Libri, Vol. 60, pp. 352–360, December 2010  Copyright © by Walter de Gruyter  Berlin  New York. DOI 10.1515/libr.2010.030 Libraries in the Strategic Plans of Spanish Universities Ana R. Pacios and Virginia Ortiz-Repiso Dr. Ana Reyes Pacios Lozano, Profesora Titular & Subdirectora, Departamento de Biblioteconomía y Documentación, Universidad Carlos III de Madrid, Madrid, Spain Email: areyes@bib.uc3m.es Dr. Virginia Ortiz-Repiso Jiménez, Profesora Titular & Directora, Departamento de Biblioteconomía y Documentación, Universidad Carlos III de Madrid, Madrid, Spain Email: virginia@bib.uc3m.es Abstract Spanish universities are changing in the face of their full integration, in 2010, into the European Higher Education Area. The library, considered a key factor in this transformation, also needs to make a transi- tion to a new model, called a Learning and Research Resources Centre (LRRC), responding to the new educational needs based in the Bologna reforms. This paper aims to analyze the strategic plans of Spanish universities and to establish whether they consider the library a key element for change and, therefore, a priority. Also, we study whether the emerging library conforms to a traditional model or aims to become a LRRC as proposed and fostered by the Spanish university libraries’ network, REBIUN. The analysis is mostly based on the 74 Spanish uni- versities’ strategic plans. Each one of them was thoroughly analyzed, creating relevant groups, based on what information they deal with. Libraries, judg- ing by their thin presence in strategic plans, do not exist as agents of change in most Spanish uni- versities. This is an indication that, even nowadays, they do not have the necessary institutional support to become an information system that is basic and necessary in the Bologna reform. Libraries also need to make a transition to a new model, called a Learn- ing and Research Resources Centre (LRRC), re- sponding to the new educational needs. Introduction The university is undergoing important changes, par- ticularly with respect to its recognition and social function that make it increasingly different from what it used to be. Until the nineteenth century, a university’s main objective and function was to pass on knowledge. In the twentieth century, this changed; universities not only pass on, but also generate, knowledge, thus becoming research centres linked to their environment. Social, political, economic and cultural thinking that was predominant in the last cen- tury is now in deep transformation. Recent techno- logical breakthroughs call for a new university and new university policies that reflect modern society. New services are required today, from ongoing education, to R&D&I (Research, Development and Innovation) services to companies, to cultural ser- vices. And society demands the university to play an active role in economic development, in applying knowledge and in generating innovation. This means that it must offer not only education, but also re- search and development services. A new model of what Clark (2001) calls the “entrepreneurial universi- ty” has thus been created. These scientific-technological innovation centres are mainly located in large metropolitan areas. This is because the quality of urban services and the links between these areas and culture and scientific tra- dition are decisive elements to attract scientists and innovators (Castells 2003). The university must be a reflection of the society in which it is immersed and which it serves. There- fore, it must also reflect the changes in that society. This is the initial spirit that fostered and started the process of Bologna, a city that has given its name to the higher-education reform. Officially, it started in 1999 with the first declaration: new education forms and a common European Union space where its citi- zens can freely move regarding teaching and learn- ing, which should entail improved mobility and em- ployment exchange in all other areas. It is therefore about creating a common future model of universi- ties. In the Bologna Declaration, initially signed by 29 countries, the European ministers of education undertook to establish a common higher-education policy and agreed on year 2010 as deadline. The goal was to design a university that would allow Europe to have the world’s most competitive econ-