Reimagining the Academic Library, by David W. Lewis

Academic libraries have faced enormous disruption over the last 25 years. In this excellent overview of the current state of academic libraries, author David W. Lewis addresses the forces that academic libraries face, and the steps that need to be taken to address our changing circumstances. Mr. Lewis is Dean of the Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis University Library and Assistant Vice President of Digital Scholarly Communications, and has published extensively on this and related topics.

This book is divided into two sections; the first presents the forces facing libraries, and the second the steps needed to address those forces. According to Mr. Lewis, the forces facing academic libraries are disruption, digital documents, the changing nature of the book, the new scholarly record, the economics of information, and changing demographics of library staff. Steps that we need to take to address these forces are: defining the job, creating the library as place, retiring the legacy print collection, preserving digital content, making the money work, and working with the "smart machine."

Mr. Lewis concludes with a list of 10 things that we can do now (pp. 155-158):

• Retire the legacy print collection now
• Develop a space plan
• Have a materials budget strategy to manage the transition from traditional publishing models to open access
• Support the creation of, access to, and preservation of the scholarly content created on your campus
• Commit to the special collections your library will support and make the required investments
• Infuse the curriculum with the skills necessary to create and consume information productively
• Understand the demographics of your organization and have a plan to hire or develop the expertise the library will need
• Get the culture right
• Support the development and sustainability of network-level tools and services
• Sell the change

I found Mr. Lewis' arguments compelling, and his writing clear and cogent. There are many useful references at the end of each chapter, and the book includes a bibliography and index. I recommend this book to all academic library leaders and administrators.

David W. Lewis. Reimagining the Academic Library. Lanham, Md.: Rowman & Littlefield, 2016. 170 pages. ISBN 978144223858.