Management Development in Iranian Academic Libraries: Performances and Obstacles

This paper aims to investigate the current status of management development in academic libraries and it identifies the deterrent factors in administering management development programs. In order to fulfill the aim of the study, 268 managers from 73 academic libraries answered the questions on their need to management development and the current performance of their organizations. They also prioritized the organizational obstacles to their development. The results revealed that, in general, almost all academic library managers express the need for managerial development. In spite of that, in more than half of libraries no management development program has been held. As the results showed, the three most important obstacles to management development include “Not recognized as a need”, “Inappropriate appraisal system” and “Lack of suitable program” respectively.