The embedded video was recorded at Elsevier’s Library Connect event that took place in Kuala Lumpur on July 11, 2012.
The speaker is Paula Kaufman, Dean of Libraries and University Librarian at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.
In this video, Paula Kaufman, Dean of Libraries and University Librarian, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, presents a case study of how the second largest academic library in the United States undertook a far-reaching transformation. The drivers for change included adapting to user needs, and saving money and maintaining the quality of the collections while increasing the scope and quality of its services.
Five years ago, they began taking a critical look at the 45 libraries on campus, many of which were discipline specific. They solicited ideas from faculty and staff, hosted discussions, produced a final report, and charged teams to found and implement new service models.
As a result, libraries were closed or consolidated depending on usage, and a number of subject librarians became embedded alongside their discipline’s faculty. Space was returned to the Chief Academic Officer for reallocation, or the library repurposed into collaborative environments, including both a learning and scholarly commons.
The library not only transformed by reexamining existing space, services and collections, but also formed partnerships to meet growing needs such as the curation of research data.
Kaufman’s slide deck is available here.
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