It's Academic

If you’re new to library land, you might be unaware of the impact that accreditation can have on your library.  Accreditation is the process whereby a college or university demonstrates that it meets the necessary standards of quality to be accredited.  Colleges that don’t meet these standards cannot offer students federal financial aid, which would prevent most students from being able to attend those colleges.

So, preparing your library for its part in the accreditation of your college is incredibly important.  My college is preparing for our Middle States visit this spring, so I thought I’d share some advice I have gleaned during this process.

1. Review the expected evidence needed for libraries as part of the accreditation process.  Middle States lists this under Standard III Criterion IV.  If there is something listed that your library isn’t documenting, you should start doing so.
2. Conduct some kind of yearly review of your Middle States data to ensure it is in order.  Middle States currently only visits colleges every 7 years, so it can be easy to lose track of things in between visits.
3. If possible, make sure someone on the library staff goes to the yearly Middle States Conference.  It’s a great chance to learn about the process.
4. Make sure that one or more library staff serve on any accreditation committees at your college.  It can help you keep track of the process at your college.
5. Make sure your documentation includes an analysis of the data present and the changes made based on that analysis.  

The accreditation process is time-consuming, but with a little planning beforehand, you can make the process much easier. 

The CRD dine out will be on Monday, October 20th, 2025, at 5:45 p.m. at El Amigo Mexican Grill.  El Amigo is a 5-minute drive or a 15-minute walk from the conference.  

Register using this link so we know how many people are coming – https://forms.gle/NvMQCoLhgmtbymgE7

Please respond no later than September 30th.

We hope to see you there!

The PaLA Conference is still a few months away, but I wanted to introduce the speaker for this year’s CRD Luncheon. Our speaker is Milly Romeijn-Stout. Milly is a guest faculty member at the University of Washington Information School, where she teaches about library and information science. She is one of the authors of the Autism-Ready Libraries Toolkit, which offers practical advice for libraries to better support individuals with autism. Here is a description of her presentation.

Library Inclusion for Everyone: How Neuroinclusive Practices Improve Access for All

“Libraries are built on community, continuously evolving and adapting to the needs of our users. What methods can we use to enhance inclusion for neurodiverse users? In this talk, we will explore how to incorporate key practices of neuroinclusion to improve library access for everyone. Informed by current research and the Autism-Ready Libraries project (funded by IMLS), we will identify common barriers faced by autistic patrons and discuss ways to foster a welcoming and inclusive environment for all.”

The CRD Luncheon will be on Monday, October 20th, at 12:45 p.m. I hope to see you there!