In 2008 the Association of College & Research Libraries adopted a set of standards designed to help academic libraries to better support online and distance students. The Standards for Distance Learning Library Services are a response to several critical factors, including:

• the rapid growth of higher education learning opportunities that take place outside the traditional classroom;
• greater recognition of the need for library resources and services at locations other than main campuses;
• growing concern and demand for equitable services for all students in higher education, no matter where the "classroom" may be, or in the absence of a classroom at all;
• a greater demand for library resources and services by faculty and staff at distance learning sites;
• and the expansion and advancement in technological innovations in the transmittal of information and the delivery of courses.

A key section of the Standards, the "Access Entitlement Principle," communicates the rights that college and university students, faculty, and staff have in accessing library services and resources:

"All students, faculty members, administrators, staff members, or any other members of an institution of higher education are entitled to the library services and resources of that institution, including direct communication with the appropriate library personnel, regardless of where they are physically located in relation to the campus; where they attend class in relation to the institution’s main campus; or the modality by which they take courses. Academic libraries must, therefore, meet the information and research needs of all these constituents, wherever they may be. This principle of access entitlement, as applied to individuals at a distance, is the undergirding and uncompromising conviction of the Standards for Distance Learning Library Services."