Becoming director: an internal candidate's view

Abstract

PurposeWithin the literature on moving into library directorships, the track of the internal candidate is largely ignored. The purpose of this paper is to address this gap through description and analysis of the experiences of a successful inside candidate for the position of law library director.Design/methodology/approachThe paper reports a first‐person account of an internal candidate. Accompanying analysis places the narrative into the larger context of relevant literature of personnel and library management.FindingsThe internal candidate is suggested to differ from external applicants in several ways. Most significantly, possessing prior knowledge of the library, she can move quickly to address pressing problems, using that initial success to set the new administration on a productive course. Additional issues include the greater psychological toll of having to distance herself from former colleagues to fulfill administrative duties.Originality/valueComparatively little consideration of the internal candidate exists in the library literature. This paper fills an identified gap in the literature on personnel and library management, and suggests relevant directions for future works.