The Association of Southeastern Research Libraries (ASERL) published its 2025 Annual Report on October 15, 2025. Entitled “Stronger Together: Innovation, Leadership, and Connection Across the Southeast,” the report highlights the many ways ASERL provides meaningful programming and cultivates important relationship among its membership. Highlights from the 2024-25 program year include:
- Four in-person professional development workshops
- Two in-person membership meetings + two online e-Updates for ASERL library leaders
- Dozens of online events covering a huge array of topics, serving more than 7,500 persons during the year
- Supporting another Visiting Program Officer to ensure the alumni of past workshops stay connected for lasting engagement
- Expanding the Resource Sharing capacities within our community
- Experimenting with new committees and programs to support and retain newly appointed ASERL library deans
- Growing our oral history program and a journal article to document ASERL’s exponential growth in services over the past 25 years
- Building skills and capacities for e-resource license reviews in support of the “ASERL Eleven” principles
- Last but not least: An updated Guide to Southern Barbecue!
“ASERL is a great partner organization for research libraries,” commented Dr. Leslie N. Sharp, Dean of Libraries at Georgia Tech and President of ASERL’s Board of Directors for 2025-26. “Through a small-but-mighty staff, ASERL offers an enormous amount of programming and services that benefit its member libraries — and academic libraries more broadly. I am proud that Georgia Tech is an ASERL library.” All of ASERL’s annual reports can be found on the archive page.
Founded in 1956, today ASERL services 38 member libraries in 12 states. ASERL’s programming focuses on providing national leadership in professional development, enabling ready access to rich library collections and services, and cultivating long-lasting and meaningful relationships across its memberships. ASERL is housed at Emory University’s Robert W. Woodruff Library in Atlanta, Georgia.