is it possible to force user other so library than default?

example - i compile neXtaw package - library 100% compatible with Xaw but
looking better and having a bit smarter widgets.

simply doing

cd /usr/X11R6/lib
rm libXaw.so.7
ln -s /usr/pkg/lib/libneXtaw.so.14.0 libXaw.so.7

works.

the question is - are there any way of doing this without using links,
which may confuse things when upgrading etc?