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With headquarters at UCM and UTalca, the Commission reinforced its collaborative work strategy in the face of emerging digital content. The meeting consolidated the Council's Open Science agenda, outlined projections for international cooperation, and sealed the election of its new board of directors for the next two years.
With the purpose of addressing the main challenges surrounding knowledge management and strengthening support for academic excellence, the Permanent Commission of Library Directors (CABID) of the Council of Rectors of Chilean Universities (CRUCH) held its first ordinary meeting of 2026.
The event was held in two locations in the city of Talca, bringing together representatives from the 30 institutions that make up the CRUCH (Council of Rectors of Chilean Universities) for days of debate and strategic planning. The first day took place on May 13 at the Catholic University of Maule (UCM) on its San Miguel Campus. The meeting continued on May 14 at the Central Library of the University of Talca (UTalca).
At both institutions, university authorities highlighted the importance of holding the meeting at their respective campuses and emphasized the role of libraries in the current landscape. Héctor Quinteros Lama, the Vice-Rector for Academic Affairs and Director of Research at UTalca, stressed that with the advent of artificial intelligence, the Commission's leading role becomes crucial in guiding the curation of collections and digital content, which are now virtually limitless.
Meanwhile, the Academic Vice-Rector of the UCM, Andrea Precht Gandarillas, valued the opportunity, stating that "for us it is a joy and a great honor that today as a university we receive CABID, which is looking at ways to disseminate scientific knowledge and make it more accessible," she affirmed.
Collaborative work
In two intense days, the members of the group worked on the progress of the National Access Infrastructure and analyzed institutional experiences aligned with ANID, discussed the impact of artificial intelligence on libraries and digital preservation, and established a roadmap based on the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
They also reinforced the idea of a solid working group. In this regard, Evelyn Didier Carrasco, Director of the Library at the Pontifical Catholic University of Chile, emphasized that these cutting-edge guidelines are a benchmark even internationally. “Not every country has bodies like ours that meet regularly and systematically work on cutting-edge topics in university library trends,” she noted.
For his part, Rimsky Espíndola Astudillo, Director of Information and Bibliographic Documentation at the Federico Santa María Technical University, emphasized that “moving as a bloc helps to boost universities with fewer resources, because for us there is no distinction between institutions: they are all our students.”.
This vision was shared by Rosalía Vargas Jaque, director of the Library and Archives System at Arturo Prat University, who emphasized the importance of sharing experiences and the operations of each library. She explained that the goal is "to work with our own teams to achieve collaborative and concrete learning.".
International projection and governance 2026-2028
During the conference, it was announced that one of the Commission's next objectives will be to finalize a collaboration agreement with the Spanish Network of University and Scientific Libraries (REBIUN)—the counterpart of the Council of Rectors in Spain. This international alliance aims to foster technical exchange and advance the understanding of the new transformative agreements for scientific reading and publication that universities are adopting.
Finally, reaffirming the democratic spirit and internal governance of the Commission, the new leadership for the 2026-2028 period was elected during the meeting. The Commission's executive body is composed as follows:
- President: Bernardo Rojas Valenzuela, head of the Library Unit of the University of O'Higgins (UOH).
- Vice President: Rafael Castillo Guerrero, director of the Information and Library Services (SISIB) of the University of Chile.
- Executive Secretary: María Andrea Arredondo, Director of Libraries at the Catholic University of the Most Holy Conception (UCSC).
- Director: Jaime Albornoz Valenzuela, director of the Library System of the Catholic University of Maule.
From the perspective of the national network, CABID President Bernardo Rojas described the sessions as extremely fruitful, and stressed that the great challenge is to build skills in users to distinguish reliable information in these fast-paced times.
“We are working collaboratively to generate regulatory frameworks that help all institutions to operate under the same logic, reflecting each director's commitment to modernizing their services,” he said.
Text and photos: Communications Catholic University of Maule and Communications University of Talca.
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