DLS colleagues publish chapter in library leadership book

Former Department of Library Services (DLS) director, Robert Moropa and the current DLS director, Lindiwe Soyizwapi, and their colleagues, Marguerite Nel and Isak van der Walt, have collaborated on a chapter that has been published in a highly regarded book on library leadership. The book, Bold Minds: Library Leadership in a Time of Disruption, brings together the views of international library leaders on how librarians and libraries can be a driving force in a time of disruptive economic, technological and cultural change.

The chapter written by the DLS colleagues is titled Repositioning The Academic Library To Drive Innovation And Agility and aimed to demonstrate how the ‘Blue Ocean Strategy’ and an adaptive leadership approach has assisted in identifying nine strategic focus areas to ensure a rapid response to emergent opportunities and changing user needs. The authors argued that organisations should strive to avoid competition in existing industries (red oceans) and focus rather on innovation (blue oceans). Drawing on evidence from their own experiences, they have proved that this approach offers a framework that will enable an entire organisation to make a strategic move in the way of value innovation.

A copy of the book, which is edited by Margaret Weaver and Leo Appleton and published by Facet Publishing, will soon be available in our own collection. Please visit the publisher’s website for more information on this book.