Strategic Plan, 2020–2022
Introduction
The Academic Year 2020–2022 Gleeson Library | Geschke Center Strategic Plan builds and expands upon the recommendations of the 2017 Program Review in six key thematic areas: Diversity, Equity, and Inclusive Excellence; Services; Spaces; Collaboration and Partnerships; Technology; and Organizational Success.
As a Jesuit University, Diversity, Equity, and Inclusive Excellence infuses all that we do. Within that framework, over the next three years we will rethink traditional library services, reimagine our spaces as dynamic and active places for reflection and collaboration, explore new partnerships across campus and the community, reenvision the use of technology, and cultivate an agile, innovative environment that attracts and retains diverse and skilled staff.
The Library's 2020-2022 Strategic Plan complements the University's mission to promote learning in the Jesuit Catholic tradition as a diverse, socially responsible community of high quality scholarship and academic rigor sustained by a faith that does justice.
Goals & Objectives
Goal 1: Diversity, Equity, and Inclusive Excellence
Promote diversity, equity, and inclusive excellence in everything that the Library does.
- Objective 1: Review and enhance collections and services to better reflect diversity, equity, and historically underrepresented groups.
- Objective 2: Prioritize the recruitment, retention, and success of historically underrepresented groups.
- Objective 3: Improve the accessibility and inclusivity of library spaces, services, and technology.
Goal 2: Services
Rethink public-facing services, with an emphasis on student instruction, liaison with the faculty, and collections.
- Objective 1: Assess research, scholarship, and creative needs on campus, and create and execute a plan to support these within the Library.
- Objective 2: Restructure the liaison program informed by local needs and evidence-based best practices.
- Objective 3: Redesign the delivery of reference and information services informed by local needs and evidence-based best practices.
- Objective 4: Create an integrated and dynamic instruction and information literacy program.
- Objective 5: Reconceptualize collections as a service and implement strategies to support that concept.
Goal 3: Space
Reimagine the Gleeson Library | Geschke Center as a dynamic, inspiring, and inviting active learning space that is the destination of choice for both quiet individual study and collaborative group work.
- Objective 1: Collaborate with external partner units housed in the library (e.g., Educational Technology Services (ETS), the Learning, Writing, Speaking (LWS) Centers, SDS, Thacher Gallery) to evaluate and specify contemporary and anticipated user needs in the building for the next three years.
- Objective 2: Work with an architect to develop a Learning Commons vision for the library.
- Objective 3: Create and execute a renovation and refresh plan for the Library.
Goal 4: Collaboration and Partnerships
Improve the learning and research experience for students and faculty by promoting internal collaboration, and by collaborating and partnering with other units on campus and in the broader community.
- Objective 1: Develop strategies for investing in, improving access to, and promoting open access materials, open educational resources, and textbooks.
- Objective 2: Explore and implement new partnerships to enhance the impact of digital collections and the scholarship repository, and develop strategies to increase the collecting of materials from departments, student groups, and the community.
- Objective 3: Identify opportunities for increased collaborations for instruction, technology, outreach, and other services.
Goal 5: Technology
Re-envision the use, development, and deployment of technologies to deliver high- quality collections and services.
- Objective 1: Assess current technology in the library, including the technological needs of users and staff, and develop and implement a technology plan.
- Objective 2: Provide support and training for staff in the use of technology.
- Objective 3: Develop and implement a strategy for maximizing the management and delivery of the Library's online collections.
- Objective 4: Support the exploration, acquisition, and development of innovative tools that enhance patron access and use of our resources.
Goal 6: Organizational Success
Cultivate a flexible, agile, and responsive environment that promotes innovation, fosters creative thinking, and attracts and retains skilled staff.
- Objective 1: Build the foundation for a culture of assessment throughout the Library that focuses on the “why” and using data as a catalyst for continuous improvement.
- Objective 2: Review and revise organizational structures, workflows, and processes with an eye to improving efficiency and effectiveness and aligning staff with evolving priorities.
- Objective 3: Develop and implement a robust and intentional staff development program.
- Objective 4: Develop and implement a unified communications, marketing, and outreach strategy with a particular focus on transparency and demonstrating the value and impact of the library to others on campus.