Purpose | Professional library association |
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Headquarters | Chicago, Illinois |
Executive Director | Allison Payne (Interim) |
Website | ala.org/acrl |
This article is part of a series on |
Education in the United States |
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Summary |
Curriculum topics |
Education policy issues |
Levels of education |
Educationportal United Statesportal |
The Association of College and Research Libraries (ACRL), a division of the American Library Association, is a professional association of academic librarians and other interested individuals. It is dedicated to enhancing the ability of academic library and information professionals to serve the information needs of the higher education community and to improving learning, teaching, and research. The association serves librarians in all types of academic libraries at the community college, college, and university level and also serves librarians that work in comprehensive and specialized research libraries.
The Association of College and Research Libraries is the largest division of the American Library Association. [1] It has a membership of approximately 9,000 and provides a broad range of professional services and programs for a diverse membership. [1]
The Association publishes an open-access journal, College & Research Libraries , and the review magazine Choice .
The Association of College and Research Libraries has its roots as the College Library section of the American Library Association, which first met in 1890, attended by 15 librarians representing major colleges located on the east coast of the United States. [2] In 1897 the section was renamed the College and Reference Library Section in recognition of the participation of reference librarians. In 1923, the section established bylaws and began charging dues. [2] In 1938, the section adopted new bylaws which moved the section to the Association of College and Reference Libraries and allowed for more autonomy and for the creation of subsections for college and junior college libraries, teachers college libraries, university libraries, and others. [2] In 1940, Association of College and Research Libraries became the American Library Association's first division. In 1956, when the Library Reference Services Division was established as a separate division of the American Library Association, the Association of College and Research Libraries changed the "Reference" to "Research" in its name and became the Association of College and Research Libraries. [2] In 1978, they held their first standalone conference. [3] On January 11, 2016, the ACRL adopted the Framework for Information Literacy for Higher Education. [4] On September 7, 2021, Robert (Jay) Malone became the executive director of the ACRL. [5]
The Association of College and Research Libraries supports seventeen sections:
The Association of College and Research Libraries issues awards annually to honor academic and research librarians for significant achievements. These awards include a citation, and in some cases also a cash award.
The Association of College and Research Libraries supports local chapters. The chapters provide programming and professional development opportunities for academic libraries in their region. The ACRL Chapters Council facilitates communication between the chapters and ACRL national. ACRL Chapters: [6]
A librarian is a person who works professionally in a library providing access to information, and sometimes social or technical programming, or instruction on information literacy to users.
The American Library Association (ALA) is a nonprofit organization based in the United States that promotes libraries and library education internationally. It is the oldest and largest library association in the world.
The Special Libraries Association (SLA) is an international professional association for library and information professionals working in business, government, law, finance, non-profit, and academic organizations and institutions.
An academic library is a library that is attached to a higher education institution and serves two complementary purposes: to support the curriculum and the research of the university faculty and students. It is unknown how many academic libraries there are worldwide. An academic and research portal maintained by UNESCO links to 3,785 libraries. According to the National Center for Education Statistics, there are an estimated 3,700 academic libraries in the United States. In the past, the material for class readings, intended to supplement lectures as prescribed by the instructor, has been called reserves. Previously before the electronic appliances became available, the reserves were supplied as actual books or as photocopies of appropriate journal articles. Modern academic libraries generally also provide access to electronic resources.
Evan Ira Farber was Faculty Emeritus and former Head Librarian at Earlham College. Throughout his career, he was active with the American Library Association (ALA) and the Association of College and Research Libraries (ACRL), holding positions that included Chair of the ACRL College Library Section from 1968 to 1969 and President of the ACRL from 1978 to 1979. He was also active with the ACRL College Leadership Committee and the ACRL College Libraries Mentor Program.
Camila Alire is an American librarian and was president of the American Library Association from 2009 to 2010. She was the first Hispanic president of the ALA. She was previously the president of REFORMA, National Association to Promote Library and Information Services to Latinos and the Spanish-speaking, in 1993-1994.
Ross W. Atkinson was an American librarian and scholar.
The Reference and User Services Association (RUSA) is a Division of the American Library Association.
James G. Neal is an American librarian, library administrator, and a prominent figure in American and international library associations. In 2022 President Joe Biden appointed him to the National Museum and Library Services Board which advises the agency on general policies with respect to the duties, powers, and authority of the Institute of Museum and Library Services relating to museum, library, and information services, as well as the annual selection of the National Medal for Museum and Library Service.
Margaret Hayes Grazier was an American librarian, educator, and published author in the field of Library and Information science, who specialized in school librarianship. She worked as a school librarian at various high schools and, later in her career, as a professor of library science at Wayne State University. Grazier had developed a model to guide library media specialists to become fully immersed in the entire cycle of the student's learning process, everything from storytelling to planning and evaluating curriculum. She was active in several important library organizations, including the American Library Association, and received awards for her contributions to her field of study.
Gloriana St. Clair is a pioneer in the field of academic librarianship, as well as a scholar of Norse Mythology and its relationship to the works of J.R.R. Tolkien. She is currently the Principal Investigator of the Olive Executable Archive, and was previously the official University Liaison to the Pittsburgh chapter of the Osher Lifelong Learning Institute at Carnegie Mellon University. She is Dean Emerita of Carnegie Mellon University Libraries (1998-2013). Before coming to Carnegie Mellon, St. Clair held leadership positions at several other universities. St. Clair attended the University of California, Berkeley, receiving a bachelor's degree in English in 1962 and a master's degree in library science in 1963.
A distance education librarian or distance learning librarian is a specialized academic librarian whose primary duties involve serving the information needs of distance education students, faculty, and staff. This position typically involves coordinating the duties of many librarians and library staff to ensure adequate access to library resources for those who enroll in and teach distance education courses.
Maria T. Accardi is an academic in the field of library science at Indiana University Southeast.
The North Dakota Library Association (NDLA) is a professional association for librarians, library staff, and library supporters that represent school, public, academic, and special libraries located in North Dakota, United States. "The purpose of this organization is to exercise professional leadership and to promote library services and librarianship." The North Dakota Library Association was formed on January 18, 1906. The association has humble beginnings – at the 1909 conference, there were only 18 members. There are currently over 300 NDLA members.
Those working in the field of library science do not currently reflect the age, class, disabilities, ethnicity, gender identity, race, sex, and sexual orientation makeup of the populations they serve. There are efforts to provide a diverse working environment in libraries, with an eye towards ways to diversifying the status quo.
Dr. Vicki L. Gregory is professor emeritus at the School of Information at the University of South Florida (USF). She and was director of the School from 1999 until 2007. Her fields of specialization include: academic libraries, digital librarianship, technical services, information science, library networking, library automation, and collection development. Prior to teaching at USF Dr. Gregory was Director of Systems and Operations for the Auburn University at Montgomery Library. She is currently President of Beta Phi Mu. She was Treasurer for the Association for Information Science and Technology (ASIS&T) and the winner of the 2014 Watson Davis Award. She is also the author, co-author, or editor of seven books and has published numerous articles.
Alma Dawson is an American scholar of librarianship. She retired as Russell B. Long Professor at the School of Library & Information Science, Louisiana State University in 2014 and was awarded Emeritus status in 2015. In 2019 Dr. Dawson was honored with the Essae Martha Culver Distinguished Service Award from the Louisiana Library Association which honors a librarian whose professional service and achievements, whose leadership in Louisiana association work, and whose lifetime accomplishments in a field of librarianship within the state merit recognition of particular value to Louisiana librarianship.
John W. Berry is an American librarian. Berry served as president of the American Library Association from 2001 to 2002, leading the profession's response to the Children's Internet Protection Act.
Charles Harvey Brown was an American librarian and leader in the American Library Association. He received a bachelor's degree from Wesleyan University in 1897 and a master's degree in 1899. He went on to receive a second bachelor's degree in Library Science at the New York State Library School in 1901. He later received a Literary Doctorate from Wesleyan University in 1937. He worked at Wesleyan University from 1897 to 1899 and the Library of Congress from 1901 to 1903. Brown worked for the John Crerar Library from 1903 to 1909 and the Brooklyn Public Library from 1909 to 1919.
Choice Outstanding Academic Titles, formerly Outstanding Academic Books, is a booklist curated by editors working with Choice Reviews, a publishing unit of the Association of College and Research Libraries (ACRL). According to the American Library Association, the Outstanding Academic Titles list "reflects the best in scholarly titles... and brings with it the extraordinary recognition of the academic library community."