Exploring the contributions of the academic library to student learning

Most recently, as part of our multiyear Value of Academic Libraries Initiative, ACRL joined with three partners ? the Association for Institutional Research, Association of Public and Land-grant Universities, and the Council of Independent Colleges ? to convene two national summits in late 2011. These summits, ?Demonstrating Library Value: A National Conversation,? were the basis of a project made possible by a National Leadership Collaborative Planning Grant from the Institute of Museum and Library Services. We invited community college, college, and university chief academic officers, senior institutional researchers, and academic librarians to share their best thinking and advice in dialogue with representatives from accreditation commissions and higher education organizations. We learned from participants about the data campus administrators would like librarians to provide and what collaborative assistance is available through institutional research offices in order to determine the professional competencies that librarians need.