Interview with the Author:
Dr. Steve Albrecht on HR Skills for Library Leaders

Dr. Steve Albrecht is the author of The Library Leader’s Guide to Human Resources: Keeping it Real, Legal, and Ethical. I enjoyed the opportunity to connect with him about this new book. Our discussion is below. 

Please introduce yourself to our readers.

I am Dr. Steve Albrecht, a nationally known library service, safety, and security consultant. I have consulted and trained library leaders and staff members since 2000. I have written 27 books on leadership, service, security, and criminal justice topics. I started working for libraries in California, building on my earlier efforts in workplace violence prevention and keeping staff and facilities safe.  

In 1994, I co-wrote one of the first business books on workplace violence and my focus on libraries developed when I was asked to help their staffs with patron behavioral issues. I am board certified in human resources, security, employee coaching, and threat assessment. I provide in-person programs, webinars, blogs, podcasts, and training resources for Library 2.0, a free membership organization for library professionals.  

Briefly summarize The Library Leader’s Guide to Human Resources.

This book came to life based on my relationship with Rowman and Littlefield, who published my 2023 book, The Safe Library. We were talking about my next title for them and I said I wanted to write a book for library leaders who had to perform human resources functions for their libraries. HR can be a complex subject, with lots of legal issues and operational tasks, all designed to help leaders choose the right people for their libraries and then work diligently to create an environment where they feel supported, challenged, and praised.   

Why did you decide to write this book?

I wanted to provide a resource for library leaders, who may have a limited background in HR, to be able to operate their libraries successfully, legally, and fairly. I have a bit of a lighter touch when I write, so I believe I can cover complex issues in a way that is useful and even entertaining, while making the various HR tasks easier to do.

In the Introduction, I define my audience for this book as library leaders who are either a one-person HR shop, or who manage an HR professional who supports their goals, or who manage an HR department. The more HR resources you have in your library—HR directors or managers, HR analysts and support staff— the easier it is for you to reach your hiring, staffing, training, and promotion goals. I also wrote the book for the library leader who has to do all those things alone. 

The book covers everything from onboarding to employees leaving the library. Do you feel there is one part of the employee lifecycle that is more challenging for library leaders? If so, why?

I am not a fan of the “digitized” way we hire people, in all professions, these days. I feel like when we ask applicants to scan in their resumes or applications and then we use AI tools or other filtering software to look only for keywords, it screens out and eliminates people who do not know all those tricks.

I have said in this book that we should not discount the value of people working in the HR function in the library reading resumes and applications and making decisions to bring in people for interviews, instead of just having machines do it. I also advocate for posting the salary and benefits in the job postings, so that applicants do not waste their time applying for jobs that do not meet their requirements.    

I was particularly interested in reading that the book includes how to keep “all employees motivated and connected, using wellness, stress management, and programs to prevent burnout or ‘quiet quitting.'” Why did you include this in the book?

At Library 2.0, I work with several colleagues who focus on employee burnout, stress management, and employee wellness. Librarians in all types of libraries deal with many associated issues. In public libraries today, these may relate to book banning, content protests, and a general decline in civil behavior from unruly, rude, or frustrated patrons. Librarians in special libraries also face daily stressors that affect employee retention, morale, and the health of the work culture.

It feels like to me that the process of formally onboarding new library employees and then working together to keep the work culture healthy is the biggest HR challenge. We often do not pay library professionals enough for the work they do (and the degrees, experience, and certifications they have earned), and so the burnout factor is real. I wanted library leaders to see the HR function as a way to hire the right people for this challenging work and then create an environment where they want to stay. 

Would you recommend this book for those who are interested in becoming library leaders, or is it primarily for current library leaders?

I often teach training programs or do webinars where I teach leadership-related subjects and I say to the audience, “This subject is for you if you are a library leader or you want to be one someday.” What I discuss in this book is about leading and serving library staff members at every level, starting with the PIC (Person In Charge) for a work shift, on up to the director of the library.

I devote an entire chapter to the value of coaching library employees, at every level, to help them promote or improve their work knowledge, and to correct performance or behavior problems. I do nearly as much training and consulting work for small and rural library districts as I do for large ones, and I designed my book to give readers the tools to be successful with all major HR functions, no matter the staff size.   

Is there anything else you would like to share?

I just signed the contract with Rowman and Littlefield to write the next “library leaders” book. The new one makes logical sense to me as the next useful subject, The Library Leader’s Guide to Coaching: Building a Performance Culture One Meeting at a Time. It will be out in the spring of 2026.