Effective Leadership in Academic Health Sciences Libraries: A Qualitative Phenomenological Study

The purpose of this study was to better understand how academic health sciences library directors construct their understanding of effective leadership. After transcribing and performing thematic analysis on the interviews of eight academic health sciences library directors, five main themes emerged from the data: understanding leadership, building a vision, relationships are key, advocating and credibility, and measuring success. The findings suggest there are internal and external leadership responsibilities for library directors, both of which are important, however, the internal responsibilities are easier to delegate. Also, academic health sciences library directors need better evaluation methods for determining their effectiveness as leaders.