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In early 2021, the Schusterman Library at the University of Oklahoma-Tulsa satellite campus took a new step towards building a culture of interest by creating the Graphic Scholarship Collection. This new endeavor is a curated collection of graphic novels, primarily non-fiction, aligned with the academic programs on campus, as well as promoting University initiatives in diversity, equity, and inclusion. A new organizational structure for the collection materials and their circulation metrics will be examined in detail. There will also be consideration of the challenges of selection and acquisition by a mixed team of selectors, some of whom have no experience with graphic novels and who have to resolve contradictions between the new and existing library collections. New graphic scholarship initiatives and faculty-library partnerships will be explored. In addition to developing workshops and other learning activities around the collection, the library is partnering with campus faculty in creating original course content. The collection's development has already had an impact by building and strengthening bonds across the campus, and it aims to mirror the growth of the University community.

This research explores lecturers' perceptions of digital libraries as a learning resource for the industrial era 4.0 that can be used anytime and anywhere to solve the low interest in developing lecturers because of the difficulty of accessing references to conventional libraries, which require lecturers to visit the library building. Data was collected through semi-structured interviews with 15 lecturers, and data analysis was performed using thematic analysis. The analysis results found four main themes: benefits, challenges, recommendations, and positive and negative impacts of digital libraries. The research concluded that the existence of a digital library can make it easy for lecturers to browse the references needed quickly, easily, and flexibly just by entering the library's website page. This research contributes to solving the problem of lecturers in Indonesia over the limited learning resources in conventional libraries that are difficult to access online and require particular visiting time because they have to come directly during library operating hours. Therefore, support from the government, university leaders, and the wider community is needed to develop a digital library system to facilitate lecturers in Indonesia having adequate learning resources for the industrial era 4.0.

Public library storytimes provide rich learning opportunities for young children and their caregivers, yet little is known about how inclusive they are for children with disabilities and developmental delays (CwD/DD). The purpose of this study was to identify and describe ways that librarians support the inclusion of CwD/DD and their caregivers in storytime programs. We conducted semi-structured interviews with 34 librarians who provide storytime programs in public libraries in three states and analyzed them using iterative and inductive coding processes. Findings indicate that librarians are aware of the acute need to support diverse populations within their service communities and are collectively using a wide range of accommodations and strategies to facilitate their inclusion. However, on an individual level, they feel under-equipped to do so. Findings from this study highlight the need for further training and raise important questions regarding the equity of storytime programs for children with invisible disabilities, the potential reduction of diversity within storytime programs, and the potential value of establishing formal avenues of knowledge sharing.

In this study, researchers investigated the library experiences of Black undergraduate students at Penn State in University Park, a predominately white institution. Their goal was to improve services and spaces and to highlight and validate experiences with race, racism, and microaggressions on campus and in the library. Twenty undergraduate students were interviewed and asked to talk about their experiences and how these affected their perception of the University Libraries. Using the lens of critical race theory, which sees race as a socially constructed category used to oppress people of color, this study seeks to present a counternarrative to the prevailing dominant view of the library as a neutral space. Several consistent themes were identified. The themes included, but were not limited to, a low awareness of library services, lack of Black representation in the University Libraries, and a general lack of comfort within the library space.

Library labs are dedicated spaces with highly trained library, IT, and research support staff. The staff are on hand to help teach faculty and advanced graduate students new and emerging methodologies and technologies. Such a lab is a place to engage in new ways of, for example, doing digital scholarship or putting Open Science into practice. This article looks at ways that researchers engage with library labs and proposes a lab engagement pyramid to distinguish models for deploying trained staff and resources within the library lab space. A lab in an academic library requires the right mindset, skill set, tool set, programs, and staffing. The authors posit that a lab will be most successful if the library identifies the conditions that are desirable for the proposed lab space before it is designed and built. When a lab is already in existence but is underutilized, changing engagement strategies can lead to new growth.

This study examines cooperative collection development (CCD) for area studies and foreign language collections at Association of Research Libraries (ARL) libraries, based on a 2020 survey. Respondents provided details about cooperative collection initiatives (CCIs) at their libraries and their attitudes toward CCD. Most respondents had a favorable opinion of CCD, citing access to a broader collection of materials and cost savings as primary reasons. Challenges include the work and time involved in managing CCIs. This composite picture of how libraries build collaborative collections and the perceived benefits and challenges of CCD will inform librarians and administrators alike as they consider how best to build area studies and foreign language collections.

Public libraries offer a wide range of developmental support and learning opportunities for young children with and without disabilities. Libraries in many communities function as hubs and places of support for parenting, literacy, education, technology, as well as general local, and health information. A research team recently conducted focus group interviews with early intervention service coordinators (SCs) in three states to capture their perspectives on how libraries serve families with young children with disabilities. Findings from those conversations suggest a need for more collaborative efforts between librarians and early childhood (EC) professionals to support young children with disabilities. For the benefit of EC professionals, libraries, and families of young children with disabilities, this article proposes that EC professionals and librarians concentrate their collaborative efforts on two fronts: (a) extending professional collaboration and partnerships and (b) increasing community awareness of library programs and services.

Profound changes due to Open-Access (OA) publications lead to organizational changes in universities and libraries. This study examines Israeli librarians' perceptions regarding their role and the academic library's role in promoting OA-publications, including the barriers, challenges, needs, and requirements necessary to promote OA publishing. Lack of a budget for OA-agreements, no cooperation from university management, and researchers' unfamiliarity with OA were among the most prominent barriers. Librarians see great importance in their role of advising researchers regarding OA. However, they insist on a regulated OA-policy at the national and institutional levels to strengthen their status as change-leaders of the OA-movement.

Systematic reviews, along with other types of knowledge synthesis, are a type of research methodology that attempt to find all available evidence on a topic to help answer specific questions. Librarian involvement in systematic reviews is well established in the health sciences, and in recent years there has been growing awareness of, and literature about, librarians outside of health supporting systematic reviews. This study benchmarks librarian support of systematic reviews in the sciences, humanities, and social sciences (SHSS) by looking at the growth of demand for support, the disciplines requesting this kind of librarian support, and the specific types of support needed. It also examines what SHSS librarians need to be successful in this type of work, including administrative support and workload adjustments.

Faced the vast amount of information, choosing the appropriate materials is a prerequisite for effective self-directed learning. The recommendation algorithm is a kind of intelligent technology that can accurately locate the required information which the users care about most. However, many recommendation techniques experience can not be trained adequately in scenarios with small sample data and extremely sparse ratings. Moreover, DLRAs (Deep learning based Recommendation Algorithms) require high hardware support. The probabilistic graph (PG) can effectively represent the implicit complex relations among nodes, but it still has the problem of sparse data sensitivity. Therefore, we propose a Matrix-Factorization-based Probabilistic Graph Model for Recommendation Algorithm (MF-PGMRA): By matrix-factorizing the sparse rating matrix, the users and items are mapped to the user/item spaces, respectively; We employ the inner product to data-enhance and overcome the problems of sparse data and cold start; Then, we build Probabilistic Graph to construct the "user-item" latent spaces and estimate the probability distribution based on expectation maximization (EM), so as to predict the ratings; Finally, we built a library management system with the recommendation module to highlight the benefits of MF-PGMRA for students' subject learning. According to a questionnaire, we confirmed that the students are satisfied with the system from four aspects of speed, accuracy, usability and convenience, which can confirm that the library management system based on MF-PGMRA can efficiently and accurately recommend suitable materials for students from the huge amount of learning materials to improve students' self-directed learning efficiency.

Discussions about coping, resilience, and mental health accompanied the COVID-19 shutdowns and gradual return to academic and workspaces across the US through 2021. As physical and spiritual practices, yoga and meditation have been shown to help people through adversity and create resilience. Academic librarians were surveyed about yoga and meditation programs throughout the pandemic. The survey found that while yoga and meditation programs in academic libraries are on the rise, many cancelled their sessions because of the pandemic. Additionally, more can be done to make these sessions accessible.

Estimates of the price or value of the individual journals within a full-text database may be useful to librarians engaged in serials reviews or other collection development projects, to scholars investigating the determinants of journal prices, and to publishers seeking to rationalize their pricing strategies. This paper evaluates six methods of apportioning the cost of a full-text database among the individual journals in the database--methods based on variables such as journal size, total citations, Journal Impact Factor (JIF) percentile, and single-journal list price. Each method is evaluated based on how well the resulting prices can be predicted by the determinants of journal prices identified in previous research. Although the six methods yield similar results, the single best option is to use price estimates that account for JIF percentile. If citation data are not available and cannot be estimated, the best alternative is to rely on the equal-value assumption--to split the total price equally among the wanted journals in the database.

Academic libraries are experiencing drastic changes due to unprecedented advancements in technology. This advancement has caused changes in users' information-seeking behavior, increased information competitors, and easy access and availability to free information on the internet. It is unfortunate that all this is happening amidst the dwindling financial support libraries receive from their parent organization. These variations, such as the digital shift and remote access, changing user expectations, open access movement, the need for data management and preservation models are causing havoc and disruption to academic libraries; therefore, academic libraries need to justify their position and relevancy. This paper discusses the conundrum academic libraries face and suggests why and how they should adopt entrepreneurial practices.

Libraries at academic institutions have been involved in research data management services (RDMS) for more than ten years. Institutions have adapted their service models in response to funder, journal, and federal mandates that have consequently increased RDMS demand. However, institutions that hope to start or grow their services may have difficulty extrapolating from thepublished literature, as few studies recount RDMS development strategies.

For more than 30 years, Peter Senge's theory of learning organizations has influenced the study of leadership and organizations. Researchers have studied various components of his framework: team cognition and mental models, team learning, shared vision, systems thinking, and personal mastery. But few articles have explored what it looks like in practice when the five disciplines of the learning organization are enacted in an organization. This article explores the ways in which these disciplines influenced the implementation and outcomes of a collection diversity audit at Sonoma State University Library. The authors discuss the ways that Senge's learning organization framework enabled them to create a sustainable model for evaluating diversity in selection and acquisition practices.

The literature in open education has thoroughly examined the implications of labor and staffing for initiatives around open educational resources (OER). However, less attention has been paid to the reliance on librarian labor for open pedagogy support. This article describes a collaboration between librarians and faculty to support an open pedagogy assignment in which students co-created an open textbook describing the history, politics, and culture of several East Asian cities. Special attention is paid to the scope and level of the support from the Libraries, which included faculty consultations, several instruction sessions, managing the publishing platform, and developing processes to ensure students' rights as authors. The collaboration provides context for a discussion about our current work of developing an open pedagogy service model. Lessons learned can inform similar collaborations at other institutions.

What began in a library science course as a collection development project serendipitously transformed into varied learning experiences for students across disciplines and program levels. This article shares the journey of how a singular lesson idea blossomed into an unintentional, multidisciplinary project that led to unexpected learning outcomes for all involved. [The page range cited on the .pdf (p97-107) is incorrect. The correct page range is p95-107.]

Indiana University Purdue University Indianapolis' (IUPUI's) Center for Translating Research Into Practice (TRIP) and IUPUI University Library (Library) developed a partnership to enhance community access to faculty scholarship resulting from translational research. Library staff archives the scholarship of faculty affiliated with TRIP in IUPUI ScholarWorks, the campus's open-access institutional repository. The TRIP Scholarly Works Program launched in 2013, and outcomes include benefits for faculty authors (increased readership) and for a world of readers (free access). After almost ten years in existence, Library and TRIP staff sought to evaluate the success of this program. Librarians and TRIP staff distributed a survey to TRIP-affiliated faculty to assess the impact of open access to their scholarship on their work as translational scholars. Faculty participants report a variety of benefits and yet, also indicate a need for increased program communication and fewer barriers to participation.

This piece introduces the Des Moines University Library's Research and Scholarly Communication Peer Associate Program, focusing on the curriculum of a five-day summer institute developed for graduate medical and health sciences students and rooted in a critical information literacy framework. The authors outline the institute's philosophy and approach and provide readers with key content areas, materials, activities, and homework prompts. Initial program assessment is discussed, and the authors share their thoughts on how the program might continue to evolve to meet the changing needs of students. The article concludes with reflections from two peer associates who participated in the program during the 2022-2023 academic year.

The current LGBTQIA+-hostile political climate highlights a growing need among school librarians for evidence-based support addressing inclusive professional practices. To establish a baseline of studies providing this evidence and to identify areas where further research is needed, this study used systematic literature review methodology to examine international empirical research in the field of school and youth librarianship published between the years of 2009 and 2021. The study's objectives were to identify and categorize published empirical research on LGBTQIA+ topics in school and youth librarianship and to identify and categorize gaps in that research, proposing focuses for future research studies. Findings determined that little research has been done to examine LGBTQIA+ inclusive school library services for youth. Also revealed was a monolithic approach to the discussion of LGBTQIA+ identities and expressions. More research in this area and the employment of diverse methodologies to uncover a detailed and expansive picture of what LGBTQIA+ inclusive service means are desperately needed.

Historical and modern scientific thought is dominated by the English language, colonized science, patriarchal norms, and Westernized "ways of knowing." By making materials that lie outside that narrative discoverable (e.g., non-Western science, Indigenous/Aboriginal knowledge, women in science, etc.) we can assert that science is a global endeavor by representing diverse scientists on physical library shelves or ebook "shelves." The Cataloging and Metadata Librarian and Science and Outreach Librarian at Furman University, a small liberal arts college, collaborated on a project to address discriminatory practices in the catalog records of a subset of the libraries' STEM collection. Spurred by another project to update deprecated Cutters in Library of Congress call numbers, we assessed collection content with an eye to improve future collection development and created a local method for collocating DEI materials within an Alma consortium catalog. The intended goals of the project were to update the collection, improve metadata to increase discoverability, and develop an auditing process to use for other collections.

In academic libraries there has been growing interest in developing better ways to diversify collections, but STEM collections are sometimes overlooked. To better understand current practices and challenges, a survey was distributed to librarians with STEM collection responsibilities in the summer of 2021. Results from the survey indicated that STEM librarians care about improving the diversity of their collections but struggle with a lack of time, knowledge, and other resources needed to do so effectively.

The prime purpose of the current research is to explore the impact of training and development programs for University library professionals in Sri Lanka. The research adopted the quantitative research method, where the data were collected through a structured questionnaire from 132 respondents. The collected data were analyzed using MS-Excel and Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS), where the descriptive statistics, Analysis of Variance (ANOVA), correlation, and regression analysis were carried out and showed significant results. The analysis finding revealed that the training and development programs have a constructive impact on organizational performance. Also, the findings revealed a significant relationship between training and development and organizational development and self-development. The paper emphasizes the requirement of training and development programs for the library staff in the University libraries of Sri Lanka. The research findings would proffer useful guidance for organizations in Sri Lanka to offer better library services.

Fulfilling requests for media content in support of classroom and faculty research activities is demanding for academic libraries. Libraries strive to meet requests for media while working with challenges such as intellectual property license contracts, advances in digital communication technologies and copyright issues. This article provides an in-depth look at the changing demands of collections and services in addressing faculty requests for media, and outlines both a collection and a service strategy developed by librarians at the University of South Florida Libraries to provide faculty and students with access to diverse media titles in formats ranging from physical to streaming.

Purpose: By examining types of literacies taught by public libraries and the modes through which these programs were offered, this study aims to explore how public libraries might integrate data literacy training for the general public into existing library educational programs. Design/methodology/approach: This study examined programs offered in 30 US public libraries during 2019 and 2020 to better understand types of literacy education announced to the public through library website listings and Facebook Events pages. Findings: While public libraries offered educational programs in literacy areas ranging from basic reading and writing to technology, vocational skills, health literacy and more, data literacy training was not widely offered. However, this study identified many already-existing programs highly compatible for integrating with data literacy training. Originality/value: This study offered new insights into both the literacies taught in public library programs as well as ways for public libraries to integrate data literacy training into existing educational programming, in order to better provide data literacy education for the general public.

To identify potential needs for primary source collections, this study examines course descriptions and student learning outcomes from the University General Course Catalog of the University of Nevada, Reno. Primary source collection development analysis has not been a focus for librarianship literature. This study uses OpenRefine to analyze words and phrases related to philosophy, history, and primary source resources. Specific locations, time periods, and topics were identified as potential collections for future acquisitions. The findings presented here are specific to one university, but the development of this analysis process can help other academic libraries identify potential topics and resources for their collection development.

Academia and practicing Librarians have worked together with the innovation of the 21st century which has made librarianship much more interesting. This study employed the descriptive non-experimental survey design. A total of 379 librarians participated in the study via online Google form were used for data collection. Data analysis was done the aid of relative importance index (RII). Findings showed that the highest rated infographic tools are Google Charts RII = 0.6 ranked 1st, Adobe Spark with RII = 0.5 ranked 2nd and ranked 3rd was Information Infographics RII = 0.5. Besides, top barrier to use of infographic among Librarians was the general perception that it is time consuming" with RII of 0.70. followed by requiring flexible budget" RII = 0.70 and poor internet network" RII = 0.70. The study concluded that contrary to the researcher's a-priori expectation, the outcome of this study revealed a high level of awareness and use of infographic tools among librarians in Nigeria.

This case study details how a community college library, in response to rising textbook costs and COVID-related closures, advocated for and received an increase in funding to provide online copies of many textbooks in its reserve collection. It also provides a glimpse into the roadblocks acquisitions librarians might encounter in trying to bolster online textbook collections, such as licensing issues, expense, and loan periods. The initiative resulted in a major expansion of access to etextbooks, particularly lower undergraduate titles from large textbook publishers. The new etextbooks varied greatly in popularity. Circulation statistics of print textbooks are presented along with usage data for etextbooks for the first year of this initiative. Initial statistics illustrate the potential popularity of etextbooks and also show the need for further investigation about which disciplines are best served by etextbook access, and how best to raise awareness of these titles for professors as well as students.

This study has examined librarians' possession of information and communication technology (ICT) skills and knowledge that are requisite to practicing embedded librarianship in Tanzanian academic libraries. An exploratory cross-sectional design and qualitative and quantitative approaches have been employed by the study to collect data from 166 librarians and 6 library directors. While the data collected using a questionnaire have been analyzed using Statistical Product and Service Solutions version 21, those collected using interviews have been analyzed thematically. The study reveals that librarians have inadequate ICT skills and knowledge needed to effectively implement embedded librarianship. More specifically, the librarians lack the skills and knowledge needed to deploy sophisticated ICT tools, software, and online platforms. Regarding the ways through which librarians acquired the ICT skills and knowledge they had, the study reveals diverse sources. To effectively practice embedded librarianship, the study recommends both long-term and short-term ICT training for library professionals.

An increasingly complex and demanding research landscape has seen university libraries rapidly evolve their services. While research data management, bibliometrics, and research impact services have predominantly featured in the literature to date, the full scope of support libraries are currently providing to their institutions is unknown. This paper aims to present an up-to-date view of the scope and extent of research support services by university libraries across Australia and Aotearoa New Zealand. A coding process analyzed content data from university library websites. Eleven research support areas were identified. Service delivery is split between synchronous and asynchronous modes. This paper describes a lived experience of an evidence-based library and information practice approach to improving research support services at two Australian university libraries, and while it highlights continued maturation of research support services, more research is needed to better understand influences on service development.

For the last decade or more, circulation numbers of physical materials have declined in academic libraries across the United States. In the spring of 2020, the COVID-19 pandemic drastically altered society and daily life, not to mention library functions. In particular, fears of contagion via physical surfaces and transmission by contact led many libraries to shutter their in-person services or temporarily close altogether. The circulation of physical materials was hit particularly hard, as the ability to browse shelves, check out items, access interlibrary loan, and a host of other similar services were curtailed. This article will examine the statistical markers of physical material handling (checkouts, renewals, item browses, etc.) for two years before and after the pandemic, to reach conclusions about how COVID-19 impacted usage, what we can tell about general patterns in circulation before and due to these changes, and ultimately what these numbers tell us about the future of traditional material use.

Recent semi-structured interviews with 28 librarians and branch managers on the placement of social workers in public libraries revealed a need for library and information science (LIS) programs to better prepare students for their role as social service information providers and to provide models for working with and supervising social workers in the library. It is clear that libraries are experiencing increasing demands to respond to the social-service information needs that users bring to the library, and the importance of libraries to communities in times of uncertainty and crisis is clear. In response, some libraries are including social workers on staff, but this trend does not completely relieve librarians of the need to serve the public's social-service information needs. LIS students need to understand the professional boundaries of librarianship and social work and to develop the ability to feel confident in their interactions with users who have been traumatized, are in crisis, or are struggling with challenges such as the need for credible health information; home and food insecurity information; legal aid; access to the Internet for individuals and families from low-income situations; accessible adult education programs; and more. Interview participants offered a number of suggestions for how to incorporate social work concepts into LIS education and asked for several specific skills such as training in mental-health first aid, de-escalation techniques, and greater knowledge of social-service resources.

Academic libraries are expanding their collections to meet the technological and leisure needs of their students, but support for accessibility and curriculum can often be overlooked. At the University of North Texas Libraries, the Access Services Department utilized an internal grant to address the accessibility and curriculum gaps in its collection by offering access to equipment such as C-Pen readers, electronic translators, and sensory items. This article describes the steps taken to create a new circulating collection of equipment items. Best practices for cataloging, circulation, item storage, and procedures, as well as strategies for promoting the collection are also discussed.

Dahlgren Memorial Library, the Graduate Health and Life Sciences Research Library at Georgetown University implemented the circulation of room keys in 2007. The rooms were outside of the library and managed by Georgetown University School of Medicine's Office of Financial Affairs who were integral in the implementation of the keys and the management of the rooms. This article will discuss the policies and procedures for circulating the room keys, downfalls and benefits, and future plans.

The primary goal of this study was to identify gaps in curriculum coverage and required skills for research support services (RSS) in university libraries in the Punjab province of Pakistan. A convergent parallel mixed methods design was used to meet its objective. To collect data for the quantitative strand, across-sectional survey with a closed-ended questionnaire was conducted. The population for the cross sectional survey was reference/research librarians working in university libraries in the Punjab province. SPSS was used to analyze quantitative data. In the qualitative strand, the curriculum documents of seven LIS/IM schools in the Punjab province were examined by using the content analysis technique. Results of both strands were compared for gap analysis. The findings revealed a gap between the skills required for RSS and the offerings of LIS/IM schools. The findings have practical implications for LIS/IM schools that will help to realign their curricula to meet market needs.

Public libraries have embraced the popularity of maker education and makerspaces by integrating maker education in their program offerings, and by developing makerspaces that enable patrons to tinker and create products. But less attention has been paid to supporting librarians and maker educators in assessing the impact of these spaces. To expand assessment scholarship and practices related to public library makerspaces, we offer two contributions. First, we share findings from a qualitative research study in which we analyzed how 17 library staff and maker educators define success and identify evidence of success in their maker programs. The findings from that study, in conjunction with our collective experience as research partners working with public library makerspaces, laid the foundation for a series of analysis tools we developed to help stakeholders identify the assessment needs of such learning environments. The Properties of Success Analysis Tools (PSA Tools) represent our second contribution; these tools invite library staff and maker educators to reflect on and unpack their definitions of success in order to identify what features a relevant assessment tool should have.

The use of information and communication technologies (ICTs) has considerably increased among students, including students with vision impairment (SVI). There has been limited work on the information and digital needs of people with disabilities, particularly SVI who were studying for their masters or MPhil and were involved in research activities in Pakistan. This study is an effort to explore various obstacles, expected services and support for SVIs from their universities, libraries, and Higher Education Commission (HEC) Pakistan. This study is qualitative in nature, and an interview guide was used to collect data from the participants in Lahore, Pakistan. The results of this study showed that students with vision impairment use a variety of digital information resources. However, very few use the higher education commission of Pakistan subscribed databases due to restricted access and complex interfaces. The hindrances include lack of university support, limited training opportunities, non-availability of digital library services, and others. The participants highlighted a variety of needed library services and support from their departmental as well as central libraries. It is assumed that the results of this study will help the relevant authorities to make friendly policies and improve library services to facilitate the SVI.

Libraries in Nigeria have long struggled to adequately serve the information needs of visually impaired individuals, particularly those who are literate. Despite this, scholarly research addressing these issues in South-Eastern Nigeria is lacking, highlighting the urgency of investigating predictors of user satisfaction among visually impaired students in SLMCs. The research design utilizes a survey methodology across four states in South-Eastern Nigeria, encompassing a total population of 95 individuals. Data collection involves administering questionnaires to visually impaired students and SLMC personnel, followed by comprehensive data analysis using descriptive and inferential statistical techniques. Findings reveal a positive correlation between information needs, library accessibility, and user satisfaction, while library services and media-format availability did not significantly influence user satisfaction. Impediments to user satisfaction include inadequacy of media formats, contents, outdated materials, lack of equipment, and recording studios. Addressing these challenges is crucial to improving library engagement and user satisfaction among visually impaired students in South-Eastern Nigeria, ultimately fostering more inclusive and supportive educational environments.

Over the past decade, the financial crisis has led to reduced government funding for academic libraries in Greece. Now more than ever, it is imperative for library managers to improve their knowledge and understanding of cost behavior, in order to effectively deliver high quality services at decreasing costs. To do so, they need to apply clearly-defined costing methods, such as Time-Driven Activity-Based Costing (TDABC), that allow them to identify the various costs involved in the library processes. In our study, we applied the TDABC method at the medium-sized library of the University of Macedonia (UoM), in Thessaloniki, Greece, to evaluate the costs of the Inter-library Loans (ILL) services. Since the library managers did not adopt a cost allocation method, the cost estimation of the UoM ILL services was rather simplistic and rudimentary. Our research provides empirical evidence of the advantages of TDABC in an academic library setting. Namely, the TDABC method can help library administrators decide how to successfully allocate the available resources and improve the efficiency of the library processes.