2015 Charleston Library Conference

While the corporate speak of "customers," "products," and "commodities" seems anathema to many librarians, this panel will make the case that the evolution of the academic library is a "corporate" one where the library thinks of itself as a commercial entity that provides goods and services in exchange for money (in terms of budget/funding).

Academic libraries have succeeded overwhelmingly in making their services seamless. embedded, and invisible -- so successful, in fact, that many administrators and users think the library actually provides less services than before (when stacks and work space were the measure of what library services provide).

Keeping the library relevant and on the leading edge of campus innovation necessitates a shift in thinking about WHAT the traditional "service" model means and how the library goes about achieving its mission. The reality is that many traditional library skills (like cataloging) could be considered "outsource-able," requiring information professionals to gain new, more "corporate" skills like marketing, negotiation, IT and systems administration, project management, and (god forbid) even sales.

What does this new corporate approach to academic libraries mean? Who is doing it? How is it succeeding? And where are its pain points? Where does it fail? Join academic librarians from a mix of public and private institutions as they describe how they're approaching this evolution and the it bodes for the future of academic libraries.