Abstract
Social capital in libraries has been explored in a variety of contexts, including public and academic libraries as well as as a form of intellectual capital that libraries manage alongside other types of capital. To date, however, leadership in relation to social capital in libraries has not been addressed in a sustained and practical way. This article introduces the foundational elements of social capital and explains their dynamic involvement with leadership and leaders, whose primary levers of agency in the social capital space are influence and trust. Examples from public and academic libraries are given to illustrate the conceptual domains in which leaders operate in service to broader organizational goals and to virtuous cycles of increasing social capital.
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