Leading in the New Academic Library. Becky Albitz, Christine Avery, and Diane Zabel, eds. Santa Barbara, Calif.: Libraries Unlimited. 2017. 195p. Paper, $55.00 (ISBN 978-1-4408-5113-1).

Abstract

Leading in the New Academic Library, edited by Becky Albitz, Christine Avery, and Diane Zabel, provides a good entry-level primer on the state and types of leadership facing the contemporary academic library. The book is divided into two large sections. The first section is entitled “Challenges and Opportunities.” Within this section are ten chapters that deal with a variety of issues loosely related to new challenges and opportunities. Some of these opportunities include the changing nature of the library and both its physical and organizational structures. One of the more intriguing chapters in this section, written by Joseph Fennewald, is entitled “Academic Libraries Reimagined: How Facilities Are Changing to Support New Services.” This chapter is an interesting elucidation of the ways in which the academic library’s physical structure has changed over time. The author does a good job of connecting the evolution of the academic mission to the changes that have occurred within the library over this evolutionary period. The other chapters in this section follow the themes of challenge and opportunities and deal with topics including new roles for staff and librarians in the changing academic library. The section closes with two chapters that discuss the importance of collaborative work environments.