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Because of online digital resources, academic libraries no longer need to spend as much time and energy organizing their own collections as they used to. They now have an opportunity to pivot their expertise in organizing information outward. “Inside-out” library services can include support for special collections, digital scholarship, scholarly communication, and data management. A key characteristic of such services is that an academic library takes on broader information management challenges at their college or university. This chapter will examine what it takes to build successful inside-out library services by looking at their cost, how well they complement existing library expertise and culture, and their impact on teaching, research, and the wider community.

Roles of academic libraries have recently been regularly discussed among Library and Information Science (LIS) scientists and practitioners. A shift of roles induced by various factors forces academic libraries to reconsider their operational guidelines and plan future scenarios. This article provides an analysis of the framing of roles assumed by academic libraries and identifies key factors and agents that influence the process. Research consisted of an analysis of official strategic documents of Lithuanian state-owned universities that are of great importance to the strategic development of academic libraries and the anchoring of their roles. Applying Laclau and Mouffe’s (2001) discourse theory and the concepts of new institutionalism as a theoretical approach, key factors and agents influential to the role of academic libraries were identified. Modernity, market, and quality as three interrelated discourses highlight the proposition that modernity is inseparable from the development of information technologies and infrastructure and that various professional networks in the library environment act as powerful institutional agents. Practices of market law application in universities have influence on the institutional logic of libraries which increasingly relies on the criteria of efficiency and rationality.

Librarians have traditionally looked to academic library directors (ALDs) to list those qualities that make them good at what they do. Little research has sought the input of institutional administrators (who are the ones who hire ALDs) about what they look for when hiring ALDs. This study presented a list of qualities that had been rated by ALDs as being important for the position to these senior institutional administrators and asked them to rate the relative importance of these qualities and to add to the list any qualities they felt should be there. Their ratings were then compared with those of the library directors to see how closely they correlated. The results showed not only that there was statistically significant agreement between the two groups, but also that there were important differences, with the hiring administrators placing more priority on ideological attributes (attributes based on professional orientations and ideals) while ALDs emphasized the need for experience. The hiring administrators also added several attributes to the original list, including managing multiple priorities, being learning/student oriented (especially toward low achievers), being self-directed with a good work ethic, being able to relate effectively to all constituencies, and experience in the same type of institution as the one the person was being hired to lead.

The institution of tenure has elicited debate and controversy since its introduction in higher education. Proponents argue the need for tenure based on academic freedom and efficient university governance. Critics argue that it represents inefficiency in the higher education labor market and protects less productive faculty members. The use of tenure in academic libraries has been no less controversial, with only 40−60% of academic libraries supporting tenure track positions for academic librarians. This dichotomy in the labor market for academic librarians represents a natural experiment and allows for the testing of the presence of a compensating wage differential for tenure.

This study examines 10 years’ worth of cross-sectional data drawn from member libraries of the Association of Research Libraries (ARL). Models examine both the institutional characteristics of tenure-granting ARL academic libraries and the impact of tenure on starting salaries. Issues related to both a union wage premium and a compensating wage differential due to tenure are explored. The results of this research suggest that tenure, while serving other functions within an academic library setting, does not have the predicted impact on starting salaries.

Correctional library staff are essential to fulfilling the rehabilitative mission of prisons, but their work is too often misunderstood and neglected. The Colorado Department of Corrections (CDOC) Libraries have a 272% turnover rate and struggle with many long-term vacancies. Despite being the lowest-paid staff in CDOC, library staff are asked to fulfill two distinct sets of responsibilities: that of running a library, and facility safety and security tasks.

Based upon original research, the Colorado State Library (CSL) has created a standard for minimum staffing levels for CDOC Libraries and a formula that can be applied no matter what service model a correctional library uses. CSL has found that to improve recruitment and retention of its library staff, CDOC needs to (1) improve pay and the librarian promotional path by changing staff to a class series which more appropriately reflects the job duties and level of decision-making and (2) create more library staff positions statewide in order to meet the minimum staffing levels.

This chapter examines how selected accrediting bodies and academic librarians define collection strength and its relationship to student achievement. Standards adopted by accreditation bodies and library associations, such as the Association of Research Libraries, are reviewed to determine the most common ones which are used to assess library collections. Librarians’ efforts to define and demonstrate the adequacy of library resources are also examined in light of increased focus on institutional accountability, and requirements to provide planned and documented evidence of student success. Also reviewed are the challenges faced by academic librarians in a shift as they shift from traditional collection-centered philosophies and practices to those which focus on client-centered collection development such as circulation analysis, citation analysis, interlibrary loans, and student satisfaction surveys to determine collection use and relevance. The findings from a review of standards and existing library literature indicated that student use of library collections depends on faculty perceptions of the library and whether they require students to use library resources and services for their research papers. Through marketing strategies, improvement of student awareness of collections and library services, the chapter concludes that multiple collection-related factors influence the academic success of students, not just the size and importance of library collections per se. The significance of the chapter lies in its identification of halting and difficult adjustments in measuring both collection “adequacy” and student achievements.

Merging two distinct academic libraries into one presents unique problems and challenges. In 2010 the Utah System of Higher Education officially mandated that the College of Eastern Utah merge with Utah State University in order to reduce costs and promote efficiencies within the College of Eastern Utah, an institution hit particularly hard during the recent economic decline. Although the College of Eastern Utah was clearly becoming part of Utah State University, one of the charges was to maintain its core mission and unique identity. It was important that the College of Eastern Utah Library be seen as a separate entity, yet have full access to the resources of the Utah State University Library. Librarians at the respective institutions were charged with extending access to as many library resources as possible, streamlining workflow, eliminating redundancies, and uniting collaboratively as one working library. This chapter describes how they proceeded to fulfill this charge. Described are the practical aspects, such as migrating the College of Eastern Utah Library catalog to the same integrated library system and server as Utah State University’s, as well as the steps taken to negotiate with vendors to provide access to electronic resources to all patrons. Changing technical services processes, organizing reference services and collection development, working with information technology staff at the different campuses, and budget management are also discussed. Two years later the two successfully moved forward as one academic library with separate institutional identities. Experience indicates that success was accomplished through collaboration, planning, and effective communication.