The Lilead Survey: A National Study of District-Level Library Supervisors: The Position, Office, and Characteristics of the Supervisor

The school district library supervisor occupies a pivotal position in library and information services programs that support and enhance the instructional efforts of a school district: providing leadership; advocating for the programs; supporting, advising, and providing professional development to building-level librarians; and representing school library programs to stakeholders in the school system and the community at large. With funding from the Institute of Museum and Library Services, the Lilead Project was founded at the University of Maryland in 2011 to “study, support, and build community among school district library supervisors” (Lilead Project n.d.). To gain a better understanding of supervisors—who they are, the duties they perform, and the challenges they face—and to establish baseline data upon which further research can be built, in 2012 the project team conducted a survey of supervisors nationwide: the Lilead Survey. In this paper, which is the first of two planned reports on the results of the survey, we present findings related to the position and office of the supervisor; demographic information, qualifications, and career paths of the incumbents of the position; and changes in policies, curriculum, and resources that impact the supervisor’s responsibilities for library services. Survey findings related to responsibilities and tasks assigned to the position, professional development needs of supervisors and staff, and challenges and needs that supervisors face will be presented in the second report.