On the Political Nature of Library Leadership

This paper examines the political nature of library leadership and acknowledges consistent problems within the management and leadership literature. The political nature of leadership is offered as an insight versus the usual imitation of business management discourse. A critical theory of library leadership is offered. The paper proceeds by examining what we mean by “leadership” and “political” and how those concepts relate before analyzing what has changed to call forth a critical interpretation and framework for library leadership. It moves on to examine insights from political theory that are instructive within contemporary contexts.