CHICAGO - The Association of College and Research Libraries (ACRL) Board of Directors has approved a comprehensive revision of the association’s seminal “Standards for Libraries in Higher Education” (SLHE). Grounded in nine principles reflecting the core roles and contributions of academic libraries, the newly revised version of SLHE provides a guide to libraries in advancing and sustaining their role as partners in educating students, achieving their institutions’ missions and positioning libraries as leaders in assessment and continuous improvement on their campuses. The full text of the revised SLHE is available on the ACRL website.

“The revised ‘Standards for Libraries in Higher Education’ provide a fresh roadmap to demonstrating the value of academic libraries to the campus community,” said ACRL President Joyce L. Ogburn, dean of the University of Utah J. Willard Marriott Library. “We look forward to providing ongoing learning opportunities for libraries to implement these important standards at their institutions.”

The revision process began in 2009 when ACRL 2009-10 President Lori Goetsch appointed a task force to review and revise the 2004 ACRL “Standards for Libraries in Higher Education.”  For more than a year, the ACRL Standards for Libraries in Higher Education Task Force, chaired by University of Nevada-Las Vegas Dean of University Libraries Patricia Iannuzzi, reviewed relevant library, higher education and accreditation literature, surveyed academic library directors to understand how the 2004 version of SLHE served the profession and interviewed librarians who had served on accreditation teams to better understand the changes in institutional accreditation processes. Input from the association membership and Board of Directors also informed the year-long revision process.

“These standards differ from previous versions by articulating expectations for library contributions to institutional effectiveness,” Iannuzzi noted. “They also differ structurally from the previous version by providing a comprehensive framework using an outcomes-based approach, with evidence collected in ways most appropriate for each institution.”

To provide additional information on the new version of SLHE, ACRL is offering a free introductory webcast on the standards at 1 p.m. CST on Wednesday, Nov. 9, 2011. Presented by Iannuzzi, the webcast will provide an overview of the revision, highlighting ways the standards can benefit libraries in the strategic planning, program review and self-study processes. To RSVP for the webcast, visit www.surveymonkey.com/s/G9MP9PB.

ACRL Standards for Libraries in Higher Education Task Force Chair Patricia Iannuzzi is available for interviews on the revised standards. Contact ACRL Marketing and Communications Specialist David Free at dfree@ala.org for more information. Direct additional questions concerning the revision of SLHE to ACRL Associate Director Mary Jane Petrowski at mpetrowski@ala.org or (312) 280-2523 and send questions on the SLHE webcast to Kathryn Deiss at kdeiss@ala.org or (312) 280-2529.

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ACRL is a division of the American Library Association (ALA), representing more than 12,500 academic and research librarians and interested individuals. ACRL is the only individual membership organization in North America that develops programs, products and services to meet the unique needs of academic and research librarians. Its initiatives enable the higher education community to understand the role that academic libraries play in the teaching, learning and research environments. ACRL is on the Web at http://www.acrl.org, Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/ala.acrl and Twitter at @ala_acrl.

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