SCONUL (Society of College, National and University Libraries) is the professional association for academic and research libraries in the UK and

Ireland Ireland (, ; ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe. Geopolitically, the island is divided between the Republic of Ireland (officially Names of the Irish state, named Irelan ...

, irrespective of size and mission. SCONUL provides leadership and support to its community through advocacy, policy development, sharing knowledge and good practice and direct services to members.

History

SCONUL was founded in 1950 as the Standing Conference of National and University Libraries. In 1994 when British

polytechnic A polytechnic is an educational institution that primarily focuses on vocational education, applied sciences, and career pathways. They are sometimes referred to as ''institutes of technology'', ''vocational institutes'', or ''universities of app ...

s became

universities A university () is an educational institution, institution of tertiary education and research which awards academic degrees in several Discipline (academia), academic disciplines. ''University'' is derived from the Latin phrase , which roughly ...

it merged with COPOL, the Council of Polytechnic Librarians, and in 2001 it extended its membership to libraries of Colleges of Higher Education and changed to its current name.

Aims

SCONUL states its aims as: ''For the benefit of our libraries and their users we aim:'' * ''to drive towards a sustainable future for libraries in climate, social and economic terms.'' * ''to support innovation and the process of transformation of libraries to maximise the benefits to their institutions and their users.'' * ''to be an active agent for change, with and on behalf of our people, fostering an inclusive and diverse community and generating positive, creative solutions to sector challenges.'' * ''to be a passionate advocate for the value of libraries so that decisions about them are made in full knowledge of that value.'' * ''to be agile and responsive to the developing needs of our members and the changing environment in which they operate.'' * ''to provide leadership to the sector and to use our influence to shape the conversation within and beyond our community, locally and internationally.''

Activities

SCONUL's activities include advocacy for the higher education library community, training and sharing best practice, making arrangements for reciprocal access to libraries, and the collection of statistics. SCONUL groups are made up by representatives from the member institutions. Groups include the Content Strategy Group, Organisational Development Strategy Group, Technology and Markets Strategy Group, Horizon's Strategy Group

Structure

Its members include

libraries A library is a collection of Book, books, and possibly other Document, materials and Media (communication), media, that is accessible for use by its members and members of allied institutions. Libraries provide physical (hard copies) or electron ...

higher education Tertiary education (higher education, or post-secondary education) is the educational level following the completion of secondary education. The World Bank defines tertiary education as including universities, colleges, and vocational schools ...

institutions (not only

but also higher education colleges and specialist schools and conservatoires); the

British Library The British Library is the national library of the United Kingdom. Based in London, it is one of the largest libraries in the world, with an estimated collection of between 170 and 200 million items from multiple countries. As a legal deposit li ...

and the National Libraries of Ireland,

Scotland Scotland is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It contains nearly one-third of the United Kingdom's land area, consisting of the northern part of the island of Great Britain and more than 790 adjac ...

and

Wales Wales ( ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by the Irish Sea to the north and west, England to the England–Wales border, east, the Bristol Channel to the south, and the Celtic ...

; and libraries in national museums and other specialist institutions. SCONUL is governed by its members whose Representatives meet twice a year, and between meetings by an elected Executive Board. SCONUL is a

registered charity A charitable organization or charity is an organization whose primary objectives are philanthropy and social well-being (e.g. educational, Religion, religious or other activities serving the public interest or common good). The legal definitio ...

. The SCONUL Executive Director, from 13 September 2010, is Ann Rossiter and the SCONUL office is based at 94 Euston Street,

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

, UK, NW1 2HA.

References

External links

* * Library associations in the United Kingdom {{UK-org-stub