For immediate release
September 10, 2007

For more information, contact:
Martha Kyrillidou
Association of Research Libraries
202-296-2296
martha@arl.org

LibQUAL+® Awards In-Kind Grants to Four Libraries for 2008 Survey

Washington, DC—LibQUAL+® has awarded in-kind grants to four libraries to facilitate their participation in the 2008 LibQUAL+® survey. The selection of grantees was based on financial need, contribution to the growth of LibQUAL+®, and potential for surfacing best practices in the area of library service improvements. The 2008 LibQUAL+® grant recipients are:

Arkansas State University Mountain Home, Norma Wood Library

Arkansas State University Mountain Home (ASUMH) is a public, open-door community college and affiliate of the Arkansas State University System. ASUMH serves a section of rural North Central Arkansas and in the fall 2006 served nearly 1,200 students.

The College of the Bahamas Library System

The College of the Bahamas is a publicly supported institution serving a student population of almost 5,000 spread over four campuses and several centers. Its library system is the largest public repository of general information in the Bahamas.

Meharry Medical College Information Center Library

Meharry Medical College, located in Nashville, Tennessee, is the nation’s largest private, independent, historically black institution dedicated solely to educating health science professionals. Meharry serves more than 700 students.

University of Dallas, William A. Blakley Library

Founded in 1956, the University of Dallas is a liberal arts college affiliated with the Catholic Church and has a student enrollment of over 3,100.

Information about applying for a 2009 LibQUAL+® grant will be available in January 2008. The deadline for submitting grant applications is June 15, 2008.

LibQUAL+® is a suite of services that libraries use to solicit, track, understand, and act upon users’ opinions of service quality. These services are offered to the library community by the Association of Research Libraries (ARL). The program’s centerpiece is a rigorously tested Web-based survey that helps libraries assess and improve library services, change organizational culture, and market the library. Since 2000, more than 1,000 libraries have participated in LibQUAL+®, including college and university libraries, community college libraries, health sciences libraries, academic law libraries, and public libraries—some through various consortia, others as independent participants. LibQUAL+® has expanded internationally, with participating institutions in Africa, Australia, Asia, and Europe. LibQUAL+® is located on the Web at http://www.libqual.org/.

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. ARL is located on the Web at http://www.arl.org/.