Academic libraries are essential in supporting student success by expanding access to course materials, a goal often challenged by issues of cost, availability, and gaps in digital integration. Leganto, along with its AI-powered Syllabus Assistant, offers a scalable, efficient solution that transforms syllabus into a dynamic, accessible resource list, fostering deeper faculty collaboration and measurable institutional impact.

Academic librarians across North America face growing pressure to demonstrate value, support student success, and maximize the impact of library collections. At the same time, institutions are grappling with sobering retention statistics: nearly half of all U.S. college students fail to graduate. This challenge calls for innovative solutions to enhance student engagement and academic performance. One critical area for reevaluation is the delivery of course materials, where the library can play a pivotal role in transforming access and support for students.

Access Matters: The Role of Course Materials in Student Success

One key factor for students is connection—to their institution, to their learning, and to each other. But when students can’t access the materials they need to succeed in their courses, that connection weakens.

A 2023 Clarivate study revealed that only 31% of students reported reading all their assigned course materials. The top reason they skipped reading? Over half said they simply couldn’t find them online. More than half also felt this lack of access hurt their academic performance.

In a digital-first world, students expect immediate, integrated access to course content—no scavenger hunts, no guesswork. When materials aren’t easily accessible from day one, learning suffers. Affordability and equity suffer. And ultimately, their course outcomes suffer.

Faculty Are Pressed for Time—Librarians Can Help

While faculty are the drivers of academic content, they often face overwhelming time constraints and administrative burdens. Updating or restructuring course materials can feel daunting, even if there’s potential value in change.

This is where librarians step in as essential collaborators. They bring expertise in curation, access, copyright, and digital integration—ensuring faculty selections are seamlessly available to students. Yet to fully support faculty, librarians need tools that make this collaboration simple, scalable, and visible.

Introducing Leganto: The Course Materials Solution Built for Libraries

Leganto, the course materials solution from Ex Libris, empowers librarians to efficiently connect students with the resources they need—while maximizing the value of the library’s existing holdings.

More than just a reading list or course reserves tool, Leganto integrates with the learning management system (LMS), discovery tools like Primo and Summon, and library and copyright workflows via Alma. It gives librarians and faculty a centralized platform to build and maintain interactive, accessible, and affordable resource lists for any course.

With Leganto, libraries can:

• Surface existing collection materials to reduce student costs.
• Receive alerts on new courses or unmet resource needs.
• Use data and analytics to demonstrate impact on learning outcomes.
• Automate course rollovers and copyright clearance.
• Support both faculty and students with an intuitive, mobile-friendly interface.

It’s a transformative shift—from simply providing materials to becoming a strategic partner in learning.

AI-Powered Transformation: The Syllabus Assistant

The latest innovation in Leganto takes this support to a new level: the AI Syllabus Assistant. Designed to remove barriers and save time, this new feature lets faculty or library staff upload a course syllabus file—then sit back as Leganto’s AI rapidly analyzes the document and generates a complete, organized course materials list.

This intelligent assistant automatically distinguishes assigned readings from other syllabus content like schedules or policies, supports all citation styles, and produces a resource list matched to the library’s collection, complete with links, availability data, and notes for students.

For librarians, this translates to:

• Massive time savings—a process that could have taken an hour now takes seconds.
• Greater scalability—support more courses without sacrificing quality.
• Enhanced insight—quickly identify collection gaps or unmet course needs.
• Proactive faculty engagement—even hesitant instructors can see results fast.

Early adopters are already seeing the benefits. One librarian noted, “It has saved me the manual work I would normally do to build the list... You just have to double-check.” Another praised how the output mirrors the structure of the syllabus, making it intuitive for faculty and students.

Elevating the Syllabus to a Living Resource

A syllabus shouldn't be static. As faculty update their pedagogy or as new materials become available, course materials lists must evolve too. With Leganto and the Syllabus Assistant, these updates are not only possible, they’re effortless.

Faculty can incorporate new research, switch to open educational resources, or refine selections based on student feedback. Building on this foundation, Leganto will also be expanding to provide content recommendations to help faculty identify materials that align with their existing selections—making it even easier to incorporate open educational research alongside library materials.

Through it all, librarians can continue to provide input and support, ensuring relevance, access, and alignment with library goals.

A Strategic Win for Libraries

Librarians have long played a behind-the-scenes role in course delivery. But with Leganto, and now with the Syllabus Assistant, that role becomes visible, measurable, and indispensable.

Leganto helps librarians:

• Support student success through improved access and affordability.
• Advocate for their impact using data and analytics.
• Collaborate meaningfully with faculty on a scale.
• Lead institutional transformation toward digital, affordable, and inclusive learning.

In today’s higher education environment, success demands smarter systems—and smarter partnerships. With Leganto, libraries are no longer just supporting instruction. They’re shaping it.

Interested in learning more?

Visit here, or contact your Clarivate representative to schedule a demo.