Barbara Dewey to serve on the Association of Research Libraries’ governing board

Barbara Dewey, Dean of Libraries at the University of Tennessee, was elected to the Board of Directors of the Association of Research Libraries at their October membership meeting.

The Association of Research Libraries (ARL) is a nonprofit organization of 123 research libraries in North America. Its mission is to influence the changing environment of scholarly communication and the public policies that affect research libraries and the diverse communities they serve. ARL pursues this mission by advancing the goals of its member research libraries, providing leadership in public and information policy to the scholarly and higher education communities, fostering the exchange of ideas and expertise, and shaping a future environment that leverages its interests with those of allied organizations.

The Board is the governing body of the Association and represents the interest of ARL member libraries in directing the business of the Association, including establishing operating policies, budgets, and fiscal control; modifying the ARL mission and objectives; and representing ARL to the community.

“I am honored to serve on the Association of Research Libraries’ Board of Directors and pleased that the University of Tennessee Libraries’ achievements are being recognized at the highest professional level,” Dewey said.

The University of Tennessee Libraries were ranked 27th out of 68 public research libraries in the U.S. and Canada, and 45th among all ARL-affiliated research institutions in 2005. ARL also noted that UT had the fifth largest increase in total expenditures that year, about a 55 percent increase since the 1998-99 academic year.

The University of Tennessee Libraries supports more than 20,000 undergraduates and 6,000 graduate students enrolled in 400 academic programs in 15 schools and colleges. The university libraries offers reference and instructional services, public and cultural programs, technological and media resources, subject liaisons in a variety of disciplines and promotes information literacy.

For more information about ARL, visit their Web site at http://www.arl.org.