Acknowledgements
Just as a leader cannot come into existence without the support of many around him or her, this book would not have seen the light of day without help from my family, colleagues, my editors and my publisher.
A big thank you to my editors, Jonathan Davis and Geraldine Lyons, for their help every step of the way in the development of this book. They were very patient as I dealt with personal life issues along the way. I would also like to thank Glyn Jones from Chandos Publishing for finding me and asking me to write a book on leadership. I would not have considered writing a book on anything this soon in my career if you hadn’t asked me.
I would like to thank my previous employer, the Saskatoon Public Library, for giving me the opportunity to take part in my very first Leadership Development Program that was the inspiration for this book. I would like to thank my current Dean, Dr Vicki Williamson at the University Library, University of Saskatchewan, for giving me the opportunity to attend the Library Leadership Development Program and for creating the intellectual atmosphere that enabled me to write this book.
Thanks also to Sara Mueller, Research Facilitator, University of Saskatchewan, for assisting me with my survey questions and research grant application; my colleague, Christine Neilson, who took the time to read my initial drafts and offered valuable advice and comments; and to my research assistant, Amol Ghorpade, for putting together all the figures and tables and for his assistance with the survey software.
I would also like to thank all survey participants, library organization leaders and staff, and many others who answered my questions along the way and contributed to different aspects of this work.
Sincere thanks are also due to Jerome Offord, the Dean of Library Services and University Archives at Lincoln University, Missouri. Despite his busy schedule, he graciously accepted my invitation to read my book and offer his thoughts in a foreword. Who better to write a foreword to this subject than Jerome who has served as the Diversity Officer and Corporate Inclusion Manager at OCLC, the Director of Diversity Initiatives with the Association of Research Libraries, and penned various articles on diversity in the library workforce?
Last but not least, I want to thank my boys: my husband, my very first mentor and best friend, for putting up with my mental and physical absences while I was working on this book and for his moral support throughout this project; and our delightful boy who is now 11 years old and still can’t believe his mom wrote a whole book. Neither can I. Keep working on your story Magizh (James Kumaran) and you will soon have a book too!