Views versus visions: Implementing the library's vision in the real world

Throughout institutions of higher education, the view of the library takes on many forms: the president may be inclined to see the library as a money pit; the faculty view of their library allocation approaches that of entitlement; some undergraduates view the library as a neat place for an inexpensive date; and the librarians as the place where "My Collection" is kept. While these stereotypes may appear all too familiar to some, they bear an element of truth. These, and other stereotypical views of the library, derive from the past; libraries and librarians are now in a period of substantial transformation, transition, and opportunity. This paper speaks to both the evolving role of libraries and to a process for changing the library's institutional position. If you want to be somewhere else, don't stay where you are. But, how do you manage the transition?published or submitted for publicatio