Abstract: As vendor approval plans and patron-driven acquisitions become increasingly popular, traditional role of “bibliographer” diminishes, and libraries are moving towards a model where liaison work focuses more on interaction and engagement. The Rutgers University Libraries are “turning outward”- a process to identify the needs and aspirations of our community (users and staff)-using a model developed by the Harwood Institute for Public Innovation. So far, the Rutgers University Libraries have hosted community conversations with three key groups: undergraduate student community, graduate student community, and global community. After the conversations, the librarians took transcripts from all of the conversations and themed them. Then we used the themes to create a brief summary of what we heard. The outcomes of these efforts have helped us redefine the roles of our librarians, craft new job descriptions, and take significant steps towards a new organizational structure for public services. This paper tell about the process and our resulting actions and outcomes, as well as some future plans.

Key words:  , Turning outward, Outreach, Academic library