This model for implementing total quality management (TQM) in a research library was developed as part of an effort by the Association of Research Libraries’ (ARL) Office of Management Services to create strategies and programs for introducing quality improvement approaches in research libraries. The model was presented to a group of ARL directors at the ALA Midwinter Meeting in San Antonio, Texas, January 1992. The group was composed of directors (or their representatives) who had some knowledge of the principles and processes of quality management; some were involved in or anticipating quality initiatives at their own institutions