The nation’s most visible and prominent leadership development program for emerging leaders, the Leadership Fellows Program (LFP) develops individuals who will lead academic health sciences libraries in the future. The 2022-2023 cohort was the 20th to go through the program. 

Being asked to host the fellows program is an honor aligned with VCU Libraries national stature among academic libraries.  "Since 2016, VCU's Health Sciences Library consistently ranks in the top 10 of the130 AAHSL member health sciences libraries," said Irene Herold, dean of libraries and university librarian.. "Other libraries in the top 10 include Harvard, Yale, Michigan, Pittsburgh, Mayo Clinic, Stanford, Johns Hopkins and Chicago. The AAHSL ranking is based on expenditures and collections. It is another indicator of the strength of VCU's Health Sciences Library."

Teresa L. Knott, associate dean and director of the VCU Health Sciences Library, chairs the committee that oversees the program and says that the program grew from an identified need. The program began in 2003, when the leadership of the organization “recognized there was a looming shortage of well-trained, forward-thinking emerging leaders ready to become the next generation of academic health sciences library directors,” according to Knott. The Fellows Program was designed to address this challenge and to ensure the vitality and influence of libraries far into the future.

Each year the competitive admissions program selects a small class of fellows for the incoming class. Fellows are matched with mentors in established leadership roles in academic health sciences libraries. To date, 107 fellows and 84 different mentors have participated in the program. Sixty-three percent (63%) of prior graduates have received permanent director appointments. Since 2006, twenty-three percent (23%) of all fellow applicants self-report as from under-represented minorities. 

“It has been exciting to watch the program evolve over the last 20 years and to see how the program shapes fellows and mentors alike to transform academic health sciences libraries,” said Knott, herself a 2005-2006 NLM/AAHSL Leadership Fellow and a 2017-2018 mentor. With this broad perspective, she has served on the AAHSL Future Leadership Committee three times and has been engaged in adapting the leadership fellows program to meet contemporary needs and to provide other leadership development opportunities for academic health sciences librarians. 

VCU Libraries hosted the educational program for the Fellows’ two-day institute in the spring and the capstone event and graduation ceremony in September 2023. Fellows divided their time between the Health Sciences Library and Cabell Library. The Capstone session was an intensive two-day learning experience featuring national thought leaders from the National Library of Medicine and other national voices in librarianship. 

Capstone sessions covered national trends and challenges in the library and health sciences environment. Presenters were high level leaders in organizations such as the Association of Research Libraries and Association of American Medical Colleges. A highlight was the opportunity for fellows to hear about the major structural changes within the NLM that will ensure operations are aligned with its new strategic plan for NLM Director Patti Brennan and her leadership team. NLM is a National Institutes of Health Center. 

In addition to learning leadership models and competencies, fellows explore how to become an effective and inclusive leader. Working with a mentor who is an academic health sciences library director, fellows observe and experience a variety of leadership styles and institutional cultures. Through this mentoring relationship, they gain an unfiltered exposure to leadership through a site visit to the mentor’s institution, as well as participate in candid conversations with the mentor and facilitated discussions among the learning community on various topics. As part of the program, fellows are introduced to and become part of a community of health sciences library leaders through interactions with mentors, prior fellows and other AAHSL library directors.

Leadership Fellows Program participants: 

• Explore leadership through a variety of lenses and program components. 
• Understand the importance of diversity, equity, and inclusivity as it applies to leadership development and to the benefit of the profession, institution and community. 
• Gain insight on leading across organizational, institutional and geographic boundaries. 
• Establish a network of colleagues to draw upon throughout their careers. 
• Consider concepts in leadership theory and develop practical skills for implementing change at organizational and professional levels.
• Develop a clear understanding of the contemporary role of academic health sciences library directors.  
• Exercise and hone strategic thinking skills. 
• Discuss self-awareness, emotional intelligence, and its impact on leadership confidence. 
• Practice interview skills for director-level positions. 
• Gather career guidance.

Participants in the program credit the experience as formative for their careers. Rose Bland,  Assistant Vice President, University of South Florida Health Libraries and Assistant Dean, Morsani College of Medicine, (Fellow, 2012–2013; Mentor, 2019–2020) summed up her experience this way: “As a fellow, the program supported me in building a strong foundation for navigating the challenges of leading in today’s education, research and clinical environments. As a mentor, the program guided me in learning how to support others in their development. I attribute my professional success, in great part, to the experiences I had. I recommend this program to anyone who wants to be an effective and transformative leader.”

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