Journal of Education Research and Behavioral Sciences Vol. 3(6), pp. 163-168, August, 2014 Available online at http://www.apexjournal.org ISSN 2315-8735© 2014 Apex Journal International Full Length Research Developing Library Leaders in Ghana Edwin Ellis Badu 1 * and Perpetua Dadzie 2 1 Information Studies, University of Ghana. 2 Department of Information Studies, University of Ghana. Accepted 15 August, 2014 This study explores various leadership approaches in the context of Ghanaian university libraries. Twenty-six senior librarians and faculty from the University of Ghana were interviewed to determine their views on leadership styles, skills, training and barriers to developing library leaders. Findings revealed that leaders can be developed through short courses, workshops, seminars and formal training. The biggest barrier to library leadership development in Ghana is attributed to shortage of funds for training. The study is limited to the University of Ghana librarians and faculty of the Department of Information Studies. Therefore, generalizing to other library staff may be overstretching the conclusions. Nevertheless, there are important lessons to be learnt by all. The study recommends the need for training to be taken seriously in Ghanaian libraries. Additionally, the Department of Information Studies which is the only training school for librarians and archivists was tasked to create specific leadership programmes in the curriculum. Key words: Leaders, library, leadership, skills, Ghanaian. INTRODUCTION There is this popular view that leaders are born, not made. This is very popular among lay persons. They hold this view because the first systematic effort by psycho- logists and other researchers to understand leadership was the attempt they made to identify the personal characteristics of leaders (Stoner, Freeman, and Gilbert, 1995). They believed that leaders share certain inborn personality traits. It must however be stated that this is not the view of professional researchers who have viewed leadership in several contexts. Starting with the trait approach (Drucker, 1955), this approach assumes that leaders are born not made. Leadership consists of inherited characteristics or personality. Attention is given to the selection of leaders rather than training for leadership, then there is the functional approach or group approach (Kotter, 1990) which focuses attention not on the personality of the leader, but on the functions of *Corresponding author. Email: enanabekoe@yahoo.com leadership. Leadership is viewed in terms of how the leader’s behaviour affects and is affected by, the group of followers. Attention is given to training of leaders and to the means of improving the leaders’ performance by concentrating on the functions which will lead to effective performance by the work group. Sewell-Rutter (1999) suggests five common characteristics of functional leaders as; clarity of vision, conviction of inner self-belief, charisma, creating an ethos of trust, respect and understanding to marshal and motivate the followers, communication-leading effective communication per- sonally and care- recognition that results ultimately core from combined efforts of people. There is also leadership as a behavioural theory (Fleischman, 1974). This approach draws attention to the kinds of behaviour of people in leadership situations. It draws attention to the importance of leadership style. Leadership style is the way in which the functions of leadership are carried out, the way in which the manager typically behaves toward members of the group. Three broad classification of leadership style can be presented – Authoritarian (or autocratic) focus of power is with