Fwd: ME.AIG | Fwd: Libraries Dropped from 2026 NECHE Accreditation Standards Draft Language

[Lindsay Decker]

Hi all - 

Just wanted to make sure this gets shared widely. Apologies for any cross-posting.

Lindsay

---------- Forwarded message ---------
From: James Jackson Sanborn <james.jack...@maineinfonet.org>
Date: Tue, Sep 30, 2025 at 9:41 AM
Subject: ME.AIG | Fwd: Libraries Dropped from 2026 NECHE Accreditation Standards Draft Language
To: <maine-academic-librari...@googlegroups.com>

Please see the message I received yesterday from EveryLibrary.org regarding proposed changes to the NECHE accreditation standards and how those changes might impact academic libraries.

-James

_____________________________

James M Jackson Sanborn (he/him)
Executive Director

Maine InfoNet
5729 Fogler Library
Orono, Maine 04469-5729

james.jacksonsanborn@maineinfonet.org

---------- Forwarded message ---------
From: John Chrastka <john.c...@everylibrary.org>
Date: Mon, Sep 29, 2025 at 3:01 PM
Subject: Libraries Dropped from 2026 NECHE Accreditation Standards Draft Language

Ellen Paul at the Connecticut Library Consortium brought some troubling news for academic libraries to my attention. The New England Council of Higher Education, the institutional accrediting body for Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, and Vermont, has dropped any mention of libraries or librarians from its draft 2026 accreditation standards. This follows on the heels of the Higher Learning Commission doing a similar depreciation of libraries from its standards that went into effect this month. The potential negative impact on NECHE institutions' libraries is unknowable, but in the Midwest, we have already seen shifts in programmatic priorities and layoffs of professional library staff following the HLC standards revisions. 

I am reaching out to share this information about NECHE and to note that NECHE is soliciting public comment on the revisions through October 15, 2025. There is a short window to evaluate the proposed draft language and bring your consortia and individual libraries into the conversation. The EveryLibrary Institute is preparing a paper to provide insights and technical assistance. It is currently in a late-stage draft and is available for your review:

At the Risk of Disappearing: A Comparative Analysis of the 2021 New England Commission of Higher Education (NECHE) Institutional Accreditation Standards and its Draft 2026 Standards for Institutional Accreditation

https://docs.google.com/document/d/10MJW5k0sow-JDHby0f07LQ2XVuTIP9fWxs0_MaDnnKs/edit?usp=sharing

We are concerned that such a dramatic and total loss of visibility in the standards will have a long-term negative impact on your members and our sector. We are very interested in helping your leadership teams to quickly understand the issues and engage your organizations in the public comment period. Without the voice of your consortia and systems, I am concerned these proposed changes will leave our libraries behind. 

If this email belongs with another colleague, I would appreciate it if you could forward it. If I have missed other consortia and systems with members in the NECHE region, please help me connect.

Thank you for your consideration. 

John

--

John Chrastka

Executive Director

EveryLibrary and the EveryLibrary Institute

john.c...@everylibrary.org

312-574-0316

Schedule a call anytime at: 
https://calendly.com/john-chrastka

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Lindsay Decker

Interlibrary Loan & Asst. Collections Librarian

Fogler Library, University of Maine

lindsay...@maine.edu

207-581-1668

she/her