MACON—Beth Hammond, Dean of University Libraries at Mercer University, has seen the fruits of her labors in print in the newly published book Leadership, Higher Education and the Information Age: A New Era For Information Technology and Libraries. The Macon resident also was one of the speakers at a workshop based on the book sponsored by the North East Regional Computing Program in July.
She was one of several librarians, administrators and information specialists in higher education invited to participate in the book edited by Barbara I. Dewey and Carrie E. Regenstein. Leadership, Higher Education and the Information Age: A New Era For Information Technology and Libraries (Neal-Schuman Publishers Inc., 2003) may be used as a guide for librarians, technologists and campus administrators who are working to devise plans for changing information technology infrastructure at their institutions.
“It’s a thought-provoking and practical book,” said Hammond, who is also an assistant professor at Mercer. “I’m glad I was able to be a part of this project.”
The authors of this collection first came together in June of 2000 as part of the inaugural class of the Frye Leadership Institute at Emory University in Atlanta. This intensive two-week program sponsored by the Council on Library Information Resources, EDUCAUSE, Emory University and the Robert W. Woodruff Foundation, offered academic leaders an opportunity to explore a wide range of information resources issues in higher education.
Hammond said the Frye Leadership Institute inspired her to further explore information issues higher education leaders face today, and she’s grateful for the support of her family and Mercer that allowed her to attend the Institute.
Her chapter, “Rising to the Top: The Peculiar Leadership Challenges for the Successful Internal Candidate,” is based on her own experience as an internal candidate at Mercer. After being appointed as interim dean of libraries at Mercer in 1998, Hammond became an internal candidate for the permanent position and was subsequently appointed dean in 1999.
“Being an internal candidate for a job has a lot of pros and cons. I wanted to give others in similar positions an idea on what to expect when coming from the inside,” said Hammond, a 25-year Mercer employee, of how she chose her topic.
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