As academic libraries face ongoing retirements and organizational restructuring, early career librarians are increasingly assuming supervisory or managerial responsibilities earlier in their careers. Yet questions remain about how prepared they feel for these roles and what kind of support contributes most to their confidence and effectiveness. This presentation reports the results of a national survey conducted in 2024 exploring early career academic librarians’ perceptions of their readiness for management. The survey gathered quantitative and qualitative data from over 70 respondents with fewer than ten years of professional experience across a range of academic library settings. Findings suggest that while many early career librarians find themselves in management positions, fewer feel adequately equipped to take them on.

This presentation will share key data themes on how library managers did and did not feel prepared, highlight respondent narratives, and discuss possible implications for library administrators, professional associations, and LIS programs. There will also be opportunities for participants to discuss their own management situations and brainstorm how to best support new incoming managers. Attendees will gain insight into how institutions can better support leadership development for early career professionals and foster more intentional management onboarding within academic libraries.

Presenters:

Cathy Austin

Director for Collection Management & Strategy

Mississippi State University

Cathy Austin is the Director for Collection Management & Strategy at Mississippi State University. She graduated with her MSIS from the University of Tennessee Knoxville in 2019.

Lauren Geiger

Director of Digital Archives

Mississippi State University

Lauren Geiger is the Director of Digital Archives at Mississippi State University. She graduated with her MLS from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill in 2019.

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