When thinking about leadership in an information profession environment, I immediately recalled my time living in Chicago and my love for their libraries. The Chicago Public Library system is one of the largest in the world with its 81 locations, nearly one in every distinct neighborhood. There was always a convenient location to visit or study at wherever I was in the city with large collections to peruse.
Chris Brown is currently the Chief Librarian in charge of the Chicago Public Library System since 2021, and received his Master of Library and Information Science degree from San José State University in 2010. Leadership and knowledge are the two of the most important aspects to a successful organization today (Mohammadi & Boroumand, 2016). Chris uses both as a transformative leader which encourages employees to enact change through ‘Idealized Influence’, where team members follow the leader by emulating their actions; ‘Inspirational Motivation’, where the leader inspires their team; ‘Intellectual Stimulation’, where the team is inspired to think outside the box; and ‘Individualized Consideration’, where a leader uses the specific skills of each team member to enact positive change (Mohammadi & Boroumand, 2016). Chris has made the effort to lead by speaking with and visiting his librarians from all 81 branches in his first three months alone. It is through his transformative leadership style and open communications with his teams that enables Chris to effectively lead and promote the transfer of knowledge. With this leadership in place, the shift can focus to Chicago library users. To Chris, “equity means every Chicagoan in every neighborhood has the opportunity to learn and explore their potential” (Bouso, 2021). He is on his way towards his goals of redefining a library’s role in the community, prioritizing access to information, and creating safety spaces for the community and youth (Chicago Public Library).
References
Bouso, R. (2021, December 22). Meet the Chief Librarian: Chris Brown. Chicago Public Library Foundation. https://cplfoundation.org/meet-the-chief-librarian-chris-brown/
Chicago Public Library. Administrative Staff. https://www.chipublib.org/administrative-staff/
Mohammadi, A., & Boroumand, Z. (2016). Transformational leadership and knowledge sharing. International Journal of Information Science & Management, 14(2), 83–96. https://www.researchgate.net/publication/316588059_Transformational_leadership_and_knowledge_sharing