Abstract
This article serves as a case study of an academic library’s student-focused management decisions, including the concept of relationship-marketing- and reputation-management in relation to their perceived impact on student retention.
 
 After realizing the library had developed a negative reputation, the director of SUNY Canton’s Southworth Library integrated a multi-pronged strategic plan to improve the perceived reputation of the library while cultivating student loyalty. The library had to make the firm decision on what it determined to be “about,” and whether what the library was “about” was its collections - the traditional library-centric identity - or about student success. Southworth Library Learning Commons had to make a collective determination to reject tradition and choose the latter. That meant altering course in terms of collection activities, redefining priorities and making non-traditional choices. The article illustrates strategies and actions that can be similarly replicated as part of a student-focused strategic plan. More broadly, other academic libraries and higher education institutions should consider the relationship-marketing approach in decision making and sustainability planning.
Highlights
Introduction and BackgroundThere is an increasing trend in higher education aimed at tying the academic library and its services to the tangible academic successes and retention rates of college students
Volume 31, number 3 such as Association of College and Research Library’s (ACRL) Assessment in Action program have led the way in recent years with grant-funded education, professional development and cohort-based training to guide participating institutions through the process of a team-based assessment project demonstrating the measurable impact of the academic library on student success.[1]
The recent shift in attention to the academic library’s impact is only new, in the sense that its focus has veered toward measurable outcomes and indicators of student success, instead of the more traditional need for academic libraries to continue justifying their existence post-advent of the web
Summary
There is an increasing trend in higher education aimed at tying the academic library and its services to the tangible academic successes and retention rates of college students. Librarians and library staff are well-aware of the persistent need to identify and document the contributions made by their departments, at minimum through careful collection of data on space, resource and service usage. The State University of New York College of Technology at Canton (SUNY Canton) is a 4-year college of technology and applied education within the expansive State University of New York system. SUNY Canton’s mission focuses on providing accessible, affordable education, and the college prioritizes student support services and retention efforts
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