About the Collection

First published by the American Library Association in 1991, The Academic Library in the American University by Stephen E. Atkins, presents a critical examination of the emergence and evolution of the academic library as a special purpose institution supporting higher education. This reprint, with a new preface by Charles Lowry, dean of the University of Maryland Libraries, was a collaboration between the University of Wisconsin ­ Madison Libraries and the University of Maryland Libraries. The initial purpose of the reprinting was for use in the Academic Library Seminar at the University of Maryland. This book has proven however, to provide an important historical framework for the study of academic libraries and continues to be an important resource for academic librarians and library educators.