Dear Academic Librarians of the State of Utah,

We invite you to participate in a research study examining the priorities of Utah academic librarians’, through the challenges they intend to engage with in the coming year.

This study aims to understand your priorities in the challenges facing your librarian work, and the work of academic librarians throughout Utah, through the lens of a Grand Challenges of Utah Academic Librarians survey. Grand Challenges are an articulation of large-scale, complex problems that may be addressed through coordinated and sustained efforts but require long-term effort. Often, the articulation of Grand Challenges for a field can drive collaborations, grant funding through federal agencies and foundations, and provide a structure for research and publications around nodes of activities related to priority problems or needs (Moore, 2025). (They are also…) ambitious yet achievable goals for society that mobilize the profession, capture the public’s imagination, and require innovation and breakthroughs in science and practice to achieve (Uehara, 2013).

Your participation involves completing an anonymous survey, which should take approximately 10 minutes of your time. Your responses will provide valuable insights into the priorities chosen by academic librarians in the coming year. However, there may be no direct benefit to participants. All responses will be anonymous, This survey is voluntary and there is no penalty for withdrawal. Choosing to participate in the survey, or not, will have no impact on your professional standing. It is reasonable that participants might feel uncomfortable with some of the survey topics (ex. librarian burnout, impacts of artificial intelligence, etc.), especially since they relate to potentially disruptive changes in the academic library professions in the near and distant future.  You may choose to skip any question you do not wish to answer, and you are free to withdraw from the survey at any time without penalty or loss of benefits. If you find any part of this process distressing, we encourage you to reach out to the survey author, Dale Larsen at dale.larsen@utah.edumailto:dale.larsen@utah.edu

To participate, please click on the following link: https://utah.sjc1.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_czFIxD13FRBix4W

Thank you for considering this invitation. Your unique perspective is crucial to the success of this study.

If you have any questions about the study, please feel free to contact Dale Larsen at dale.larsen@utah.edumailto:dale.larsen@utah.edu.

This study has been evaluated by the University of Utah Institutional Review Board, for more information please see: https://irb.utah.edu/

Citations:
Moore, S. L. (2025). Grand Challenges in instructional design and technology: Developing a strategic plan for coordinated research and development. Journal of Computing in Higher Education, 37(2), 725–745. https:/ /doi.org/10.1007/s12528-025-09447-3

Uehara, E., et al. (2013). Grand challenges for social work. Journal of the Society for Social Work and Research, 4(3), 165–170. https:/ /doi.org/10.5243/jsswr.2013.11

Dale Larsen, MLS
J. Willard Marriott Library
University of Utah
dale.larsen@utah.edumailto:dale.larsen@utah.edu
801-581-8323
Library Guideshttp://campusguides.lib.utah.edu/prf.php?account_id=29154
University Profile Infohttps://profiles.faculty.utah.edu/u0106131
ORCID infohttps://orcid.org/0000-0002-5973-1751

Dear Academic Librarians of Utah,

Thanks for all that have taken the survey, the response is good -right now 30 of the 61 librarians on the listserv have taken it -thanks!!  The survey will close at 5pm on Friday so please take a moment to participate and encourage others to.  The findings will be reported  at the ULA conference and on this listserv shortly after.  Many thanks 😊. (survey below) -dale

Dale Larsen, MLS
J. Willard Marriott Library
University of Utah
dale.larsen@utah.edumailto:dale.larsen@utah.edu
801-581-8323
Library Guideshttp://campusguides.lib.utah.edu/prf.php?account_id=29154
University Profile Infohttps://profiles.faculty.utah.edu/u0106131
ORCID infohttps://orcid.org/0000-0002-5973-1751

From: Dale Larsen dale.larsen@utah.edu
Date: Monday, April 27, 2026 at 3:19 PM
To: academic_librarians@lists.library.utah.gov academic_librarians@lists.library.utah.gov
Subject: Survey: Grand Challenges of Utah Academic Librarians
Dear Academic Librarians of the State of Utah,

We invite you to participate in a research study examining the priorities of Utah academic librarians’, through the challenges they intend to engage with in the coming year.

This study aims to understand your priorities in the challenges facing your librarian work, and the work of academic librarians throughout Utah, through the lens of a Grand Challenges of Utah Academic Librarians survey. Grand Challenges are an articulation of large-scale, complex problems that may be addressed through coordinated and sustained efforts but require long-term effort. Often, the articulation of Grand Challenges for a field can drive collaborations, grant funding through federal agencies and foundations, and provide a structure for research and publications around nodes of activities related to priority problems or needs (Moore, 2025). (They are also…) ambitious yet achievable goals for society that mobilize the profession, capture the public’s imagination, and require innovation and breakthroughs in science and practice to achieve (Uehara, 2013).

Your participation involves completing an anonymous survey, which should take approximately 10 minutes of your time. Your responses will provide valuable insights into the priorities chosen by academic librarians in the coming year. However, there may be no direct benefit to participants. All responses will be anonymous, This survey is voluntary and there is no penalty for withdrawal. Choosing to participate in the survey, or not, will have no impact on your professional standing. It is reasonable that participants might feel uncomfortable with some of the survey topics (ex. librarian burnout, impacts of artificial intelligence, etc.), especially since they relate to potentially disruptive changes in the academic library professions in the near and distant future.  You may choose to skip any question you do not wish to answer, and you are free to withdraw from the survey at any time without penalty or loss of benefits. If you find any part of this process distressing, we encourage you to reach out to the survey author, Dale Larsen at dale.larsen@utah.edumailto:dale.larsen@utah.edu

To participate, please click on the following link: https://utah.sjc1.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_czFIxD13FRBix4W

Thank you for considering this invitation. Your unique perspective is crucial to the success of this study.

If you have any questions about the study, please feel free to contact Dale Larsen at dale.larsen@utah.edumailto:dale.larsen@utah.edu.

This study has been evaluated by the University of Utah Institutional Review Board, for more information please see: https://irb.utah.edu/

Citations:
Moore, S. L. (2025). Grand Challenges in instructional design and technology: Developing a strategic plan for coordinated research and development. Journal of Computing in Higher Education, 37(2), 725–745. https:/ /doi.org/10.1007/s12528-025-09447-3

Uehara, E., et al. (2013). Grand challenges for social work. Journal of the Society for Social Work and Research, 4(3), 165–170. https:/ /doi.org/10.5243/jsswr.2013.11

Dale Larsen, MLS
J. Willard Marriott Library
University of Utah
dale.larsen@utah.edumailto:dale.larsen@utah.edu
801-581-8323
Library Guideshttp://campusguides.lib.utah.edu/prf.php?account_id=29154
University Profile Infohttps://profiles.faculty.utah.edu/u0106131
ORCID infohttps://orcid.org/0000-0002-5973-1751