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Library directors are part of the infrastructure of information management, but how well do they manage their institutional knowledge for succession planning? Our study looked at strategies to ease managerial transitions between libraries, focusing on knowledge management, communities of practice, and mentorship. Our survey found that succession planning was dictated by local practice and size of library. The results of this paper inform knowledge of succession planning and reveal existing gaps between informal transfer of knowledge and structured knowledge management (KM), as well as librarians' resourcefulness. Library directors use KM strategies, mentoring, and involvement with communities of practice to foster innovation. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

We hear often of the success of managers and administrators. We can find lists of titles on how to succeed as a manager and be the best we can be. We rarely read of failure or coping with failure from the people who have failed and survived with their jobs, or not survived as so often is the case. Somewhere in between always succeeding and sometimes failing is job fatigue. What to do with ourselves and how to recover our confidence and energy when we are completely drained is a personal decision and one with many choices. The author chose learning to ride and own horses and in this column she explains how learning to “mean it” with horses allowed her to redefine success and remain an enthusiastic library administrator. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]