Access services departments in academic libraries are literally and metaphorically at the front line of 21st century academic librarianship and in both tangible and intangible ways these departments, with their circulation desk roots, are making great strides to facilitate access in an ever changing higher education landscape. Access services departments are expanding their portfolios to include electronic reserves (e-reserves), increased cooperative and shared services, facilities management, assessment initiatives, e-book lending initiatives, and copyright management. The ten chapters in Twenty-First-Century Access Services: On the Front Line of Academic Librarianship highlight these expanded roles and discuss the role these services will continue to play in the success of the library, as well as place these services in the context of supporting the academic mission of the institutions of which the libraries are a part. This volume also fills a major void in the professional literature. This work will be useful to access services practitioners in all types of academic libraries, and to library and information science graduate students and faculty.

Foreword by: James G. Neal