This book on library management presents a contrarian view with a humanities focus that reflects the author's decades of practical experience as a library manager and professor of library science.

This collected volume presents the author's thoughts on teaching management to library science students, his management philosophy, and practical advice for library managers. The columns strive to teach students and managers how to discover their strengths and weaknesses, to collect as much objective evidence as possible, to examine both traditional and non-traditional solutions, and to brutally monitor results as a learning experience. The columns delve into subconscious motivation and avoid simplistic solutions that often do not consider the complexity of human behavior. The final section includes columns on common library problems such as budgeting, unions, management perks, promotion, and search committees.

The Contrarian Manager presents the collected articles of Robert P. Holley published in the Journal of Library Administration.