Thursday, July 23, 2026

A Talk About Leadership: Keith Doms in 1986

I returned to library work on July 1st, and one of my goals for the month has been to reconnect with each of the Directors, Department Heads, Supervisors, and Coordinators that I intersect with as part of my multi-hatted role at Penn State. I can't remember a time when I've met with all of them in the same month, and back-to-back discussions about each person's priorities and goals encouraged me to think about different styles of leadership. All of the people I work with have different backgrounds and personalities, and while I don't agree with all their decisions, I can say that they each bring different strengths that I've learned from. Whether they are analytical or creative, bean-counting or easy-going, commanding or supportive, my 30 years in libraries have presented me with situations where some of those types can be helpful. 

Because of all the meetings I've been having, I was primed to appreciate an article I recently found in the February 1987 issue of the Pennsylvania Library Association's Bulletin, "An Interview with Keith Doms: a Lifetime of Public Library Service." It's illustrated with a photo of Doms at the 1986 annual conference, lecturing about the qualities of the "perfect" library director. His poster lists the most-desired qualities from A (accountability) to Z (zealous). 

Keith Doms explaining the qualities of a "perfect" library director
at PaLA's annual conference, November 9, 1986.
From the PaLA Bulletin, January/February 1987. 

If any Pennsylvania librarian could speak from experience about leading other people, it'd be hard to pick someone with more authority. A quick search of the literature uncovers a stellar career during a dynamic era in library history. Shortly after World War II, Doms worked for the District of Columbia Public Library and he enjoyed it so much that he went to library school. He graduated with a BLS from the University of Wisconsin (1947), headed 2 smaller libraries, then moved back east to work under Ralph Munn, a PaLA and ALA leader who was nationally known as an administrator, author, and educator. Doms became Assistant Director of the Carnegie Library of  Pittsburgh (1956), and when Munn retired, he became CLP's Director (1964). During Doms's tenure, the library system added 3 new branches and developed a mobile outreach service to reach low-income neighborhoods. Aligning with CLP's designation as a state-funded library center, Doms developed a sci-tech information service in collaboration with Penn State (PennTap), supported enhanced services to blind customers, and developed plans for a regional film center. He also spearheaded a consortium called the Pittsburgh Regional Library Center, which ultimately merged into PALINET (now Lyrasis). Doms filled high-level voluntary positions as well: while in western PA, he became involved in PaLA and rose to become its President (1960/1961). He also served on the Governor's Advisory Council on Library Development, was President of Allegheny County United Mental Health Services, and served on the boards of directors for WQED-WQEX (the local PBS TV and radio stations) and the Historical Society of Western Pennsylvania. 

Keith Doms, ca. 1960, when he was working at the Carnegie Library of Pittsburgh
and serving as PaLA President. Photo by Fabian Bachrach.
Image courtesy of the State Library of Pennsylvania,
from the PaLA Archives Past Presidents Photograph Collection

At the end of the 1960s, when Emerson Greenway retired from the Free Library of Philadelphia, FLP's board searched nationwide for "the best librarian in America" and they picked Doms over more than 20 other candidates (quote from Current Biography, below). When Doms arrived in Philadelphia, FLP had 42 branches, more than 1,000 employees, and more than 2 million volumes. Like many urban libraries of the 1970s, FLP faced severe budget problems; yet, despite austere times, Doms found the resources to introduce cutting-edge information technologies to the city -- an achievement he was especially proud of. He also made national headlines for defending FLP and the library profession against censorship, particularly concerning Do It!: Scenarios of the Revolution by political activist Jerry Rubin. By this point in his career, Doms was active in the American Library Association as well, and he ultimately became its President (1971/1972). Lesser-known is the fact that he was also a consultant and author: I've found library development surveys that he performed in Altoona, Beaver County, Cameron County, Kittanning, and various communities in the Mon Valley, as well as a weeklong seminar he provided for librarians in Pakistan! According to an interview, he completed more than 60 library studies. He also co-edited a book on library planning. 

Plenty more can be said about Doms, and I intend to do so after I conduct research at CLP and FLP. But the A-Z list of qualities he recommended for the "perfect" director is thought-provoking enough on its own. Grouping similar traits together, intelligence is clearly important: bookish, gifted, judgment, knowledge, quotability, wise. Integrity in various forms is also apparent: accountability, honesty, responsibility, trustworthy, virtuous. The energy that so many people mentioned when they spoke of Doms is prominent in the list: enthusiastic, initiative, ubiquitous, zealous. Several words relate to people skills, too, including cooperative, democratic, loyalty, sensitive. Finally, a few pertain to organization skills: managerial, orchestrative, planner.

Intelligence.

Integrity.

Energy.

People skills.

Organization. 

Thinking back to the meetings I've been having with my supervisors, it is interesting to note that Doms's list is similar to Penn State's Values of Integrity, Respect, Responsibility, Discovery, Excellence, and Community. That said, I was challenged to find parallels to "Respect" within his advice. Maybe as a member of the "greatest generation," as a white male, and as an accomplished administrator, he was so used to receiving respect that he didn't enter his mind as something that needed to be said. But as I think of my own era, the diversity of today's library workplace, our ongoing challenge to ensure that everyone's voice is valued, and how most employees are called to show initiative and teamwork within the parameters of their jobs, I'd say that Respect is an important quality for a leader to model.

This isn't all it takes, of course. Doms himself rounded things out with fundraising, nimble, and yeoman-like. These points emphasize administrators' responsibility for capacity-building and for getting their hands dirty -- very apropos for cash-strapped libraries of any era. Given the culturally-contentious and financially difficult environments that Doms weathered, though, I was surprised he didn't emphasize practicality and courage more. In my experience, the most stressful positions I've had were ones where I was expected to make bricks without straw, and I survived them by setting priorities, making tough choices, and trimming some sails. But maybe Doms approached these situations with a different mindset than an "in the weeds" person like me would. 

Setting that particular difference aside, there are a few other qualities I would recommend when I think back to the best supervisors I've ever had. The leaders I remember most fondly are the ones who taught me things, whether about libraries or about life. So, while I agree with the importance of enthusiasm, management skills, and trustworthiness, I'd swap one of them out and place "educator," "mentor," or "teacher" on the list. The teams I worked on were especially successful when we were led by managers who were good at matching people's talents to the tasks that helped them shine -- especially when the institution could afford little investment or time for folks to get up to speed. When good librarians fail, it's often because they're miscast. I've also appreciated bosses who were kind and had a sense of humor -- you need that to put up with me! 

I'm not interested in combing the management literature to see how Doms's ABCs align with the best practices of his time or ours. But thinking about what he wrote and comparing it to my personal experiences, I feel he conveyed some timeless ideas. His advice is an inspiring reminder of the best self I'd like to bring to work each day. As I move forward with my research, I'm excited to learn more about Keith Doms and other Pennsylvania library leaders.

For more about Keith Doms:

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