Value of Academic Libraries: Defining Value

Developed for ACRL by OCLC Research, this valuable resource investigates how libraries can increase student learning and success and effectively communicate their value to higher education stakeholders. The full report is freely available for download on the ACRL website.

Karen Brown with contributions by Kara J. Malenfant, “Academic Library Impact on Student Learning and Success: Findings from Assessment in Action Team Projects,”ACRL, April 2017

The summits convened institutional teams of senior librarians, chief academic administrators and institutional researchers from 22 postsecondary institutions as well as fifteen representatives from higher education organizations, associations and accreditation bodies.

Long, Matthew P., and Roger C. Schonfeld. New York: Ithaka S+R, 2010.

Dublin, OH: OCLC, 2010.

Michalko, James, Constance Malpas and Arnold Arcolio. Report produced by OCLC Research, 2010.

Researched by Megan Oakleaf. Chicago: Association of College and Research Libraries, 2010.

The statement that follows was prepared by the Joint Committee on College Library Problems, a national committee representing the Association of College and Research Libraries, the Association of American Colleges (now the Association of American Colleges and Universities), and the American Association of University Professors. The statement was endorsed by the board and annual meeting of the Association of College and Research Libraries, a division of the American Library Association, in 1972. It was reaffirmed by the ACRL board in June 2001 and 2007. It was adopted by the Council of the American Association of University Professors in April 1973 and endorsed by the Fifty-ninth Annual Meeting. Additional revisions were made by a subcommittee of the ACRL along with representatives of the AAUP in June 2012 and approved by the ACRL Board of Directors in October 2012. The statement was reaffirmed by the ACRL Board of Directors in April 2018.