Changing Roles of Academic and Research Libraries

LIS 5020 Fall 2016

Issue Analysis

Melissa Carroll
 The power of a college or university library expresses a purpose not just to

collect, but also to organize, preserve, and make knowledge accessible.

Today, the library occupies a pivotal position on the campus of essentially

every higher education institution in the world. In its placement and

prominence, the academic library conveys its integral role in supporting

higher education’s core missions of research and education.

A recent report by the Association of College and Research Libraries

detailed the contribution of libraries on student learning. (Fister, 2016) The

findings showed that students who use libraries stayed in college more often

and achieved a better grade point average than those who don’t, the survey

also showed that students who received some kind of instruction from

librarians in their first year do better in their courses than those who don’t.

Through recent decades, college and university libraries have established

pathways to serve students and faculty more effectively as higher education

in the U.S. has evolved. Academic and research libraries have been leaders

in the advancement of digital technologies and have provided leadership and

training to help remake the academic enterprise. For all their success in

accommodating and even powering recent transformations in higher

education, libraries and the librarians who lead them now find themselves

asking a series of fundamental questions about the future of libraries.

 Some questions to ponder are; to what extent, and in what ways, are

academic libraries likely to change? In this ever changing environment what

new roles will librarians come to have? What aspects of the academic library

will prove the most resistant or inevitable to change? Will technology finally

spur a recasting of how colleges and universities produce and disseminate

knowledge? If such a merging of interests takes place, what impact will that

have on academic libraries? Or conversely, if there is not a merging of these

two agendas, will academic libraries be caught in the middle of an

increasingly difficult competition for institutional resources? (Mullins, Allen

Hufford, 2007)

Vast changes have occurred in research, teaching and learning, these

change have created a different mission for academic and research libraries

alike. A recently published mission statement and conceptual model for the

research library of the 21st century pointed to the need for significant

changes in the quality and attitudes of staff for that library. (Fister, 2016) A

successful transition to the fluid and collaborative approach to library

services illustrated by the model will require concomitant changes in the

education of library and information specialists. The skill set for librarians

will continue to evolve in response to the needs and expectations of the

changing populations for both the students and faculty that they serve

Changes in skill sets among library professionals are well underway.

The aging of the profession can be viewed as having a number of positive

benefits, as retirement’s increase, new opportunities will open for a new

generation of MLS librarians. (Mullins, 2012) Libraries that are open to

creating new career paths within their organizations are in an ideal position

to embrace the future.

Although the roles of all libraries are changing, I know from experience

that the academic library is forever evolving to keep up with the needs of its

students. It is important to remember when we as librarians, look to the

future, that instead of attempting to forecast, we should embrace the

changes and opportunities that are already occurring and build a culture that

will continue to embrace change and opportunities that the future will bring.
Fister, B. (2016, April 28). The (Lasting?) Value of Libraries | Inside Higher

Ed. Retrieved September 10, 2016, from

https://www.insidehighered.com/blogs/library-babel-fish/lasting-value-

libraries

Mullins, J. L. (2012). Are MLS Graduates Being Prepared for the Changing

and Emerging Roles that Librarians Must Now Assume Within Research

Libraries?. Journal of Library Administration, 52(1), 124.

Mullins, J., Allen, F., & Hufford, J. (2007, April). Top ten assumptions for the

future of academic libraries and librarians: A report from the ACRL research

committee. C&RL News, 68(4). Retrieved from

http://www.ala.org/acrl/issues/value/tenassumptions

Woodsworth, A., & Lester, J. (1991). Educational imperatives of the future

research library.. Journal of Academic Librarianship, 17(4), 204.