Educating School Library Leaders for Radical Change through Community Service

摘要

Dresang's Radical Change (1999) has far-reaching implications for pre-service preparation programs for future library and information science leaders. The challenge is to create experiences that will assist with developing these leadership qualities. In this qualitative case study, the authors share findings related to leadership development from a community service project required of members of NextGen, a cohort of eleven classroom teachers from the western, rural regions of Virginia earning a Masters degree in education with endorsement to become school librarians. Their graduate coursework was funded through an IMLS grant RE-01-13-008-13 and participants were expected to give back to their communities through a service project of their own design. Using Kouzes and Posner's (2002) Five Practices of Leadership, a series of three semi-structured interviews were conducted to determine how community service projects developed leadership. The researchers found that the projects supported each of Kouzes and Posner's five practices along with a sixth practice unique to this study: Aspire to Sustain.