This study explores how acquisitions practices and infrastructure influence building diverse distinctive collections within Association of Research Libraries (ARL) member institutions. Through a survey of the existing acquisitions practices within ARL institutions, this study interrogates the collections-based methodologies that are utilized to…

Policy language plays a central role in ensuring that academic libraries are accessible and inclusive to patrons with disabilities. However, relevant accessibility information is often missing from publicly available library policies. This article uses findings from a content analysis of SUNY libraries' public collection development and…

In academic libraries there has been growing interest in developing better ways to diversify collections, but STEM collections are sometimes overlooked. To better understand current practices and challenges, a survey was distributed to librarians with STEM collection responsibilities in the summer of 2021. Results from the survey indicated that…

The Punjab University Library (PUL) is the oldest and largest public-sector university library in Pakistan, established in 1873 as a Punjab University College Library and then upgraded as PUL in 1882. As in many other post-colonial countries, the end of British rule over South Asians in 1947 did not end colonialism itself, as an embedded feature…

This report presents the findings of a research project carried out for the School Library Association of New Zealand Aotearoa Te Puna Whare Matauranga a Kura (SLANZA) and the National Library of New Zealand Te Puna Matauranga o Aotearoa (the National Library) in 2024. School libraries are not mandatory in Aotearoa New Zealand schools.…

Background: Information literacy supports individuals' academic abilities of critical thinking and reasoning which enable them to quickly grasp new ways of learning. It helps build long-term learning as it motivates and improves critical thinking and problem-solving skills. Students mostly use applicable resources such as books and the internet to…

School library services (SLSs) provide curriculum resources and expertise to schools. Changes in educational policy have affected the resourcing and security of these services. This article reports on a United Kingdom Literacy Association (UKLA)-funded case study of one SLS co-designed with two librarians from the service. The aims were to…

Purpose: Informed by the critical literacy framework, this study aims to investigate how a free online collection website and collection analysis tool (CAT) have been used by educators (e.g. librarians, media specialists) to enhance the diversity of their children's and young adult book collections -- a form of infoactivism. Quantitative and…

Over the past couple of years, school districts nationwide have seen a wave of challenges to books in libraries and on reading lists, as well as rising demands to know what titles are in schools. These challenges and demands have put public school libraries under significant scrutiny and raised fundamental questions about their purpose and…

Historical and modern scientific thought is dominated by the English language, colonized science, patriarchal norms, and Westernized "ways of knowing." By making materials that lie outside that narrative discoverable (e.g., non-Western science, Indigenous/Aboriginal knowledge, women in science, etc.) we can assert that science is a…

This article explores the relationships between faculty library use, their perceptions of the importance of library resources, and its impact on their research productivity at a public research university. The authors used a self-reported faculty survey and publication records from a faculty activity reporting system to answer this question.…

This study seeks to test for relationships between use of library study rooms, materials, and instruction with student success as measured by retention to the second year, graduation within four years and grades. A cohort of 4,605 first time undergraduate students were considered. Findings show that students who had checked out materials, had…

Shared print programs are helping their member libraries right-size their collections. As they do, there are concerns about the adverse impact of bibliographic inaccuracies. This paper studies bibliographic record inaccuracies and the resulting frequency of mismatches between an item owned and the record representing ownership. Through analysis of…

Diversity audits are frequently used as an assessment method to measure the diversity of a library collection. Yet, there is not frequent research on the aftermath of diversity audits, especially in the context of comparing data from several audits to assess the difference in the makeup of a library collection. In this article, the author…

The purpose of the study was to address gaps in the use of library information resources and services among distance learners. The study followed a pragmatic paradigm and employed a mixed-method research approach with a sequential explanatory design. A questionnaire was used to elicit information from 1,170 s-year distance learning students in…