Call for Chapters for LITA Guide: Leadership, Entrepreneurship & Technology

Proposals for chapters are being accepted for a new LITA Guide to be published in the coming year by Rowman & Littlefield around the topics of  leadership, entrepreneurship, and technology, foundational aspects of the successful 21st-century librarian’s career. Operating in a time of disruptive change and innovation, libraries require skilled, agile, and digitally-fluent leadership at all organizational levels in order to survive and thrive. The editors are seeking critical, reflective essays that unite theory, practice, and case studies to address the overarching themes – librarian as leader, librarian as entrepreneur, and/or librarian as technologist.

A non-exclusive list of topics that may be addressed includes:

Librarian as Entrepreneur –

• Charting your Course as a Librarian
• Experimenting at the Library      
• Coworking and Collaboration in / outside of the Library
• Building “the Library of Things”

Librarian as Leader –

• Leading Change in Disruptive Times
• Taking Risks as a Library Leader
• Rising up on the Library Career Ladder
• Leading in the Library of the Future

Librarian as Technologist --

• Embracing technology in librarianship
• Building technological literacy at the library         
• Designing users’ experience of the library
• Future-proofing your career in librarianship

Please send a title and approximately 200-word (flexible) abstract for a 3,500-3,750-word essay, as well as a 75-90 word author bio to letlibrarybook@gmail.com by April 15th. You will be notified of acceptance and given further details about the project by May 2nd.

The timeline for work follows:

Deadline for proposals: April 15 (acceptance by May 2)

First drafts due: June 1st

Review Results to Chapter Authors: July 25th

Final Drafts Due: August 22nd

Your editors:

Carl Antonucci, Ph.D., Director of Library Services, Central Connecticut State University, has been employed in library services in higher education since 1993.  Sharon Clapp, Digital Resources Librarian, Central Connecticut State University, has been a systems librarian, web developer, open source hacker, and user experience advocate working in libraries since 1998. They recently co-authored a chapter entitled “The University Library’s Evolution – Book Warehouse or Platform for Student Research and Learning: Planning for the Future at the Elihu Burritt Library, Central Connecticut State University” for Leading the 21st Century Academic Library (Rowman & Littlefield: 2015).