Library Leadership in Minority Serving Institutions: Investigating the Backgrounds of MSI Library Directors

This article reports the findings of a study of the educational backgrounds of library directors at Minority-Serving Institutions (MSIs) in the United States. Using a content analysis of MSI library websites and director/dean profiles, the leadership of 746 minority-serving institutions was identifi...

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Main Author: Lund Brady D.
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: De Gruyter 2025-03-01
Series:Libri
Subjects:
Online Access:https://doi.org/10.1515/libri-2024-0114
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author Lund Brady D.
author_facet Lund Brady D.
author_sort Lund Brady D.
collection DOAJ
description This article reports the findings of a study of the educational backgrounds of library directors at Minority-Serving Institutions (MSIs) in the United States. Using a content analysis of MSI library websites and director/dean profiles, the leadership of 746 minority-serving institutions was identified including whether they have earned an American Library Association-accredited Master of Library and Information Science (MLIS) degree and from which library and information science (LIS) program it was earned. The study found that 83.8 % of MSI library directors held a MLIS degree though the percentage can vary dramatically based on MSI type, with only 50 % of Tribal College and University directors possessing this degree compared to 92.6 % of Historically Black College and University library directors. The LIS programs with the greatest number of MSI library director alumni are San Jose State University, the University of North Texas, and the University of Illinois, though the top programs for educating these MSI library directors also varies based on the MSI type. The findings of this study have implications for better understanding MSI libraries and the role of LIS programs in preparing future MSI library directors.
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spelling doaj-art-d3fbdedb9cdd4a50b3dc79253641c0382025-08-20T03:01:56ZengDe GruyterLibri0024-26671865-84232025-03-01751375010.1515/libri-2024-0114Library Leadership in Minority Serving Institutions: Investigating the Backgrounds of MSI Library DirectorsLund Brady D.0University of North Texas, Denton, USAThis article reports the findings of a study of the educational backgrounds of library directors at Minority-Serving Institutions (MSIs) in the United States. Using a content analysis of MSI library websites and director/dean profiles, the leadership of 746 minority-serving institutions was identified including whether they have earned an American Library Association-accredited Master of Library and Information Science (MLIS) degree and from which library and information science (LIS) program it was earned. The study found that 83.8 % of MSI library directors held a MLIS degree though the percentage can vary dramatically based on MSI type, with only 50 % of Tribal College and University directors possessing this degree compared to 92.6 % of Historically Black College and University library directors. The LIS programs with the greatest number of MSI library director alumni are San Jose State University, the University of North Texas, and the University of Illinois, though the top programs for educating these MSI library directors also varies based on the MSI type. The findings of this study have implications for better understanding MSI libraries and the role of LIS programs in preparing future MSI library directors.https://doi.org/10.1515/libri-2024-0114minority-serving institutionslibrary directorsmaster of library and information science (mlis)lis programshistorically black colleges and universities (hbcu)
spellingShingle Lund Brady D.
Library Leadership in Minority Serving Institutions: Investigating the Backgrounds of MSI Library Directors
Libri
minority-serving institutions
library directors
master of library and information science (mlis)
lis programs
historically black colleges and universities (hbcu)
title Library Leadership in Minority Serving Institutions: Investigating the Backgrounds of MSI Library Directors
title_full Library Leadership in Minority Serving Institutions: Investigating the Backgrounds of MSI Library Directors
title_fullStr Library Leadership in Minority Serving Institutions: Investigating the Backgrounds of MSI Library Directors
title_full_unstemmed Library Leadership in Minority Serving Institutions: Investigating the Backgrounds of MSI Library Directors
title_short Library Leadership in Minority Serving Institutions: Investigating the Backgrounds of MSI Library Directors
title_sort library leadership in minority serving institutions investigating the backgrounds of msi library directors
topic minority-serving institutions
library directors
master of library and information science (mlis)
lis programs
historically black colleges and universities (hbcu)
url https://doi.org/10.1515/libri-2024-0114
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