Abstract: Although single-purpose boards and commissions have been used to provide public goods and services since the colonial era, little scholarly attention has been given to the leadership characteristics and behaviors required of their members. As a result, appointing officials and those considering appointment have had little systematic guidance concerning the skills associated with successful service.
This study addresses this problem by exploring the skill and knowledge preferences of board members at three exemplary public libraries and the effect of contentious censorship controversies on these preferences.
Analysis of the board members' assessments of twenty-three commonly recognized leadership characteristics and behaviors reveals a dramatic increase in the numbers highly valued by the board members during controversies and statistically significant changes in their collective value.
These findings suggest that assumptions concerning the experience and training that lead to effective public library board performance should be rethought or, at least, receive further consideration.
The article is divided into the following sections and subsections:
- Introduction
- Research problem
- Research objectives
- Literature review
- Method
- Theoretical perspective
- Hypotheses
- Data collection
- Analysis
- Results
- Important characteristics and behaviors during the controversies
- Changes in the mix of characteristics by board members
- Limitations
- Discussion
- Conclusions
- Appendix
From Method/Theoretical perspective. Three constructs or archetypical public administration figures
- The high-powered analyst
- well-developed business knowledge and professional skills
- represents the "science of administration"
- knowledge and skills are operationalized through business-related tasks and activities
- analysis
- planning
- budgeting
- The philosopher-king
- personifies the "art" of public administration
- gravitates toward process and relationship-oriented tasks and behaviors
- attentive to others
- possessive the vision, nerve, and eloquence...to mobilize community groups
- promotes citizen participation
- nurtures external relationships
- Solomon (dog-catcher)
- captures personal traits related to good "character"
- integrity
- vision
- empathy
The three libraries chosen for this study (and the controversy)
- Medina County District Library, Ohio. (library's resistance to placing filters on computers; community concern over access to pornography)
- Metropolitan Library System of Oklahoma County. (Child pornography allegations regarding the movie The Tin Drum)
- Cumberland County Public Library, North Carolina. (Suitable of certain books for "nonadult readers", which blossomed into charges "that library staff were doing little or nothing to keep children from viewing explicit sexual materials in the library".)
Yes, current and future public library board members, if it's a controversial and contentious issue that you'll be dealing with, it's likely to swirl around the general topic of sex.
Reasons the above 3 libraries were chosen
- Prolonged debate of sufficient significance to capture regional and national attention
- Size of libraries' population service area, i.e., not too big or not too small)
- Libraries' reputation
- Length of tenure of directors
Behaviors and characteristics associated with each of the 3 constructs
High-powered analyst
High-powered analyst
High-powered analyst
- Business experience
- Computer knowledge
- Legal expertise
- Library knowledge (e.g., operations, goals and objectives)
- Contracting experience
Philosopher-king
- Masterful communication
- Familiarity and involvement with community and minority group concerns
- Poise under pressure
- Propensity to come forward
- Willingness to bargain
- Organizational risk taking
- Ability to identify and mobilize opinion leaders
- Understanding of social and ethical issues
Solomon (dog-catcher)
- Integrity
- Vision
- Dedication to helping others
- Humor
- Flexibility
- Energy
- Expressiveness
- Persistence
- Empathy
- Personal risk taking
Table 1. Number of respondents who attributed "great importance" to each behavior or characteristic under typical circumstance (found on page 298 of article)
Color coding (arbitrary)
- high (10-15 responses)
- medium (6-9)
- low (1-5)
High-powered analyst
- Business experience (9)
- Computer knowledge (4)
- Legal expertise (1)
- Library knowledge (9)
- Contracting experience (3)
Philosopher-king
- Masterful communication (10)
- Familiarity with community concerns (9)
- Poise under pressure (9)
- Propensity to come forward (7)
- Willingness to bargain (6)
- Organizational risk taking (4)
- Ability to identify and mobilize opinion leaders (3)
- Understanding of social and ethical issues (6)
Solomon (dog-catcher)
- Integrity (15)
- Vision (12)
- Dedication to helping others (10)
- Humor (9)
- Flexibility (9)
- Energy (6)
- Expressiveness (5)
- Persistence (5)
- Empathy (5)
- Personal risk taking (3)
Table 2. Number of respondents who attributed "great importance" to each behavior or characteristic during controversies (found on page 299 of article)
Color coding (arbitrary)
- high (15-17 responses)
- medium (11-14)
- low (2-10)
High-powered analyst
- Business experience (10)
- Computer knowledge
- Legal expertise (8)
- Library knowledge (15)
- Contracting experience (2)
Philosopher-king
- Masterful communication (16)
- Familiarity with community concerns (13)
- Poise under pressure (16)
- Propensity to come forward (16)
- Willingness to bargain (3)
- Organizational risk taking (11)
- Ability to identify and mobilize opinion leaders (17)
- Understanding of social and ethical issues (15)
Solomon (dog-catcher)
- Integrity (17)
- Vision (15)
- Dedication to helping others (12)
- Humor (15)
- Flexibility (12)
- Energy (13)
- Expressiveness (10)
- Persistence (8)
- Empathy (7)
- Personal risk taking (11)
Under typical circumstances, board members involved in this study place the highest value on Solomonic behaviors and characteristics. But when the shit hits the fan, it's time to be more of a philosopher-king.
I would suggest -- and I'm going to come back to this topic -- that the most highly valued behaviors and characteristics should be
- Ability to identify and mobilize opinion leaders
- 3 "great importance" responses under typical circumstanced
- 17 "great importance" responses during a controversy
- Propensity to come forward
- 7 "great importance" responses under typical circumstanced
- 16 "great importance" responses during a controversy
In other words, relationship building and library advocacy should be ongoing activities in which library board members share a leadership role, not just something that has to be done when there's trouble a'brewin'.
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