Branding the library

Our company, Key Perspectives Ltd, has just completed a six-month study of the use of research library services in the UK by researchers. The report was published in the middle of last month. Our remit was to look at the way researchers use libraries and at the services provided by libraries in support of research. There were many findings, of course, but the one I want to mention here is about the library's place in the institution. Our study showed how difficult it is for librarians in the UK to influence decision- and policy-makers at the top of their institutions, and how little real support they get in this from the research community they do so much to serve.

The library is a woeful brand. Look on the website of almost any UK university and the library features under 'services' (or in some cases 'facilities') if it's lucky, or has to be specifically entered into the search box if it's not. And yet it is not so everywhere. In other parts of Europe, it is common for the library to be considered part of the academic fabric of an university, rather than a service department. Senior members of academic staff assume the role of university librarian for a period and then return to their department, while another takes over. In this way, the library is embedded in the academic framework of a university and is valued in a way that seems quite different to how libraries are valued in the UK.

Lorcan Dempsey has picked up this theme, too. He points out that in the US the library 'typically reports up through an academic officer, the provost'. He also points out that many UK libraries are part of a merged service, say with IT. We touched on this too in our study, reporting that while some libraries are merging, others appear to be coming out the other end of that phase and demerging again. Either way, the standing of the library is tied to that of the support service system and not to academic values. Little wonder, then, that many researchers have a fuzzy notion of what the library is providing for them. Yes, the library is a supporting, facilitative entity, but it is one that sits right at the heart of academic endeavour. In the UK, it deserves a better brand.