Commission on the Future of the University of California Berkeley Library Issues Final Report

Post UPDATED October 18, 2013

Business Press Coverage of Report
From SF Business Times: “‘Librarians vs. search engines’ in UC Berkeley report”
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From UC Berkeley:

The Commission on the Future of the UC Berkeley Library, charged with studying the current state of the library and envisioning its future, issued its report [on October 16, 2013].
In response to publication of the report, University Librarian Tom Leonard said this:
“We need to ask new questions about everything that contributes to Berkeley’s excellence, and we are fortunate to have the Commission lay out the challenges for the Library. Not only did the faculty members work hard, for a year — most of them have been serving the Library in other ways for a much longer time. This is what it takes to steer the right course when changes come so rapidly in how we find and use information.
“The Library’s strategic plan will be improved by what the Commission found. Indeed, we have been innovating to meet the needs the Commission brought to light these past months.
“For the Fall Semester:

• Scanning in the libraries is now free and making paper copies far easier than last year.
• Books that have been checked out can be returned to any library.
• A suite of powerful computers is now at the Moffitt entrance, flanked by a lounge to sit down with new books.
• Shelving has been improved and expanded in Main Stacks, in the spirit of our “stacks Olympics” this year.
• The Berkeley Library has become a national role model in offering access to our collections to students with print disabilities.

“On the horizon we will:

• Loan laptops to students.
• Make the online library experience as welcoming as our physical facilities.
• Make paging books from other campus libraries as easy for students as the BAKER service is today for faculty.
• Simplify course reserves and enhance student access
• Create more collaborative space for programs in the humanities and the sciences.
• Expand library hours keyed to the needs of undergraduates.
• Take even greater advantage of digitization as a way to share collections that once were exclusively paper.
• Increase the opportunities in libraries to learn about using Big Data across all academic fields.

Direct to Full Text (62 pages; PDF) and/or Full Text Embedded Below
Direct to Commission Charge Large (September 13, 2012)

Report of the Commission on the Future of the UC Berkeley Library

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