On Tuesday, March 21, 2023 the Chronicle of Higher Education held a Virtual Forum on the topic “In Defense of Libraries.” The event announcement noted: “Libraries are no longer dusty, dimly lit spaces reserved for quiet research and solitary study. Today college and university libraries are striving to become vibrant centers of student connection and creativity. How can they overcome outdated notions and reassert their relevance in a time of competing expenses and priorities?”

The three panelists were:

• Todd Carpenter, executive director, National Information Standards Organization
• Niraj Chaudhary, dean, William Knox Holt Memorial Library and Learning Center, University of the Pacific
• Gale Etschmaier, dean of university libraries, Florida State University

Several librarians associated with the Missouri State University Libraries attended this online event. Lynn Cline, a retired member of the MSU Library Science Faculty, took some notes and has graciously agreed to share them, summarized below:

1. At any time, but especially now, with tight resources, the importance of aligning the libraries’ goals and strategic directions with those of the University is extremely important. Two examples from the session – U of Pacific is deeply involved in student recruitment, success, and retention. Although many library services and much content is available online, the physical library still is heavily used. A welcoming physical library is part of student recruitment, success, and retention efforts. The MSU Library, for instance is restarting its project to renovate the furniture and spaces inside the library, as well making repairs to the roof.
2. Collaborative efforts. Librarians should align their activities with those of faculty as much as possible, to serve them well and to build their support. Libraries should support their librarian liaisons as they get to know their assigned units and faculty inside & out, what their research involves, the issues with their students and their teaching, and how we can help. A lot of training is involved here, but a long-term investment that could be useful. An ancillary side to that — capturing as much as possible from student efforts (theses, capstone projects) and from faculty work for the Institutional Repository, again noted by the gentleman from U of the Pacific. 
3. Spaces. This goes back to #2, making sure our spaces match what students are doing, needing, but also tying the spaces to our content. This is an extremely important aspect of setting up spaces, so that a library is more than a study hall, that in a new way it maintains that aura of a scholastic environment. 
4. The FSU dean spoke about losing 90,000 volumes to mold and that print is dead until you lose it…not losing the print record, the ladders and chains of core, key ideas in a discipline. Smart, disciplined weeding and precise collection building is needed. It’s not that difficult, but has to be based om more than circulation data. 
5. The FSU dean also pointed out the difficulties in moving away from the “big deal” because admittedly big deals (a.k.a. Science Direct et al.) do have their upside in the availability of valuable content. It’s just that academic libraries have so many competing priorities in content for limited dollars. The idea is to establish relationships with publishers/vendors and get absolutely the most you can for your money. 
6. Our data. Developing some creativity in our performance data. The distinction between input data vs. performance/outcomes data still is pertinent. This one is difficult but goes back in some ways to number 1 about aligning goals with those of the University and developing data that reflects that.