What is the future of the academic library, and how are institutions coping with the challenges that are already being imposed by its changing functions and purpose? Using the results of a year-long study, Conner profiles four academic libraries that are transforming themselves with extraordinary ingenuity and diligence. Topics such as reference, personnel, technology, collections, buildings, campus roles, and library culture and how they re changing in response to current trends are examined at

• The University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, which has adapted amidst the forces of change to become one of the premier academic libraries in the nation
• The University of California at Merced, an institution which prioritizes collaboration and networking, offering a living, working example of the library of the future
• The University of Hawaii at Manoa, whose focused rebuilding after a disastrous flood in 2004 spurred a rethinking of priorities, showing how a library can thrive despite limited resources
• The University of California at Davis, a model of the public university system, with an agricultural legacy that makes it a paradigm of the land-grant university

Eschewing abstract theory and speculation, Conner details real-world practices and innovations that point the way forward for all academic libraries.