ACRL News Issue (B) of College & Research Libraries


328

CLR and ARL Announce New 
Academic Library Program

The Council on Library Resources, Inc. (CLR) 
has made a grant of $326,500 to the Association of 
Research Libraries (ARL), Office of University 
Library Management Studies, in support of the 
new Academic Library Program (ALP) that will 
assist a large num ber o f academ ic libraries in 
conducting self-study programs to improve their 
effectiveness. T he five-year grant has been en­
hanced by a grant of $250,000 from the Andrew 
W. Mellon Foundation and the commitment of a 
like amount from the Association of Research Li­
braries for a total budget of $826,500.

T he Academic Library Program will allow a 
large number o f libraries in two- and four-year 
colleges and in universities to take advantage of 
tested self-study methods to assess and improve 
library services and refine managerial and opera­
tional practices. At the heart of the undertaking is 
an Office of Management Studies (OMS) plan to 
train about 100 outstanding librarians to serve as 
consultants in specific areas (e.g., collection de­
velopment, management processes, library ser­
vices), to provide the consultants with specialized 
guides and manuals, and to give backup assis­
tance to the consultants when appropriate.

The initiative for taking advantage of the skills 
and services o f OMS and the consultants will rest 
with the colleges and universities them selves. 
They will need to commit a reasonable amount of 
staff time and a small amount of money in order 
to improve library services and to bring program 
objectives into balance with financial resources 
and operating capabilities.

T he Academic Library Program builds upon 
tested programs of the Office of Management 
Studies, such as the Management Review and 
Analysis Program (MRAP) and the Academic Li­
brary Development Program (ALDP), which are 
supported by the Council on Library Resources, 
and the Collection Analysis Project (CAP), sup­
ported by the Mellon Foundation.

M RAP p re sen ts a fram ework w ithin which 
large academic and research library staffs analyze 
their management systems to identify strengths 
and weaknesses and to outline areas for action 
and change. CAP is designed to help academic 
libraries assess collection development practices. 
A manual provides a systematic method for exam­
ining such areas as collecting goals, allocation 
p ro c e d u re s , o rg a n iz a tio n , staffing p a tte rn s , 
decision-m aking p ro cesses, and preservation . 
A L D P  p ro vides a stra teg y  for sm all and

medium-sized academic libraries to use in exam­
ining their operations, services, and management 
practices. In addition to these, the OMS staff will 
develop methods and materials focused on spe­
cialized areas.

By consolidating related programs and capitaliz­
ing on past efforts, ALP will provide the flexibil­
ity required to help individual libraries address 
their own specific problems. It is also expected 
that ALP will encourage academic libraries of all 
kinds to draw more closely together, an impor­
tant goal when libraries are seeking more effec­
tive means to meet the bibliographic, resource, 
and service needs of all faculty members and stu­
dents.

Development and operation of the Academic 
Library Program will be guided by advice from 
librarians and others concerned with the quality 
of library service. The Board of Directors of the 
Association o f College and R esearch Lib raries 
(ACRL), a division of the American Library As­
sociation, strongly endorsed the new program at 
its June 1978 meeting and voted that ACRL ac­
tively participate with ARL and C L R  in the de­
sign and development of the program. Further 
information about ALP and application p ro ce­
dures will be available from the ARL Office of 
Management Studies early in the fall o f 1978.

The Office of University Library Management 
Studies, established by ARL, assists libraries in 
effectively serving the academ ic and research 
community through sound management of the re­
sources available to them. The emphasis of the 
office is on developing practical methods for im­
proving library performance. In addition to the 
Academic Library Program, the office operates a 
library staff training program and an information 
clearinghouse dedicated to the sharing of man­
agement information and expertise among aca­
demic librarians.

The Council on Library Resources is a private 
operating foundation. Through grants to and con­
tracts with other organizations and individuals, 
C LR  seeks to assist in finding solutions to the 
problems of libraries, particularly academic and 
research libraries. The council was established in 
1956 by the Ford Foundation and continues to 
receive support from it as well as other foun­
dations. This grant was made possible primarily 
through funds received by the council from the 
Carnegie Corporation o f New York for programs 
to improve research library management. ■■