P-18 University Libraries Leading the Way through Choppy Waters: The Library's Role in Student Retention

The raison d’etre of any business is the returning customer. In education, the customer is the student who returns year after year until he or she graduates. This study will focus on how academic libraries can be leaders in their Institutions by adopting a user centered philosophy and services that will promote life-long learning, enhance students’ academic experience, and promote engagement which the literature and pertinent research identifies as key elements for student retention. The paper presents reports of earlier researches which correlated educational initiatives considered as high-impact practices with higher education student persistence. Having this discussion as a background, the paper addresses findings of studies which, in a more specific way, correlated library initiatives and services with student retention and proposed practical actions that academic library administrators can take to enhance student persistence.

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