The library as strategic investment: results of the University of Illinois Return on Investment Study

Around the world, libraries of all types face the challenge of demonstrating their value. This paper focuses on one approach to meeting this challenge in the academic library environment: articulating the return on investment (ROI) that accrues to a university when it invests in its library. While the specific metric chosen to identify at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign—the contribution made by library resources to successful applications for grant funding—may not be relevant in other contexts, the process used to identify it is relevant in any setting. The University of Illinois has always acknowledged the value of its library. Funding a library collection was one of the first topics addressed at an 1867 meeting of the Trustees of the newly-established Illinois Industrial University and it was at the 1927 dedication of the Main Library Building that University President David Kinley proclaimed the Library to be the “heart of the University”. Illinois is proud of its tradition of excellence in library services and collections but no amount of pride or tradition is enough to shield the library from trends in the information and higher education environments that demand more rigour in demonstrating the library’s value to students, scholars and the state.