ACRL has released a new report “Academic Library Contributions to Student Success: Documented Practices from the Field” which synthesizes results from over 70 higher education institutions from across North America which recently completed team-based assessment projects. These projects, from the first year of Assessment in Action: Academic Libraries and Student Success (AiA), resulted in promising and effective approaches to demonstrating the library’s value to students’ academic success.
The findings from the assessment work of the first cohort of campus teams are impressive. By demonstrating the variety of ways that libraries contribute to student learning and success, academic librarians are establishing connections between such academic success outcomes as student retention, persistence, GPA, engagement, graduation, career preparedness, and different aspects of the library (e.g., instruction, reference, space and facilities, and collections).
Many of the projects are replicable at other academic libraries or contain elements that can be adapted to a college or university’s unique institutional context. Libraries can learn about ideas and strategies that promote evidence-based demonstrations of an academic library’s contributions to student learning and success through the wide variety of projects. Find out more:
- Academic Library Contributions to Student Success: Documented Practices from the Field (PDF) full report synthesizing findings.
- Executive Summary (PDF) to share broadly with campus stakeholders.
- Search individual team project descriptions.
AiA is a three-year project sponsored by the ACRL in partnership with the Association of Institutional Research and the Association of Public Land-grant Universities, and with funding from the U.S. Institute of Museum and Library Services. When the project concludes in 2016, over 200 higher education institutions will have participated in developing assessment methods and tools.
Interested in participating in the next round of Assessment in Action? ACRL is seeking applications from all types of higher education institutions for 125 additional teams. Apply by March 4, 2015, to participate in the third year of the program, April 2015-June 2016.
