Librarians With an Affinity for Business Education

• The Business Librarian Affinity Group provides a platform for business librarians and associated professionals to connect, share ideas, and stay informed about trends in business education.
• The group hosts webinars on topics such as how instructors can use data to teach critical thinking and how schools and libraries can collaborate on initiatives.
• To reach individuals who are not part of the AACSB community, the group has invited associated professionals to join the association, which has resulted in strong international participation.

 
Academic business librarians have a rich history of collaborating on research, teaching, and outreach with the faculty and administrators at their respective universities. But today, these professionals have responsibilities that go far beyond the traditional roles of collecting and organizing materials.

For instance, business librarians often teach research methods and critical thinking skills to students, either by partnering with instructors or acting as instructors of record in credit-bearing courses. Librarians also negotiate with publishers to set the contract terms and prices of the data sets that business faculty and graduate students use in their research.

But many who work in this field want to do more. Recently, a dedicated group of business librarians decided to explore ways to strengthen our collaborations with key stakeholders in business schools. One of our goals was to learn about the concerns of the business education community at a deeper level so we could contribute to foundational conversations about relevant topics. This would allow us to partner with our business school colleagues to advance each college’s strategic priorities and add value to the accreditation process.

We also wanted to increase the visibility of our work in a space where the leaders, administrators, faculty, and staff of business colleges were likely to engage. This would make administrators and faculty more aware of the many services we can provide.

We knew there was already significant interaction between librarians and members of the business school community. Leaders from AACSB had presented at annual conferences devoted to librarians, and several librarians had launched a virtual community on the AACSB Exchange. Based on the positive responses to these activities, we knew there was enough interest to justify pursuing a more formal collaboration between librarians and academics. Therefore, in 2022, our group helped establish the Business Librarian Affinity Group (BLAG) within AACSB.

A Unique Value Proposition

We formed BLAG to fulfill an important purpose in the business school community: To provide a platform for business librarians and associated professionals to connect, share ideas, stay informed about trends in business education, and engage with the broader business education community. We also seek to enhance the recognition of libraries as strategic assets in advancing business education and cultivating the next generation of leaders.

During our first year, we selected our initial steering committee, set up regular meetings, and developed bylaws. As we continued to grow over the next two years, members of our steering committee attended AACSB’s International Conference and Annual Meeting, wrote an article for AACSB Insights, and attended an accreditation conference to discuss how librarians could participate in the reaccreditation process.

We provide a platform for business librarians and associated professionals to connect, share ideas, stay informed, and engage with the broader business education community.

In addition, the steering committee identified three strategic focus areas for BLAG:

• We want to help business librarians gain a better understanding of business schools’ strategic priorities, particularly when it comes to AACSB accreditation.
• We want to strengthen connections among libraries, business schools, and learners in areas such as innovation, learner success, thought leadership, engagement, and societal impact.
• We hope to use the library’s expertise to advance the mission of business schools.

To enhance BLAG’s ability to serve its members, the steering committee organized several free webinars on topics such as engaging with AACSB, using data to teach critical thinking, and holding conversations that encourage connection and growth. In June 2025, the steering committee hosted an Impact Week online webinar series on the theme of “Business Schools and Libraries: Forward Together.” Featuring updates from AACSB’s leadership team, the webinars provided details on eight library-led initiatives and collaborations between libraries and business schools.

The steering committee used the AACSB Exchange to promote these events as well as to share insights, describe new developments in AACSB accreditation, and highlight professional opportunities. Altogether, the webinars and Impact Week events drew approximately 500 attendees.

Outreach and Advocacy

Today, BLAG’s value proposition continues to drive programming and outreach. The steering committee is planning to hold additional webinars and professional development opportunities and will establish official certificates of attendance for those who participate in Impact Week. These certificates were created in response to requests from the BLAG community, and they will enable librarians to demonstrate commitment to and participation in professional development, which is essential for career advancement and institutional reporting.

In addition, to attract librarians from schools beyond North America, the group anticipates engaging with regional liaisons and offering virtual events at times that are convenient for attendees around the globe.

We favor the integration of more robust library-related accreditation standards that will underscore the central role libraries play in supporting curriculum and research activities.

BLAG also continues to advocate for business librarians who support AACSB accreditation activities. To that end, we favor the integration of more robust library-related accreditation standards. We believe such standards not only will benefit business school communities but also will underscore the central role libraries play in supporting curriculum and research activities.

We anticipate hosting discussions and providing opportunities for members to give feedback related to the proposed Global Standards, which are currently in draft stage. We also will continue to seek opportunities to support conference attendance for librarians.

Recommendations and Lessons Learned

As we formulated and launched BLAG, we learned lessons that could be valuable for others who are interested in forming specialized Affinity Groups.

Clarify your primary purpose, value proposition, and unique offerings. Put simply, know why someone would want to join your group. A clear value proposition and an articulation of your shared direction will help keep members engaged and motivated. A well-structured committee, program framework, and implementation plan will reduce the burden of starting events from scratch every year. They also will lay the foundation for long-term sustainability of the group.

Select the initial leadership team thoughtfully. Seek team members who have diverse skill sets and come from different types of institutions. Their combined knowledge will make the group stronger.

Identify members who are outside of the community. We quickly realized that our target audience—business librarians—typically were not part of AACSB, so we worked to bridge this gap. When their schools are members, librarians can create AACSB accounts for free, which enables them to attend events and access AACSB’s Exchange and Analytics Hub. We invited business librarians, library directors, and associated professionals to create their own accounts and found that such invitations resulted in strong international participation.

If your own target audiences are not part of the AACSB community, you also could reach them through listservs or networks that your colleagues maintain. Through efforts like these, BLAG’s membership has grown from 137 to almost 500 since its inception.

Collaboration is key. BLAG’s progress would not have been possible without the involvement of business librarians from a wide range of institutions. They served as original petition signatories, steering committee volunteers, and presenters at webinars and conferences. If you are the leader of an Affinity Group, make sure you get involved with AACSB. Attend webinars, participate in conferences and meetings, and explore collaborations with other members and other Affinity Groups.

Leverage support from AACSB. BLAG has benefited greatly from the assistance of the association’s administrative and leadership teams. Any Affinity Group will have greater success if it capitalizes on the resources and support of the organization.

Once you have gained clarity on why a new group is needed, who its members will be, and where you can find support, you are ready to launch a group that will serve the business education community and ultimately help prepare the next generation of leaders.