In recent years academic librarians have sought to partner with other organizations of higher education to establish areas of mutual interest and to work together to further these areas. Richard Ekman, as president of the Council of Independent Colleges (CIC), has involved librarians in various CIC programs. This past year, under Richard's leadership and through his fundraising ability, CIC offered three "Transformation of the College Library" workshops, as part of an initiative in cooperation with the Council on Library and Information Resources (CLIR) and the Association of College and Research Libraries (ACRL), to strengthen the contribution of libraries to teaching and learning. CIC offered the workshops to assist libraries in addressing such critical issues as advancing information literacy as an element of liberal education, the role of the library in teaching and learning through collaboration between librarians and faculty members, the changing use and conception of the physical space of the library, the challenges of using technology in improving students' learning, setting institutional priorities for library-related costs when they increasingly exceed standard budget guidelines, implementing institutional change, and assessing the institution-wide impact of changes in library services. The purpose was to create opportunities for provosts, directors of academic technology, library directors, faculty leaders, and the faculty development directors at independent colleges and universities to stay in step with the rapid change occurring in the world of academic libraries. In this article, Richard Ekman is interviewed about: (1) the purpose of the Council of Independent Colleges; (2) his interest in academic libraries as a as a teaching-learning resource; (3) his work with the "Transformation of the College Library" workshops and reactions from the participants, chief academic officers, librarians, and others; (4) raising money to support these workshop;(5) advantages and limitations to technology for making the library more central to the educational program; (6) his role in establishing JSTOR; (7) CIC's leadership role in orienting new faculty to the small college environment; and (8) what lies ahead for CIC and academic libraries under his leadership.