared to when you first became a leader in the library? (Possible prompts: Can you share with me any experience to illustrate those similarities and differences? Any more thoughts, insights, and feelings you would like to share?)
4. Could you share with me a significant leadership experience that enable/disable you and your library to stay relevant and demonstrate value to your institution? (Possible prompts: What happened? What does it mean to you?)
5. What comes to your mind when we talk about core leadership competencies? (Possible prompts: skills and abilities, personal traits, knowledge, etc.)
6. In what ways do you feel that core library leadership competencies have changed over time? In your own experience, what are the five most crucial leadership competencies for library leaders to lead successfully in the digital age? (Possible prompts: foundational competencies such as communication skills, change management and team building, etc.) 200
7. What is your experience in applying these competencies you just identified in your library? Can you describe one occasion that you apply the competencies in your library work? (Possible prompts: Can you elaborate what do you feel and think about applying such competencies in that occasion? Is there anything else you would like to share beside what you just said?)
8. What does being able to stay relevant and demonstrate value to your institution mean to you? Could you describe one occasion that you confront increasing pressures to be called upon to stay relevant and demonstrate value to align with the overall institutional mission? (Possible prompts: Can you elaborate more? What do you feel and think about what you did in that occasion?)
9. What adaptations have you made, as new demands have been placed on you? How has this adaptation been an aspect of your leadership? (Possible prompts: Can you elaborate more? What do you feel in the adaptation process?)
Ask participants if they have any questions and thank for their participation.