Unlike medical and law librarianship, there is no clear field of “business librarianship,” and there is no one model for an academic business library or an academic business librarian.

Academic business libraries and librarians were not a separate entry in the first edition of the Encyclopedia of Library and Information Science but are covered as the subsection, “University Libraries,” within the chapter “Business Libraries and Collections,” written by Janet Bogardus. They do not make their first appearance in the historical development of business libraries until the section on modern libraries, beginning in 1946. Based on collections, Bogardus highlights the Baker Library of Harvard Business School, Thomas J Watson Library of Business and Economics at Columbia University's Graduate School of Business Administration, Lippincott Library of the Wharton School, Stanford's Jackson Library, the business library at Temple University, and the then new library at UCLA.1

This article discusses academic business librarianship today in relationship to academic business schools and describes academic business librarians in relationship to their library settings, demographics, the roles they play, and the organizations to which they belong. There is not a large body of literature about academic business libraries or librarians, but we examine articles by and about academic business librarians that contribute to an understanding of the field.

The focus of the article is on academic business librarians in the United States; however, non-U.S. information will be presented where available.

Finally, URLS that provide links to additional or supporting information are included.