University Library Mission, Goals & Strategic Directions

University Library Mission

The Santa Clara University Library supports teaching, learning, scholarship, and integrated education in the Jesuit tradition by providing access to, and facilitating the use of, a broad array of information resources. The Library is committed to excellent service and open inquiry in an environment of academic freedom.

Goals

The University Library's goals are to:

  1. Provide consistently high quality and timely service in support of the University's Vision, Mission, Values and Strategic Initiatives.
  2. Develop, maintain, and provide easy access to a wide range of balanced information resources that foster academic excellence; promote critical analysis of various viewpoints; integrate rigorous inquiry and scholarship, creative imagination, and reflective engagement with society; and support the University's commitments to inclusive excellence and to fashioning a more humane, just, and sustainable world.
  3. Provide instruction in library and information literacy skills aimed at facilitating research and developing an individual's ability to select, evaluate and use information resources.
  4. Provide training in the use of information resources and technology to enhance teaching, learning, and scholarship and to improve productivity and service quality.
  5. Use technology to improve the delivery of programs, services, and resources.
  6. Market library programs, services, and resources to faculty, students, and staff.
  7. Engage the larger Santa Clara community, including alumni and other friends, in programs that enhance the co-curricular life of the University and build long-term support for the Library.
  8. Recruit, develop, retain, and reward an excellent, creative, and diverse staff, with a variety of academic backgrounds, experience, and training, who are committed to continued growth and learning and supportive of innovation in a changing information environment.
  9. Allocate resources in accordance with strategic priorities; evaluate and assess programs, resources, and services on a regular basis, using the evaluation as a basis for continuous improvement; strive for effective communication and collaboration, responsible decision making, and fiscal responsibility at every level.
  10. Provide facilities that promote effective study and research; ensure appropriate storage, maintenance and preservation of information resources; enhance Library and other Information Services' staff productivity and collaboration; and serve as a community gathering place for the exchange of ideas.

Strategic Directions

  1. Promote collaboration among Information Services units/staff to more effectively support the use of technology in the delivery of programs, services, and resources. (Goals 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 9, 10)
  2. Market Library programs, services, and resources to the University community, with particular focus on the promotion of services and resources available to SCU alumni. (Goals 6, 7)
  3. Support the University's new Core curriculum by acquiring resources for new courses; increasing the availability of, and access to, primary sources; and integrating information literacy into appropriate classes. (Goals 2, 3, 4, 5)
  4. Establish a digital repository to preserve SCU's intellectual content and output. (Goals 2, 5)
  5. Explore use of mobile technology for delivery of Library programs, services, and resources. (Goals 5, 9)
  6. Evaluate and assess programs, resources, and services, by measuring their quality, effectiveness, and impact. (Goal 9)

Working Draft June 9, 2009