My good news of the year

My year has been very busy with many things in my professional and personal life. My best news (and what a good way to end the year) is a review of my book published by the Australian Library Journal that was just published.  I am sharing it here and woul like to cite that is from ALJ, volume 61, no.4. It was a lot of work and I am glad it is being reviewed well. Happy holidays everyone.

Leadership in Libraries: A Focus on Ethnic-Minority Librarians. By Maha Kumaran.

Chandos Information Professional Series. Witney: Chandos Publishing, 2012. 187 pp.
£47.50 soft cover ISBN 9781843346586

This is a timely, thought-provoking and informative work that addresses minority librarians and
leadership in Anglo-Saxon cultures and fills a gap in leadership literature, which is focused more
commonly on intercultural leadership advice for those from Anglo-Saxon majority cultures. While it has clear value to ethnic minority librarians, it deserves a much wider audience from all interested in leadership, library education and ethnic diversity in the workplace.

Kumaran covers available literature on the topic; the influence of culture, profession and
gender on leaders, management and leadership; leadership styles and skills; and the status quo
of ethnic minority leadership and developmental opportunities in the US, the UK, Canada and
Australia. The last-mentioned topic is supported by research, and chapters are all well referenced
throughout. Abstracts are provided for each chapter, research survey questions are given in
appendices and there is an index.

Kumaran points out that leadership programmes are tailored to the majority culture in many cases. She supports this assertion with her own research, which located no leadership programme specific to minority librarians in Canada, Australia or the UK. She recommends that all library schools introduce a leadership course with modules on intercultural leadership. Library leadership demographics should mirror society’s demographics, and Kumaran asserts that cross-cultural training is important both for minority and majority groups. Much of the content of the book indicates what such training could cover. Speaking primarily to non-Caucasian first generation immigrants in Anglo-Saxon cultures, the author explains the major cultural differences affecting leadership in Asian and African cultures and in Anglo-Saxon workplaces. Throughout her discussion of management and leadership she offers a wealth of cultural insight. She also covers significant ground in terms of explaining management and leadership theory. The final section covers leadership in school, public and academic libraries in the US, the UK, Canada and Australia. This gives context-specific information and examples of opportunities for leadership, such as joint-use public and school libraries and excellence in research skills training in academic libraries. It also shows the imperative of good leadership in situations of financial constraint.

It is difficult to fully capture the depth and contribution of this book – certainly it achieves much more than its primary purpose in addressing immigrant librarians and is highly recommended for its contribution to our understanding of an important aspect of the information profession.


Julia Leong
RMIT University