LIBER: Making the Case for European Research Libraries LIBER: Making the Case for European Research Libraries Hans Geleijnse President of LIBER (Director of Library and IT Services at Tilburg University, The Netherlands)

Liber History  Established in 1971 under auspices of the Council of Europe  For many years: a 'club' of library directors  Every year: A General Conference

Current situation  380 member libraries from 40 different countries  Representing and promoting the interest of research libraries  National libraries and University libraries  Wide range of activities

Executive Board  Denmark  France  Germany  Hungary  Netherlands  Sweden  UK

Conferences and seminars  Annual Conference  Seminars and workshops: Digitization Security (crime prevention) Architecture Maps Preservation  CERN OAi workshops in Geneva

Activities  European Digital Library  Europeana Travel project  Life Project  VAT problem (Frankfurt Group)  White paper on digitization  Responses to EC proposals and white papers  Preservation agreement with KB NL  Benchmarking: Libqual  LIBER Quarterly  Grants for librarians in Eastern Europe

Cooperation  SPARC Europe  Eblida  EC project Driver  CERL  KB The Hague  Frankfurt Group  ARL and CARL

Towards a more professional organisation  Move of secretariat to The Hague (KB)  Creation of a foundation under Dutch Law  Executive Director ( )  Assistant to Director ( )

Key issues for research libraries  Libraries should make a difference for research, teaching and learning  We can achieve more by cooperation  Strong voice in Europe  >>>New LIBER strategy

Aim Our aim is to represent the interests of research libraries of Europe, their universities and researchers

Four key issues  Scholarly communication  Stewardship of research resources  Leadership and human resources  Services to members

Scholarly communication  Promotion of Open Acces  Stimulating institutional repositories  Interaction with our researchers  Close cooperation with SPARC

Stewardship of Research Resources  Heritage collections  Data curation  Digitization  Preservation

Leadership and Human Resources issues  Leadership Development program  Succession planning  Education and training

Services to members  Conferences and seminars  Benchmarking  Library passport  Security network  Web newsletter → in next years: more members in particular in Southern Europe

LIBER conference in Toulouse from 30 June – 4 July 2009  Role of the University Library in the University  E-Science  Library as Physical Space  Reskilling librarians  International licensing  Copyright  Open Access  Preservation Master Classes, Papers, Interactive working groups, Poster sessions

Questions?