SPEC Kit 359: Library Development

This SPEC Kit gathered information to better understand the supporting structures and resources (personnel, financial, and material) and the activities and expectations associated with library development efforts at ARL member libraries. The survey retained some elements of the 2006 study for longitudinal comparison of the pre-recession environment and the current, post-recession environment, and included new elements to more broadly depict the current role of library development, including friendraising (efforts intended to generate committed and supportive relationships with outside parties and entities), communication to stakeholders of library value added, and stories and/or descriptive measures provided in these communication efforts. The survey also examined the role of advisory boards in the fundraising process. Since many academic libraries are either currently or soon will be engaged in a capital campaign or the renovation of an old or construction of a new library, the survey also examined the complexities of these common endeavors. It includes examples of organization charts, position descriptions, documents on fundraising goal setting and development board and friends governance, gift policies, capital campaign literature, and statements on intellectual freedom, inclusion, and diversity.