This article describes information literacy as a liberal art that draws on a repertoire of critical inquiry skills. At the philosophical level, librarians believe that information literacy is a fundamental part of students' broader skill set that will help them be effective and responsible users and creators of information, both in college and beyond. An education in information literacy aims to empower students to use critical inquiry skills wherever they are. Most of them, in four years, will not be on a college or university campus. When taught as it should be, information literacy, like other "meta" skills, becomes portable--a habit of the mind that goes places. To resolve that liberal education is a "course of study designed to prepare students for complexity, diversity, and change" is to understand the realities of the world students will inhabit. The ever-evolving network of varied media and content that make up our modern information environment is, and will be, no small part of this. Equipping students with the requisite "literacies" is a must. "Information" literacy, then, is learning for life.