Servant Leadership and Its Availability in Assiut University Libraries: An Exploratory Study

This paper studies Servant Leadership (SL) as one of the modern leadership styles which aims to abandon the traditional concept, Combine leadership and service, and directing the work environment for the better. It has received interest from leaders and administrators, also it has been practiced in multiple fields and sectors, but it was not previously implemented in the field of library and information science as shown in the Arab literature. The study aimed to identify the concept of (SL), stating its origins, its positives, its negatives, and its pillars, namely: vision, trust, empowerment, connecting and communication, employee development, and ethical & humane dealing. This is done within the University of Assiut libraries, from the point of view of the librarians. The study relied mainly on the field research methodology, using the questionnaire as the primary tool for data collection. It was distributed to all librarians in the university libraries, excluding support services staff. The number of the study community sample was (332) persons who answered the questionnaire, which represents 79.80% of the total number of employees at these libraries. Through the practical section of the study, the researcher depended on the comparative analysis approach. Statistical data were processed using the SPSS. The study reached several results, including: the availability of all the Servant Leadership dimensions achieved a medium level in the libraries of Assiut University colleges and institutes, Where the connecting and communication dimension was available 68.35%, which is the highest percentage for the six dimensions.