C&RL News July/August 2015 396

Frederick D. Barnhart

ACRL in the 1990s
Racing toward tomorrow on the information super highway

Frederick D. Barnhart is associate dean for library 
services and collections at Loyola University-Chicago, 
email: fbarnha@luc.edu
© 2015 Frederick D. Barnhart

I t’s impossible to reflect on the 1990s without noting the changes that began 
across the world in 1989 with the fall of 
the Berlin Wall and the subsequent dis-
solution of the Soviet Union. At the very 
beginning of 1990, Nelson Mandela was 
freed from prison in South Africa, and, 
just a few years later, became the presi-
dent of a country 
without apartheid. 
Germany’s reunifi-
cation also served 
to underscore how 
d i f f e r e n t  t h e  i n -
t e r n a t i o n a l  p o l i -
tics of the 1990s 
would be. In Asia 
the crackdown on 
p r o t e s t e r s  i n  T i -
ananmen Square in 
Beijing seemed contradictory at a time 
when freedom of speech was growing in 
other parts of the world. 

Technology also seemed to be on the 
fast track as academic libraries sped up their 
adoption of resources in new formats and 
access through different mediums. At the 
beginning of the decade some, but not all, 
university and college libraries touted the shift 
of their catalogs from card to online, and the 
question remained whether e-journals would 
replace print. 

F o r  o u r  p a t r o n s  t h e  d e c a d e  w a s 
marked by continued growth of the 
personal computer industry and the 

introduction of a nascent “Internet” in 
the form of the National Research and 
Education Network (NREN) and the In-
formation Super Highway. 

The debate over whether libraries 
should focus on ownership or access 
to collections heated up with the con-
tinued growth in the price of scholarly 

c o m m u n i c a t i o n , 
combined with a 
seemingly perva-
s i v e  d e c r e a s e  i n 
l i b r a r y  b u d g e t s 
r u n n i n g  p a r a l l e l 
to the technologi-
cal means to more 
easily access and 
s h a r e  e l e c t r o n i c 
collections. 

A c a d e m i c  l i -
braries continued to provide hubs for 
computing on college campuses, and 
many academic libraries began to in-
corporate computers and information 
literacy into what had previously been 
bibliographic instruction. Facilities also 
began to reflect the “café style” book-
stores that ironically seemed to be doing 
their best to mimic the feel of traditional 
libraries. 

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July/August 2015 397 C&RL News

During the decade, ACRL maintained 
its status as the largest division within 
ALA, and increased its membership more 
than 6%, from 10,639 to 11,297. ACRL 
continued to work with ALA throughout 
the 1990s to partner on initiatives of 
importance to membership, especially 
those related to the availability of infor-
mation resources, the creation of online 
networks, and the revision of copyright 
law. The passage of the High Perfor-
mance Computer Act, which authorized 
the creation of the NREN, and galvanized 
ACRL’s role as an advocate for a free and 
open information infrastructure. 

The NREN initiative took on greater 
momentum as numerous witnesses from 
both higher education institutions and 
library organizations, including ACRL, 
advocated for greater access for schools, 
public libraries, and museums to the 
National Science Foundation Network 
(NSFNET). Senator Albert Gore Jr. (D-
Tenessee) spoke at an ALA Midwinter 
Meeting and influenced both ALA and 
ACRL attendees with his vision of the 
potential benefits of NSFNET. 

The White House Conference on Li-
brary Information Services in July 1991 
was attended by ACRL representatives, 
who advocated for an “information su-
perhighway” similar to NREN. Support 
would hopefully include funding and 
support for libraries, including gov-
ernmental libraries, services for multi-
cultural and multilingual populations, 
copyright reform, intellectual freedom, 
and, wherever possible, the elimination 
of physical barriers within libraries.

In 1992, the “Conference Circuit” 
column in C&RL News, highlighted the 
inclusion of liaison relationships with 
other higher education organizations. 
This continued in 1996 with the “ACRL 
Partners in Higher Education” column, 
which formalized reports from liaisons 
to other organizations. 

As hoped, the ongoing relationships 
with CNI, EDUCOM, CAUSE, and ARL 

served to enrich the ACRL membership 
with discussion of technologies whose 
possibilities were only just beginning to 
be imagined. 

At the same time, concerns about the 
importance of the association’s Faculty 
Status to Academic Librarians, and ACRL 
membership in general, created a push 
for action by ACRL leadership resulting in 
a sponsored think tank on faculty status 
and the revision of standards for faculty 
status for college and university librar-
ians (first approved in 1971). In addition 
to networking and professional develop-
ment, the ability to participate effectively 
in the electronic environment was added 
to the priorities for ACRL. 

In 1993, C&RL News began offering 
a popular column dedicated to locating 
and using discipline-specific resources 
through the Inter net. Terms such as 
Gopher and Telnet briefly entered the 
academic librarian vocabulary. 

The mid-1990s also saw the develop-
ment of a new ACRL strategic plan with 
four main goals: 1) to provide devel-
opmental activities for academic and 
research librarians, 2) to collaborate 
with other professional organizations in 
higher education in order to promote 
mutual interests, 3) to become actively 
involved in information policy at a na-
tional level, and 4) to ensure that ACRL 
operates efficiently. 

The Council of Liaisons was created 
as part of the outreach to other profes-
sional organizations, including groups 
such as the American Association of 
Higher Education, American Associa-
tion of Community Colleges, American 

Facilities also began to reflect the 
“café style” bookstores that ironi-
cally seemed to be doing their best to 
mimic the feel of traditional libraries. 



C&RL News July/August 2015 398

Council on Education, and Association 
of American Colleges and Universities, 
to name but a few.

The 1997 ACRL National Conference 
invited academic librarians to reflect on 
the future in a variety of ways, as well, 
such as in roundtable sessions where 
speculation was encouraged. 

One look forward came from the key-
note by Cornel West in which he asked, 
“Will we survive?” and answered, “Yes. 
How depends on what we do.” 

In response to a vision of future need 
for library services, the Extended Aca-
demic Library Services Guidelines were 
updated, addressing the need for library 
collections and services to be universally 
available to the extended academic com-
munity. 

ACRL advocated on behalf of academic 
librarians and higher education users as 

both the Next Generation Internet Initia-
tive and the Digital Millennium Copy-
right Act, along with other important 
information-related legislation, worked 
its way to U.S. Congress. 

As the decade, the century, and the 
millennium all came to a close, the 1999 
ACRL National Conference was held in 
Detroit with the theme of “Racing Toward 
Tomorrow.” Copyright, scholarly com-
munication, and student learning using 
the Internet were hot topics at the con-
ference, which attracted 3,000 attendees. 
In stark contrast to the beginning of the 
decade, those who missed the conference 
could view the keynote on their personal 
computers via the web. 

Fortunately, and contrary to some 
predictions, the world did not end, and 
the party continued past midnight on 
December 31, 1999. 

have three months to relocate. Two weeks 
into the renovations, this was changed to 
one week. Instead of panicking, we quickly 
accessed our available space to meet the 
new deadline. 

Tip: Be aware that “It Happens!” Be 
ready to address issues as they arise, and 
remain calm if or when they do. Unfore-
seen problems often disrupt the best laid 
plans. Construction generates noise, dust, 
and odors that can be disruptive to your 
environment. Minimize these by creating 
barriers between the construction and your 
library community. It may be necessary to 
relocate staff members who may not be able 
to work in close proximity to the renovated 
areas. Be ready to improvise quickly. 

12. Plan for future renovations. After the 
completion of our renovations, we realized 
that we should have considered our egress 
on Level 2. We have placed that item on 
the top of our wish list for the next phase 
of planning.

Tip: You will discover that although 
your initial plan was well thought out, 
some things were overlooked. Use this 
to begin your planning for any future 
changes.

Conclusion
The renovations have changed the library 
building from a place of quiet individual 
study into a dynamic collaborative learning 
and research unit that provides access to 
the latest technology. As another phase of 
renovations is planned, BRL will continue 
to update its facilities to further bring its 
building into the next evolution in the 
state-of-the-art for academic libraries. The 
lessons we learned during the first phases 
will help to guide us as we do.

Note 
1. “Cuomo leads fanfare at new, $60 mil-

lion academic library,” American Libraries, 
19, no. 9: 741.  

“Catching up with time” (continues from page 
365)