Developing Managerial Competence for Library Automation

While there exists a small and perhaps growing cadre of mature library managers skilled in automation, not enough new MLS holders are being educated to support and extend the potential of automation within libraries. The result in too many libraries is the hiring of a non‐librarian to cope with the myriad technical details involved with setting up equipment and interacting with academic and administrative computing, county governments, and business office operations, with the hope that in time this person somehow “will become one of us.” However, something will be lost in future interactions if the librarian‐managers themselves do not know enough to participate knowledgeably in such interactions. Developing new educational initiatives is an important challenge facing those who wish to improve our managerial competence in the automation area.