As the speed of change in society seems to be constantly increasing, public libraries need to keep pace with change to serve their communities as effectively as possible. New technologies, new services, new demands all combine to make the job of a library director more complicated than it was a generation, or even five or ten years, ago. To continue to not only keep pace with the speed of change in technologies and services, but also to get out ahead of change and ensure that public libraries continue to be valued in their communities, public libraries need good manager/leaders. Public libraries in too many communities are in danger of losing staff, resources and hours, or of closing entirely. They need capable and competent directors, if they are to meet the current challenges and to sustain them into the future. But, what makes a good director? How does a librarian know she has the competencies needed to be an effective manager/leader? How does the library board or community know what to look for in a director? What should the library profession look for in their rising managers? There are not clear answers to these questions right now. A review of library literature in this study reveals over 300 competencies that have been variously identified as
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necessary for library directors. Without a consensus on which of these competencies are the most crucial, it will be impossible for current managers to develop opportunities for upcoming leaders through which they can learn the skills and qualities they need to be effective. The development of a set of research-informed competencies will give answers to these questions and provide a foundation for developing other research-informed ideas to assist manager/leaders in libraries. This study will develop a set of research-informed competencies for public library directors