This paper is a report to the Faculty of Arts and Sciences on the changing state of the Harvard College Library and the larger information environment of which it is a part. It is also a call for faculty participation in a strategic planning process designed to reposition the Library to serve an information age university in the twenty-first century. The plan will set priorities and goals for the Library for the next five years and directions for the next decade and beyond. The paper is in three parts. First comes an overview of the external developments that are forcing the Library to change the way it fulfills its mission. These are the price of publications, new computer-based technologies, problems with preservation, an increase in the number of research libraries, and the growth of the information industry. This is followed by a review of the current state of the Library and a glimpse of its future directions. The paper concludes with a description of the strategic planning process and a discussion of the principal issues that need to be addressed, i.e., space, collections, technology, undergraduate libraries, and new media. Supporting statistical materials are appended. (KRN)