Library Vision Statement
The Library is central to the vibrant intellectual life found at Illinois. Infused throughout the University, the Library fully engages with the University’s mission by offering physical and virtual access to the finest and broadest array of scholarly resources available and by providing the expertise of the best librarians and staff. Serving scholars around the world, the Library’s global preeminence reflects the University’s land grant values and its own rich heritage. (2015)
Mission
The University Library is central to the intellectual life of the University. By providing and stewarding collections and content that comprise a current and retrospective record of human knowledge and by offering a wide array of services, it enhances the University’s activities in creating knowledge, preparing students for lives of impact, and addressing critical societal needs. The Library advances the University’s goals by ensuring unfettered access to information and by providing a network of expertise that ensures value, quality, and authenticity of information resources. The Library integrates and manages knowledge to enable learning and the creation of new knowledge. (2015)
Current Strategic Plan: Framework for Strategic Action, 2019
Principles
The work of the University Library is guided by the following enduring principles:
- Mission-Focused – The Mission of the University Library and the Mission of the University provide a roadmap and serve as the broad parameters for action as we deeply engage the teaching, learning, research, engagement, and economic development purposes of the University.
- Action-Oriented – The University Library is a proactive organization that carefully charts a future path that builds on past success while encouraging experimentation and innovation. Our work is in service to the community, from the provision of services to the curation of the intellectual record for the ages, and reflects the creative and entrepreneurial spirit of our organizational culture.
- User-Focused – The University Library is guided by user needs in developing services, collections, and spaces, including current and emerging practices in teaching, learning, and scholarship, through our collaborative relationships with our user communities.
- Evidence-Based – The University Library uses assessment, input from our user communities, research and development, best practices from the profession, peer review, and benchmarking in making decisions and evaluating our success.
- Inclusive – The University Library acts intentionally to include all members of its community in pursuing its Mission, recognizing the strengthening effects of diversity, dialogue, and difference and of engaging inclusive processes.
- Empowering – The University Library chooses strategies and approaches that empower library employees and users to carry out their work independently while also recognizing our collective responsibilities.
- Leading – The University Library is a leader on campus and in the library community nationally and internationally in research, development, and building partnerships to work collectively and collaboratively to address challenges and increase impact. These relationships generate future-thinking services and programs. (2015)
2019 Library Strategic Planning Team
The Library Strategic Planning Team (LSPT), facilitated by the co-chairs, will produce a draft strategic framework and/or strategic planning working documents that will serve as the basis for review at the May 2019 University Libraries retreat, and inform the crafting of the new strategic framework by the Library’s Executive Committee (EC).
- The composition of the LSPT has been approved by the Library EC
- The new strategic framework will cover the years 2019-23, and be similar in format to the existing Framework for Strategic Action (2015)
- The existing mission and principles will be reviewed and affirmed
- No vision statement will be produced as part of the initial process
All library staff and stakeholders are invited to learn and participate in the 2019-23 strategic planning process at: https://www.library.illinois.edu/staff/committee/library-strategic-planning-team/
Library Strategic Framework, 2019-2023 – DRAFT