Who Are We Building the Future of Library Work For?

Conversations about the future of library work often focus on technology, new tools, and evolving job descriptions, missing a more foundational question: Who is the future of library work being built for? To explore this question, Joel Thornton reached out to Aisha Johnson, associate dean for academic affairs and outreach at the Georgia Institute of Technology Library. Their conversation, conducted in writing and edited, touched on sustainable leadership, representation, business acumen, and the emotional realities of senior leadership. Aisha challenges the profession to advance systems and structures that center people, culture, and leadership capacity as essential components for reimagining the future of library work.

What is sustainable leadership, and why is it so important in today’s library environment?

Sustainable leadership is about playing the long game of success. Building organizations where people are doing meaningful work and still have the capacity to grow and lead. It’s a pushback against traditional leadership models that prioritize short-term wins at the expense of people. Instead, it asks what individuals, teams, and systems need to authentically thrive. In the library and information science (LIS) field, this feels especially urgent given rapid change, increasing demands, and embedded emotional labor.

At its core, sustainable leadership is both strategic and people centered. It calls for intentional decisions that take into account workload equity, succession planning, and the creation of development pathways for leadership at all levels. It also requires emotional intelligence—leaders who listen closely, notice what goes unsaid, and respond with empathy and clarity. Burnout, turnover, and disengagement are not personal failings, but signal that something in the system needs to shift. Sustainable leaders pay attention to those signals and design environments rooted in communication, trust, and transparent governance.

If sustainable leadership is concerned with how work is defined, valued, and experienced, how does representation come into play?

Representation changes workplaces. It affects whose ideas are heard and valued, whose leadership is trusted, and how organizational priorities are achieved with people. It also shapes how work is experienced on a daily basis. For individuals from historically marginalized backgrounds, representation can help reduce isolation and increase a sense of belonging. But only when it is accompanied by structural inclusion, which the leadership must embed. This is something LIS has to be more intentional in expressing—the need for representation and how it plays into leadership success.

Expanding representation and inclusion disrupts assumptions and creates space for broader ways of learning, teaching, leading, and engaging all communities. Work related to community engagement, mentoring, and cultural competency is often undervalued in traditional metrics. But with representation, this work can become more visible and recognized as essential to sustainable leadership and organizational success, challenging libraries to reconsider their own evaluation systems, approaches to professional development, and promotion criteria as well as definitions of leadership.

But I do not want people thinking simple “checkmark” representation is a fix all. It takes intentional efforts from leadership to examine power dynamics, redistribute influence, and redesign organizational systems. So again, the goal is not only to diversify the workforce, but to create conditions where that representation has a meaningful impact on the leadership.

The library leadership work you’ve described is complex and emotionally demanding. Do aspiring leaders often underestimate what it takes to lead a library organization?

Yes, they do. But I think you do not know until you are in it, or you are growing as a leader in responsibility. Many enter leadership roles with a commitment to service, but unprepared for the business of academia. And I mean the constant advocacy, negotiation, ambiguity, and emotional labor required to lead effectively.

Library leaders have to become comfortable existing at the intersection of competing priorities including institutional strategy, employee well-being, financial constraints, and evolving user needs. They should expect to use emotional resilience, self-awareness, and curiosity on a daily basis to make decisions. Even when there is no clear right answer.

Leadership calls for transparency and consistency. Every action, decision, and communication gets interpreted as a signal of organizational values. So, leaders must be intentional and consistent, even under pressure. Leaders often underestimate the impact of being seen, despite the weight of such responsibility. And let’s not forget the often-overlooked challenge of institutional politics. Navigating the business of librarianship calls for continuing education on power structures and advocating strategically for people.

Aspiring leaders sometimes underestimate the weight of having all the answers or being seen as the person who should have them. That can be isolating. Leadership is self-sacrificing, so a solid support group is critical to not burning out or falling to perfection.

LIS education generally emphasizes the development of technical competence. Could we be doing more, formally, to prepare future library leaders for some of these other aspects of their work?

Technical competencies matter. But the business of librarianship includes strategic thinking, financial management, organizational development, and change leadership.

Skill gaps become most visible when leaders are required to make high-stakes decisions involving budgets, staffing structures, or institutional alignment. Without a strong foundation in these areas, leaders struggle to translate vision into actionable strategy or to advocate effectively within broader institutional contexts. Similarly, when leaders have limited experience with people management, they can struggle with conflict resolution, performance, and team development.

Another major gap is understanding organizational culture and systems. Leaders have to be able to assess how policies, practices, and social customs shape power dynamics and outcomes. Otherwise, their efforts to address issues like equity and inclusion can remain superficial.

To address these gaps, we have to think beyond formal education. Leadership development should include intentional mentorship, fellowships, stretch assignments, and opportunities to engage in cross-functional work. Institutions should also invest in leadership development programs that focus on business acumen, emotional intelligence, and strategic decision-making.

Say more about emotional intelligence. Why is it foundational to sustainable leadership?

Emotional intelligence directly shapes how leaders understand themselves, engage with others, and navigate complex organizations. At its core, it is about self-awareness and regulation, empathy, and the ability to build and maintain relationships, which are critical in environments where collaboration and trust are essential.

Leaders with strong emotional intelligence are better equipped to recognize the impact of their decisions and behaviors on others. They can better navigate conflict constructively and respond with intention rather than reactivity. An emotionally intelligent leader can create environments where staff feel seen, valued, and heard, improving engagement, retention, and the overall health of the organization.

On the flip side, I have seen organizations where leaders who lack these skills create climates of oppression, fear, disengagement, mistrust, etc. Communication becomes inconsistent or unclear, feedback is avoided or mishandled, and staff morale tanks. This leads to embarrassing turnover, lack of productivity, and loss of partnerships.

The beauty of emotional intelligence is that it can be taught and developed through reflection, feedback, and intentional practice. But this requires leaders to be willing to engage in ongoing self-examination and growth.

You’ve talked about the importance of business acumen. What do today’s library leaders need to know about the business of librarianship?

Libraries are not revenue producing. They are beautifully essential but a cost to any system. Today’s library leaders must understand financial management, resource allocation, strategic planning, and organizational sustainability. They have to read and interpret budgets, advocate for funding, assess return on investment, and align library priorities with broader institutional goals. Not to mention a leader’s ability to reduce the overall cost of library service without diminishing the quality. This could come with advocating for a higher budget on the premise of information as commodity. Emphasis on not diminishing the quality of service.

Business acumen also requires understanding external factors such as higher education trends, funding models, and technological developments. Leaders must be able to anticipate changes and position their organizations strategically, rather than responding reactively.

So, leadership preparation should intentionally incorporate business concepts and models. This could happen through formal training and mentoring in budgeting and finance, as well as experiential learning opportunities like managing projects with financial components or participating in institutional planning processes.

People will not want to hear this, but if you are to go for another graduate degree, let it be the MBA. We need more LIS professionals who can do business and not just operate libraries under a warm blanket.

And we need to get more intentional about creating pathways to develop this expertise internally by involving emerging leaders in budget exercises, discussions, strategic initiatives, and cross-departmental collaborations. Mentorship from experienced leaders who can demystify these processes is equally important, especially early on in your career.

I need practitioners to understand that developing business acumen is not a departure from the values of librarianship, but an extension of them. It’s about ensuring that libraries are not only mission-driven, but also strategically positioned to grow and sustain the mission in complex environments.

If the future of library work in these complex environments will depend on sustainable leadership, what should leaders start doing differently today?

Move away from models that prioritize output over well-being and toward approaches that recognize people as the foundation of organizational success. That’s it.

Leaders should design organizational cultures that support communication, equity, transparency, and shared accountability, which involves rethinking the distribution of work, decision-making, and performance measurement. It also requires investing in leadership development at all levels, as opposed to concentrating on a small group of senior roles.

Another critical shift is the need to center adaptability. The future of library work will continue to evolve, be challenged, and leaders must create environments where experimentation and learning are encouraged. This includes being open to redefining roles, embracing new forms of collaboration, and engaging more deeply and innovatively with the communities served.

Of course, designing the future also requires relentless advocacy and courage. Leaders must be willing to challenge unhealthy embedded practices and advocate for change, even when it is uncomfortable. Because leadership can be uncomfortable, at least until you reach flow state. But that is the other side of the trench. This is particularly true when addressing systemic inequities.

All in all, the work of shaping the future is about creating the conditions that will allow people and organizations to thrive.