Campus
librarians believe they strive hard to support student success, according to a
recent survey, but are struggling to show their institution exactly how their
efforts boost academic achievement and scholarship.
About 80%
of the library directors responding to the Ithaka S+R Library Survey 2016 said
their libraries “contribute significantly to student learning in a variety of
ways.” However, the survey report, released in April 2017, noted that only half
of the faculty respondents on a separate survey recognized the impact of
libraries on students’ education.
To
reinforce their role in academics, library directors indicated they plan to
spend a greater share of their budgets on developing services directly related
to teaching, learning, and research. They still expect to continue expanding
their collections of materials, but will focus more on acquiring or licensing
digital versions instead of print.
Survey
respondents reported a “decreasing sense of support from their institutions,”
said the Ithaka report. “There is evidence across the survey that library
directors feel increasingly less valued by, involved with, and aligned
strategically with their supervisors and other senior academic leadership.”
