At its Fall 2022 Association Meeting held in Washington, DC, October 18–19, the membership of the Association of Research Libraries (ARL) voted to invite the University of North Texas (UNT) University Libraries to join ARL as the 128th member, effective January 1, 2023. Diane Bruxvoort, UNT dean of libraries, accepted the invitation.
“I am excited to accept this invitation on behalf of the UNT Libraries,” said Dean Bruxvoort. “We have been successful in supporting learning, research, and digital collections in a culture of innovation and inclusivity, but membership in ARL allows us to now take our initiatives to the next level as we gain new opportunities to collaborate with our colleagues in the leading academic libraries in the US and Canada.”
The vote to approve UNT’s membership followed a review of the UNT Libraries that considered both qualitative and quantitative data, a virtual site visit, site visit team recommendations, library documentation, and an ARL Membership Committee review. The ARL Membership Committee enthusiastically supported UNT’s candidacy for ARL membership, highlighting that UNT is a tier-one research university and Hispanic-serving institution with annual research expenditures of approximately $81 million, and that UNT’s libraries are recognized by the UNT president and provost as among the most innovative and forward-looking entities in the institution. The review also noted that UNT and UNT Libraries have committed to multiple initiatives supporting system-wide expansion of diversity, equity, inclusion, and access.
“We are pleased to welcome the University of North Texas to ARL. UNT Libraries lead by example in advancing diversity, equity, inclusion, accessibility, and innovation,” said K. Matthew Dames, ARL president and Edward H. Arnold Dean, Hesburgh Libraries and University of Notre Dame Press, University of Notre Dame. “We look forward to UNT’s participation in the Association’s work to create a trusted, equitable, and inclusive research and learning ecosystem.”
About the Association of Research Libraries
The Association of Research Libraries (ARL) is a nonprofit organization of research libraries in Canada and the US whose vision is to create a trusted, equitable, and inclusive research and learning ecosystem and prepare library leaders to advance this work in strategic partnership with member libraries and other organizations worldwide. ARL’s mission is to empower and advocate for research libraries and archives to shape, influence, and implement institutional, national, and international policy. ARL develops the next generation of leaders and enables strategic cooperation among partner institutions to benefit scholarship and society. ARL is on the web at ARL.org.
About the University of North Texas University Libraries
The UNT Libraries facilitate teaching, learning, and research for students, scholars, and community members at UNT and around the world, through our collection and curation of information resources and knowledge. As the most-used service on campus and an essential component of education and research at UNT, the Libraries offer access to more than 6 million print and digital items along with innovative programs and support services and expert personnel to assist our diverse community in achieving their academic and scholarly goals.
