Abstract. Over the last years the economic crisis affected the wide range of activities and services that Academic Libraries provide. On the other hand the demand for such services is increasing due to the reduced individual income of the librarie's users. The management of libraries is sometimes forced to make agonizing decisions regarding further shrinkage or/and mergers. An alternative to this scenario involves a strategy for advocating the value and developing alliances and collaborations among the Academic Libraries. The paper focuses on academic libraries in Greece during the economic crisis of the last five years with the aim to investigate problems and difficulties as well as challenges; changes brought about are discussed proposing at the same time a framework not only for overcoming the difficulties but also for exploiting the new opportunities. Initially, an overview of the role and function of academic libraries is presented with emphasis on their social character. Key leadership issues are explored in the context of on going restructuring attempts in order to establish viable operational models for academic institutions.