Value of Academic Libraries

Project Description: In September 2010, The Association for College and Research Libraries released the report The Value of Academic Libraries, authored by Megan Oakleaf of Syracuse University. The report frames the challenge for academic libraries in responding to today's economy, of demonstrating the value they bring to the communities they serve, and the more problematic lack of hard evidence demonstrating such. Oakleaf's report suggests twenty-two methods for demonstrating the value added.

In response to the report, a project-team with representatives from multiple WSU campuses, read the report with an eye towards those recommendations that have potential to affect the WSU Community's views on library value. The subsequent report written by the project-team recommends a subset of ten methods to increase awareness of the value of the Libraries to the WSU Community. The Assessment Team Steering Committee utilizes the work of the project-team, selecting and acting on recommendations for demonstrating library value.

Project Leader: Steve Borrelli

Team Members: Robert Ferguson, Corey Johnson, Alex Merrill, Sue Phelps, and Annanaomi Sams

Project Products: Recommendations for Demonstrating Library Value at WSU