Membership in the Association is by invitation upon the recommendation of the Board of Directors and approval of the membership. Candidates for membership must meet the qualifications as established by vote of the membership. The criteria for ARL membership derive from efforts to define a universe of similar institutions that share a commitment to providing the materials and services needed for serious study and research.
The first part of the university library criteria is designed to ensure that university libraries being considered for membership in ARL contribute to the effective interchange of information among research libraries having common characteristics. This assumes broad, interdisciplinary library collections in all media and programs in support of research and graduate education. To meet this criterion, at the time the library is invited for membership, its parent institution must be classified as a Research University (high or very high research activity) as reflected in the Carnegie Classification of Institutions of Higher Education (2005 revision) published by the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching. Canadian institutions may supply similar data or comparable affiliations.
Institutional permanence and commitment also must be demonstrated. Therefore, in the case of institutional mergers, a library cannot be considered for membership until it has operated for at least four years under the administration of a single director.
The second part of the university library criteria are statistical indicators to assess similarity of size. Through the use of the statistical technique known as factor analysis of categories of data collected annually from each ARL member, several have been identified that describe those characteristics the ARL members hold most in common:
The method of comparison are index scores derived by the variant of factor analysis called principal component analysis. For further information, see The ARL Index. These quantitative measures are used as benchmarks to determine whether a more detailed assessment of library qualifications should begin.
The candidate library must furnish strong evidence that it makes a significant contribution to the distributed North American collection of research resources in media of all types. The strength of evidence and the nature of contribution to the distributed North American collection of research resources will be taken into consideration in conjunction with the library's index scores. Factors to consider here are enumerated in the ARL Principles of Membership.
The appendices outline required documentation and statistics.
Although ARL is primarily an association of academic libraries, the ARL Bylaws indicate that in addition to major university libraries, membership in the Association is open to "other libraries whose collections are recognized as having national significance." Such libraries are those research libraries not affiliated with degree granting institutions, but that may be affiliated with government agencies, federal, state, or local associations committed to research, or that may be nonaligned, governed by their own boards of directors, trustees, etc. To be eligible for membership, such libraries must share the same research and service mission as the university library members of the ARL.
In evaluating potential candidates, the Membership Committee will be concerned particularly with the research and scholarly mission (role and scope) defined for a library by its governing body, the commitment of support by the governing body, and evidences of the accomplishment of these missions. Emphasis will be placed on the criteria listed in ARL Principles of Membership. Important consideration will be given to how an institution could contribute to the goals and objectives of ARL.
Nonuniversity research libraries will be evaluated on the qualitative elements of their operations and collections as well as on quantitative elements in accordance with the following guidelines. The appendices outline required documentation and statistics.
Collections must be generally recognized as a major scholarly resource of national importance, as evidenced by listing in national directories and guides and citations in published research. While the collections need not be as broadly based as those of a general university library, they must represent a reasonably broad spectrum of disciplines. The collections should be sufficient in size to correspond to the comprehensiveness and depth required to support doctoral programs. In addition, there must be an acquisitions program at a level to at least maintain the currency of the library's collections.
The following basic level is suggested: collection size of 1,000,000 cataloged volumes with a low ratio of duplication of titles.
The major characteristics of university library acquisitions should be reflected in nonuniversity library acquisitions. First is the relatively large number of monographs acquired each year and second is the emphasis on serial publications. In addition, a significant percentage of these acquisitions are in foreign languages. University libraries also collect significantly in non-print media and provide extensive access to electronic resources. These characteristics in turn have a heavy impact on university library ordering and cataloging procedures.
The staff should be large enough and well trained enough, with an appropriate ratio of professional to nonprofessional staff, and with the subject and language expertise required to provide adequate bibliographic control and interpretation of the collections to scholars and researchers.
There should be evidence of active participation in programs of resource sharing of all types as may be demonstrated in:
There should be evidence that scholars are using the collection and that the institution is of service to a community of scholars and researchers, as exhibited by records of circulation and interlibrary loans, fellowships, publications, and exhibits.
The following procedures will be applied to both university and nonuniversity libraries expressing an interest in ARL membership:
The ARL staff contact to the ARL Membership Committee will respond to membership queries by supplying or referring inquirers to the ARL Principles of Membership and the Procedures for Membership in the Association of Research Libraries and answering general questions. The initial data to be submitted by an institution considering membership include:
An institution should confer with ARL staff about other documentation options if either the Carnegie Classification or the basic statistics are not applicable to their institution.
This initial approach is handled on an informal or ad hoc basis, at no cost to the institution, and with no obligation on the part of either ARL or the institution expressing interest in membership. All inquiries will be kept confidential.
It is emphasized that the role of the committee representative is to discuss the benefits and obligations of membership and assist the potential candidate library in arriving at its decision whether and/or when to proceed with formal candidacy. At this stage, there is no obligation or commitment of any kind by either ARL or the prospective candidate library. The decision to extend an invitation to membership to any institution is the exclusive responsibility of the entire membership of the Association, on the recommendation of its Board of Directors. Any opinions or observations given by the committee representative to the library do not constitute an opinion or position of the Association, and the representative does not have the authority to make a commitment of any kind on behalf of the Association.
Distribution of Reports
A Visiting Subcommittee report with a positive recommendation from the Membership Committee that is supported by the ARL Board will be sent to the library under the signature of the ARL Executive Director and the ARL President. The report will also be distributed to the full membership as part of the business meeting documents in preparation for a vote. The report will be made available on request from the ARL office.
A Visiting Subcommittee report with a positive recommendation from the Membership Committee that is not supported by the ARL Board will be considered an administrative document. It will be sent as a confidential document under the signature of the ARL Executive Director and the ARL president only to the candidate library and include information to the library about what further efforts need to be made in order to reposition themselves for reconsideration of membership.
A Visiting Subcommittee report with a negative recommendation from the Membership Committee is an administrative document that is forwarded to the Board for information and will not be distributed outside of the Board and the Membership Committee. The report will be sent to the candidate library as a confidential document in order that they may reposition themselves for review at a later date.
Request for Reconsideration
A candidate library that has been previously visited and recommended to reposition itself before reconsideration of membership can ask for a re-examination if the following conditions are met:
Libraries that are members of the Association are expected to meet the following membership requirements.
As stated in the ARL Principles of Membership, where there appears to be a significant and sustained disparity between the accomplishments of a member institution and the principles of membership; or when a member institution does not meet its obligations; an in-depth review may be initiated. The ARL Executive Committee will recommend a course of action and the ARL Board will determine the criteria to be used for he review and the procedures to be followed. The final decision to remove a member will be determined by a vote of the ARL Membership at a membership business meeting.
1Association of Research Libraries. Bylaws. Amended May 2005.