Table of Contents
ARL Board of Directors 2022
ARL Staff 2022
Key 2021–2022 Action Plan Priority Outcomes
By the Numbers
Introduction
Dear member representatives, partners, and colleagues,
We are pleased to present the Association of Research Libraries (ARL) 2022 Year in Review. This year, ARL accomplished our 2021–2022 Action Plan goals and fulfilled our Core Commitments for ARL member representatives and the research library enterprise. In a time of significant change in member representation, we took this historic moment to refine our vision and mission and to launch our 2023–2026 Action Plan to achieve our aspirations, given our shared purpose.
Our first Core Commitment is, “Engender a member experience in which all members feel welcome and can participate in and benefit from the Association.” Our 2023–2026 Action Plan reflects our member institution priorities emerging from the pandemic, economic challenges, and sociopolitical instability.
We are dedicated to centering and uplifting structural equity and inclusion within our member experience and in the research and learning ecosystem. The ARL Learning Network and our Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion programs cultivate diversity among leadership in the research library community, including providing scholarships to ensure equitable access to ARL programs. Our Public Policy and Scholarship work centers on structural equity and inclusion, and the values and values accountability framework for research libraries underway will further reflect this commitment.
Our second Core Commitment is, “Deepen and expand the understanding of the research library’s value and brand identity, particularly in terms of its impact in the research enterprise and more broadly.” ARL actively engages with our partners in research and learning to achieve our goals. Collaborations include project work and publications with the Association of American Universities, the Association of Public and Land-grant Universities, the Association of University Presses, the Council on Governmental Relations, the Library Copyright Alliance, the National Academies Board on Research Data and Information, and the National Academies US National Committee for CODATA. This past year, ARL and the Canadian Association of Research Libraries (CARL) commissioned Ithaka S+R to consult with university leaders in Canada and the United States to identify their strategic priorities, to gauge their expectations of research libraries in achieving them, and, together with our members, to determine what more research libraries can do to advance those priorities. ARL and CARL shared the final report on Aligning the Research Library to Organizational Strategy with the members, the associations’ leaders and their stakeholders who participated in the interviews and focus groups, and the public in April 2022. Case studies on redressing relationships with the historically marginalized, and more intensive discussions with seven institutions in Canada and the United States are underway on growth strategies and STEM.
ARL staff served on national and international committees in research and learning as well as partnered with colleagues in the International Alliance of Research Library Associations (IARLA) to further advance shared goals. ARL worked with the US Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP) and the US National Institutes of Health (NIH) on their new guidelines for facilitating public access to the results of federally funded research.
Thank you to the Board of Directors, committee members, our partners, and our staff for a fruitful year, advancing our shared vision and goals.
ARL Board of Directors 2022
Jon E. Cawthorne (Wayne State), Past President John Culshaw (Iowa), President K. Matthew Dames (Notre Dame), Trevor A. Dawes (Delaware), Treasurer Bob Fox (Louisville), Lorraine Haricombe (Texas at Austin), Melissa Just (Saskatchewan), Executive Director Mary Lee Kennedy (ARL), Joe Lucia (Temple), Robert McDonald (Colorado Boulder), Lisa O’Hara (Manitoba), Vice President/President-Elect Susan Parker (British Columbia), Sarah Pritchard (Northwestern), and Lorelei Tanji (California Irvine).
ARL Staff 2022
Mary Lee Kennedy, Executive Director
Jessica Aiwuyor, Senior Director of Communications
Jessica Andrade, Associate Director of Board and Member Relations
Kevin Borden, Senior Director of Research and Analytics
Ryan Brennan, Accounting Manager
Jaymey Butler, Director, Events
DeLa Dos, Senior Director, Learning + DEI
Tony Ellis, Communications Coordinator
Deborah R. Grayson, Leadership and Organizational Development
Holly Gross, Senior Applications Developer
Kaylyn Groves, Senior Writer and Editor
Cynthia Hudson Vitale, Director, Scholars & Scholarship
Pat Kent, Accounting Coordinator
Katherine Klosek, Director of Information Policy
Anam Mian, Research Analyst
Samantha Musser, Program Manager
Angela Pappalardo, Program Manager
Gary Roebuck, Deputy Executive Director
Judy Ruttenberg, Senior Director of Scholarship and Policy
Mira Swearer, Senior Program Manager
Shawna Taylor, Project Manager, Realities of Academic Data Sharing
Amy Yeager, Communications Manager
Key 2021–2022 Action Plan Priority Outcomes
ARL achieved our Action Plan priorities. The outcomes have covered ground in advocacy and public policy; advancing research and scholarship; data and analytics; diversity, equity, and inclusion; and leadership.
Jump to: Priority 2 | Priority 3 | Priority 4 | Priority 5
1. Fulfilling our priority Advocate for Public Policies in Support of Our Mission and Shared Objective:
- ARL partnered with the Social Science Research Council (SSRC) #MediaWell project to interview experts reflecting on the question of how fair use supports research, journalism, and truth.
- The Library Copyright Alliance (LCA)—which consists of the American Library Association (ALA), the Association of College and Research Libraries (ACRL), and ARL—successfully negotiated language that would carve libraries and higher education out of the “SMART” Copyright Act (S. 3880).
- Since the US Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP) released the August 2022 memo on “Ensuring Free, Immediate, and Equitable Access to Federally Funded Research,” ARL has produced a number of resources to help its members and the community navigate the guidance and communicate with campus stakeholders about the expected changes. ARL also helped its members and the library community prepare for the new US National Institutes of Health (NIH) Data Management and Sharing Policy, which took effect January 2023.
ARL Updated KnowYourCopyrights.org
KnowYourCopyrights.org is a resource that supports library leaders that includes:
- Conversations around: copyrights and fair use
- Maximizing the use of library rights
- Not ceding rights due to restrictive license terms
- Shifts in technology and business models
- Outdated practices rooted in risk aversion
2. Fulfilling our priority Advocate for and Equip Research Library and Archives Leaders as Partners in Advancing Research and Scholarship That Is Increasingly Open and Equitable:
- The five-year pilot of Toward an Open Monograph Ecosystem (TOME) concluded with 143 books and an additional 20–30 in the pipeline.
- ARL published a survey report of member expenses on open-access expenditures, which was subsequently cited in a US Office of Science and Technology Policy report to Congress.
- ARL published the first report of Accelerating the Social Impact of Research (ASIR).
The pilot engaged small teams from eight ARL member libraries who shared strategies to accelerate the adoption and implementation of open-science principles for social-impact research and scholarship. - ARL’s Realities of Academic Data Sharing (RADS) initiative is conducting research, developing models, and collecting costing information for public access to research data across five disciplinary areas in the sciences.
- Partnerships—Council on Governmental Relations, the Data Curation Network, the Federal Demonstration Partnership
- Cross-campus Collaborations—Identified teams and units within the institution that support data sharing
- Expenses for Public Access to Research Data—Collected expense information for public access to data services, infrastructure, and staffing
- Metadata Analysis—Understand where faculty are sharing their research data and the quality of the metadata
- Public Access DMS Activities—Mapped activities across campus that support public data sharing
3. Fulfilling our priority Provide Data and Analytics on Research Library Practices, Effectiveness, and Impact:
- ARL published the ARL Annual Salary Survey 2020, the ARL Statistics 2020, ARL Academic Law Library Statistics 2020, and ARL Academic Health Sciences Library Statistics 2020.
- ARL hosted its 2022 Library Assessment Conference virtually, November 1–4. The theme of the conference was “Building Effective, Sustainable, Practical Assessment.” There were 551 virtual attendees.
- Research Library Impact Framework Pilot Program projects are complete and ARL has published all 18 practice briefs and reports.
ARL developed a Research and Assessment Cycle Toolkit that covers 5 modules and 23 training videos and supporting materials. The Assessment Cycle includes: Choosing a focus and setting goals, Gathering and analyzing data, Making decisions, Sharing results, and Revising goals.
4. Fulfilling our priority Create Diverse, Equitable, Inclusive, and Accessible Work Environments, Services, and Collections:
- ARL’s Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Institute Task Force launched a community input survey. Responses will be used to inform the development of recommendations for a curriculum, success metrics, and benchmarks for the Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) Institute.
- ARL’s Kaleidoscope Program , with 160 participants in 2022, currently has two ongoing cohorts: 2021–2023 and 2022–2024. The goal of the program is to attract master of library and information science (MLIS) students from historically underrepresented racial and ethnic groups to careers in research libraries and archives.
- ARL’s Leadership and Career Development Program (LCDP), with 95 participants, currently has one cohort for 2022–2023. The program continues to prepare mid-career librarians from historically underrepresented racial and ethnic groups to take on leadership roles in their careers and in the profession at large.
ARL partnered with the American Library Association (ALA), Association of College & Research Libraries (ACRL), and Public Library Association (PLA) to develop and release Cultural Proficiencies for Racial Equity: A Framework.
5. Fulfilling our priority Shape and Inform Leadership Practice throughout Research Libraries:
- With the Board’s approval in February 2022, the ARL Academy was renamed the ARL Learning Network, and the ARL Learning Network formally launched over the following months.
- ARL’s 2021–2022 Leadership Fellows cohort met in Toronto during the Spring Association Meeting in April and visited Georgia Tech in May. This was ARL’s most diverse cohort ever. Additionally, the Leadership Fellows curriculum was redesigned to center DEI. The 2021–2022 program concluded during the Coalition for Networked Information (CNI) Membership Meeting in December.
The ARL Learning Network offers:
- Focus on leadership
- Skills development
- Diversity, equity, and inclusion
- Advancing professional development
- Resources, tools, and networking
ARL’s 2022 By the Numbers
ARL’s programs, initiatives, and events included various partners and hundreds of attendees and participants.
- Convening—1,279 ARL event attendees at member meetings, forums, and conferences
- Informing—32 briefings and reports
- Shaping—$506,076 invested in fellows and scholars programs
- Influencing—45 amicus briefs, partner/coalition letters, statements, and public comments
