University Library Standards

TLDR: The statement finally adopted is qualitative in nature and excludes quantitative standards, although it does recommend statistical methods useful for comparing one library with others.

Abstract: THEFIRST STATEMENT on “Standards for University Libraries” in the United States was adopted in 1978 by the Association of Research Libraries (ARL) and in 1979 by the Association of College and Research Libraries (ACRL), a division of the American Library Association. The impetus to prepare the university library standards began in 1967 and came from university librarians who were impressed with the overall effect the 1959 “Standards for College Libraries” had in upgrading college libraries. In 1959 only a few libraries in the 1500or socolleges in the United States could meet the minimums set forth in the standards. By 1970 these libraries had improved substantially in the very ways the standards proposed. Although there was agreement on the apparent need for university library standards, there were difficulties in developing the standards. The difficulties stemmed from lack of agreement on the definition of “university” and disagreement over whether standards should be quantitative or qualitative. The statement finally adopted is qualitative in nature. It excludes quantitative standards, although it does recommend statistical methods useful for comparing one library with others.