From the Other Side of the River

Summary Loyal to long-held convictions of what undergraduates need intellectually, academic librarians ignore the critical signs that they may be failing students and faculty. Unless librarians are willing to question assumptions about how students think, what they value, and how external incentives shape their behavior in the information environment, they will find themselves increasingly at the margins of students' academic life. If there are important questions that beg for answers before librarians can redefine the teaching role of libraries, librarians have probably never been in a stronger position as a profession to engage in the research necessary for meaningful solutions.