At its Fall 2017 Association Meeting held October 3–4 in Washington, DC, the membership of the Association of Research Libraries (ARL) voted to invite Simon Fraser University (SFU) Library to join as the 124th member, effective January 1, 2018. Gwen Bird, university librarian and dean of libraries, accepted the invitation.
“Membership in ARL will allow SFU to join and influence critical conversations about the changing role of research libraries,” said Bird. “It will help us attract and retain top quality people to our organization, and expand our network of partners and collaborators.”
SFU vice-president research and international, Joy Johnson, stated, “The invitation to join this select group of research libraries acknowledges the overall excellence of SFU’s library, as well as its leadership in open access, scholarly publishing, and community engagement. We look forward to a mutually beneficial association with ARL for years to come.”
The vote to approve SFU’s membership followed a review of the university library that considered both qualitative and quantitative documentation and a site visit. The review process included an examination of the breadth and depth of collections, uniqueness of research resources, services to the library’s community, potential contributions to scholarship, and leadership in the library and information science profession. The review acknowledged the library’s record of national and international leadership in areas such as publishing, scholarly communication, and community engagement.
“The Association of Research Libraries welcomes Simon Fraser University as the 124th member of ARL,” said Mary Ann Mavrinac, president of ARL and vice provost and Andrew H. and Janet Dayton Neilly dean of the University of Rochester Libraries. “We look forward to working with SFU Library on the many significant issues currently facing the global research library community, especially the transformation of scholarly communication, which SFU has pioneered.”
About the Association of Research Libraries
The Association of Research Libraries (ARL) is a nonprofit organization of 123 research libraries in the US and Canada. ARL’s 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, facilitating the emergence of new roles for research libraries, and shaping a future environment that leverages its interests with those of allied organizations. ARL is on the web at ARL.org.
About Simon Fraser University and SFU Library
Founded in 1965, Simon Fraser University is Canada’s most community-engaged research university with vibrant campuses in British Columbia’s largest municipalities—Vancouver, Burnaby, and Surrey—and deep roots in partner communities throughout the province and around the world. In the 2017 Maclean’s Magazine University Ranking of Canadian universities SFU was named the top comprehensive university in Canada for the third straight year. With locations at all three SFU campuses, research-oriented and distinctive physical and digital collections, and significant community partnerships, SFU Library plays a central role in the university’s research, teaching and learning, and engagement mandates. SFU Library is on the web at lib.sfu.ca.
