The University of North Texas Libraries will become a member of the Association of Research Libraries beginning Jan. 1.

Current ARL members voted to invite UNT into the association during its fall meeting Oct.18-19 in Washington, D.C. The ARL Membership Committee noted UNT’s designation as a Tier One research university and Hispanic-Serving Institution as well as its commitment to multiple initiatives supporting system-wide expansion of diversity, equity, inclusion and access.

ARL is a nonprofit made up of research libraries in Canada and the U.S. with a mission “to create a trusted, equitable and inclusive research and learning ecosystem and prepare library leaders to advance this work in strategic partnership with member libraries and other organizations worldwide.”

UNT will become ARL’s 128th member organization. Other ARL members include libraries at Johns Hopkins, Harvard and Yale universities as well as the Library of Congress and National Archives and Records Administration.

“We have been successful in supporting learning, research and digital collections in a culture of innovation and inclusivity, but membership in ARL allows us to now take our initiatives to the next level as we gain new opportunities to collaborate with our colleagues in the leading academic libraries in the U.S. and Canada,” says UNT Libraries Dean Diane Bruxvoort.