Why Libraries Need to Demonstrate Value to University Administration

The Authority File

Librarians know the library plays an essential role on campus. Intersecting with research, technology, student success, and more, the library bolsters key areas of student and faculty life—but is the library as adept at explaining its services as it is at providing them?

In this four-part series, we dig into why libraries must demonstrate their value to university administrators to secure funding needs and establish their place as an instrumental sector of campus life and university success. We’ll investigate how the library can align its mission with the university’s, why libraries need to “lift the curtain” on the behind-the-scenes work they do to provide resources, and the importance of adding context to library metrics to better tell your library’s story. Discussion also includes connecting to library donors and the challenges of demonstrating value in today’s political environment.

In this first episode, we meet our guests: Jeffrey Gold, President of the University of Nebraska System, Hilary Craiglow, Library Consulting Practice Lead at Attain Partners, and Emily McElroy, Vice President of Academic Relations at Taylor & Francis. First, they jump into the urgency of this work, highlighting the importance of libraries connecting their own metrics to the university’s data-driven decision-making. In addition, Jeff, Hilary, and Emily elucidate why libraries may struggle to illustrate their fundamental services, underlining issues like campus culture and a lack of training in strategic planning. Further, our guests share how communication tactics between the library and campus leadership have shifted—while libraries need a seat at the table with leadership, they also need to be able to communicate within the terms of a business model and justifying sustainable investments.

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