Ithaka S+R has released its triennial US Library Directors Survey Report. This latest survey, sponsored in part by JSTOR, was fielded before the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic. Although recent events have disrupted assumptions about higher education and academic libraries, there is still substantial value to these findings from fall 2019.

The report provides a snapshot of the strategies and aspirations library directors were pursuing immediately before the crisis hit. As such, they can serve as a guide to academic libraries—many of which are virtual organizations for the present—as they determine which strategies to emphasize and which to discard when they resume campus operations.

To better gauge the full extent of the impact of COVID-19 on future strategy and services, Ithaka S+R will be fielding a follow-up survey with academic library directors later this year.