Created in response to requests from library science faculty for a student edition with a focus on the planning and policy issues germane to all academic libraries, this new text is a revised and abridged version of the fifth edition of "Lyle's Administration of the College Library (1992). The ten chapters of this edition include six chapters from the 1992 edition as well as four newly researched chapters that address questions of policy formation and leadership in the areas of user services, library staff, planning, and evaluation. This text edition offers students a framework for learning about academic libraries in the context of higher education's learning goals and the value of quality library service and staff. Chapters include: (1) "Contexts of the American College Library"; (2) "Evolution of Higher Education in the United States"; (3) "Growth of Academic Librarianship"; (4) "Campus Context"; (5) "Legal Status, Governance, and Politics"; (6) "Organization of the Library"; (7) "User Services"; (8) "The Library Staff"; (9) "Planning Issues"; and (10) "Evaluation." Appended are Standards for College Libraries (1995). Contains an index. (AEF)