The purpose of this study was to develop a set of competencies for public library directors, which can help them to successfully lead their libraries. The competencies mentioned in the literature, used in previous training or developed as informal lists by members of the profession are pieces of a puzzle that need to be assembled to give a clear picture of the ideas being advanced by the profession. Disparate opinions on the knowledge, skills, abilities and other less easily measured personal attributes necessary for library directors to learn need to be brought together and examined systematically. Using those ideas as a basis, the competency set developed in this study will be further refined by current public library directors in successful libraries, thus helping to ensure that the most important competencies identified from the literature of the profession are confirmed and enhanced by the people who actually carry out these tasks of leadership and management in public libraries.
The research objectives for this study were