Examining the costs of library leadership turnover

While all positions in academic libraries eventually turn over, the departure of top leadership positions (deans, directors, or university librarians, hereafter referred to as “deans”) can be particularly disruptive, incurring a variety of costs, including financial, political, and the opportunity costs related to delays. In this manuscript these costs are examined–drawing from existing literature and the experiences of two of the authors who served as interim library deans–and suggestions are presented about how they can be mitigated.