Strategic Pillars
Pillar 1: Democratization of Knowledge
The Library is an advocate and a voice for making the knowledge of the university openly available in support of communities that value research and learning. We enable our students, faculty, staff and community to use that knowledge to advance a positive societal impact. The Library’s long-standing commitment to make information available and accessible is evident in the work of our service-centered employees and exemplified in the rich collections they curate.
Building on this strong foundation from past work, the goal of this pillar is to help UC San Diego realize an even greater impact from the scholarship generated by students, faculty and staff. The Library will achieve this through current and new investments in open access; through the development of shared collections; and through innovative approaches that support the curation and publication of research data.
Strategy 1: Center “open” in our collection development and management work
“Open” can expand the reach and impact of library collections, ranging from research data to course materials. We will strive to expand access to university-produced knowledge, and lower barriers to accessing information for our community.
Strategy 2: Develop and digitize primary resource and archival collections in order to be more accessible and usable in teaching and research environments
We aim to expand the reach of the Library’s extensive primary resource and archival collections, through increased digitization, description, and exhibition. We will work closely with historically underserved communities to enhance collections that represent their experience.
Strategy 3: Maximize UC open access and collection management strategies, consortial licensing and purchasing to increase the richness and accessibility of scholarship
The UC consortium provides a unique opportunity for shared resource development. With our UC partners, we will lead the way in transformative agreements to drive open access and provide more equitable publishing options for UC researchers.
Pillar 2: Innovation and Inquiry
Information literacy, access to materials and library spaces, and feeling a sense of belonging and agency within the Library’s physical and virtual spaces are essential to enabling a more impactful library experience.
The overarching goal of this pillar is to help scholars develop and pursue new research questions, enhance their teaching and learning skills, and increase their sense of campus and civic engagement. To do this, the Library will inspire innovation and foster critical inquiry through inclusive instruction in information research and information literacy. We will affirm our commitment to provide academically-focused, student-centered places to learn, collaborate, and reflect. We will also build on our commitment as a learning organization to anticipate and meet the emerging needs of our scholars.
Strategy 1: Advance our users’ abilities to critically use, evaluate and synthesize information
The Library plays a key and unique educational role in the university, which we intend to deepen over the next five years. With expertise in information literacy pedagogy and the location and creation of information resources, the Library will be a critical partner in the campus teaching enterprise.
Strategy 2: Make Library spaces places for experimentation, academic growth and student leadership
Our iconic buildings are central to the UC San Diego student experience, and our campus community members will be co-creators of their future. Similarly, the Library’s digital spaces are the foundation for research and learning activities, so we will enhance these spaces with usability, accessibility, and 24/7 digital access as guiding principles.
Strategy 3: Anticipate evolving needs of users in delivering services and materials
The next five years will bring significant changes, so we must be proactive in meeting user needs through a portfolio of diverse methodologies. We will collaborate with campus partners to establish new and refined services, and expand services and collections that meet the interests and needs of our campus communities.
Pillar 3: Social Justice
For the Library, a commitment to advancing social justice means working to enable the full participation of our campus community and Library employees. To achieve this, we must strive to equitably allocate resources, foster a sense of belonging, and treat all members of our Library and campus community with respect and care.
Aligning our efforts with UC San Diego’s Strategic Plan and the Strategic Plan for Inclusive Excellence, the Library approaches our work in equity, diversity, and inclusion (EDI), social justice, and accessibility through the lens of our mission—to steward knowledge and empower users to analyze and interpret information.
The goal of this pillar is to strengthen and deepen our commitment through techniques that engage our community in planning and decision-making; through investments in collections, library spaces, services and programming; grounded in our Principles of Community, service and collaboration; and through efforts that address academic opportunity gaps for our students and faculty.
Strategy 1: Place the voice of our community at the center of our work
The Library will embrace its role as a center of community, both on and off campus, to sustain existing relationships and build new ones. We will ensure that the range of faculty, student, staff, and partner voices are evident in our planning, and that their needs are reflected in our investments and priorities.
Strategy 2: Address opportunity gaps for students and faculty through areas of library investment
Information resources, learning and research support, technology, and spaces all play an important role in positioning students and faculty for academic success. The Library will invest in building collections and providing services to meet our users where they are and expand efforts to introduce campus community members to Library resources from their first day on campus.
Strategy 3: Contribute to the development of social justice awareness across campus
Through partnership with other campus units and the collective impact strategies, the Library will support efforts through our information resources, expertise, and spaces. Additionally, we will work to promote leadership and development opportunities for Library employees around campus social justice efforts.
Pillar 4: Responsible Stewardship
As an organization whose work focuses on the current needs of our community as well as the future needs of researchers, the Library must always enable innovation and change by responsibly adjusting our existing work.
This pillar serves as the foundation on which we approach fulfilling the aspirations of this Strategic Plan. To achieve our mission and deliver high quality services and access to our users, the Library must conduct a meticulous review of our resource allocations and processes. This includes, employing a person-centered approach to leadership and management; reflecting on our users’ needs and re-designing our infrastructure for ongoing efficiency; evaluating and determining if our work can be adjusted, concluded, renewed or increased; and leveraging existing resources and identifying new areas of support. We must also seek to streamline workflows and our approach to delivering user-focused services so that we can align our staff’s time and expertise to pursue and extend our vision.
Strategy 1: Extend and leverage a people-first approach to Library leadership and management
We commit to respecting and recognizing the work of Library employees by engaging Library leadership deeply with their teams, and giving employees agency to assess their work, identify opportunities for improvement, and experiment with changes.
Strategy 2: Maximize investments that directly benefit Library users
Resource investments will center on meeting user needs, and we will review our current and future resource allocations through the lens of our mission, vision, and values.
Strategy 3: Implement continuous improvement methods to reduce the burden of work, and deliver measurable positive impacts on service performance
The burden of work required to complete tasks has increased in recent years with changes to foundational systems. We recognize this challenge, and will apply continuous improvement methods to processes across the Library in order to minimize the time and effort required.