Most librarians enter the field intending to focus on a particular specialty, but eventually need to take on certain supervisory or managerial responsibilities in order to move forward. In The Accidental Library Manager, author Rachel Singer Gordon provides support and background for new managers, aspiring managers, and those who find themselves in unexpected management roles. Gordon fills in the gaps left by brief and overly theoretical library school coursework, showing library managers how to be more effective in their positions and how to think about their work in terms of the goals of their larger institutions. Included are insights from working library managers at different levels and in various types of libraries, addressing a wide range of management issues and situations. Not to be missed: comments from library staff about the qualities they appreciate-and the styles and attitudes they find counterproductive-in their own bosses. This readable and reassuring guide is a must for any librarian who wishes to succeed in a management position.

Includes index.

Becoming a Library Manager -- Library Skills and Managerial Challenges -- Sidebar: Rachel's Laws of Library Management -- Making That Transition -- What a Library Manager Does -- Women in Management -- Nonlibrarians as Library Managers -- Paraprofessional Managers -- Volunteer Managers -- Nonlibrarians (New to Libraries) -- Managing Yourself -- Charting a Management Path -- Sidebar: Some Suggested Sources for Reading on Management Issues -- Levels of Management -- Directors -- Sidebar: Interview with Meredith Goins -- Assistant Directors -- Department Heads -- Supervisors -- Co-Managers -- Sidebar: Interview with Valerie Viers -- One Person Library (OPL) Managers -- Sidebar: Interview with Judith Siess -- Project Managers -- Other Managers -- Differing Institutions -- Managing People: Personnel Issues -- Hiring -- Interviewing -- Coordinating and Scheduling -- Reviewing -- Promoting -- Reprimanding ... and Firing -- Professional Development -- Core Competencies -- Training -- Mentoring -- Managing People: Managing Different Groups -- Diversity Issues -- Managing Across Generations -- Managing Diversity -- Managing Different Groups -- Managing Professionals -- Managing Paraprofessionals -- Managing Students, Volunteers, Temps, Contractors and Interns -- Managing Mixed Groups -- Managing Customers -- Managing People: Communication and Leadership -- Communication -- Technology -- Meetings -- Conflict Resolution -- Building Relationships -- Leadership -- Delegation -- Motivation -- Goal Setting -- Coaching.