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Recently, as I read about the thoughts of a university library director approaching
his first year in a new assignment, I was impressed with his perspective on
sustaining the continuing vitality of an academic library. He prompted me to think
about how, in the daily details of library service, there are some things we need
always to be about:
To remain critical to the academic enterprise, the library must be actively
engaged more broadly in the University and its future;
partnerships are not optional
.
To maintain its vitality, the library must regularly adapt and renew its staff, its
services, its facilities, and its operations;
change is not optional
.
To assure it is valued by the academic community, the library must become more
adept at how it shares its achievements and how it demonstrates its role in the
achievements of faculty and students;
success is not optional in either case.
To this end, in the midst of all that the library faculty and staff regularly do to support our University family, three
major initiatives occupied our time during 2015/16, focusing to a great degree on relevant partnerships, effective
change, and demonstrable student success.
Library and student success:
This initiative drove us to look at library resources and services in a
different way, focusing on the correlation that recent research has demonstrated between the more active
engagement of students with library personnel, resources, and services, and stronger grade point averages.
Beyond developing a context for the role of the library in student success, as you will see later in this report, we
are attempting to visually demonstrate where those connections with our students occur.
New research assistance model:
One of the results of our library assessment program was the need to
plan for a revised research assistance model for 2016/17. This model will be built around a single service desk
for all interactions, including a screening of research questions with various levels of assistance, from trained
student staff, to full-time library staff, to the intervention of an on-call research librarian. This new pilot program
will demonstrate if this tiered approach to research assistance is effective.
Library strategy 2025:
During the 2015/16 academic year, the library launched the development of a
new strategic plan,
Library Strategy 2025
, to address the rapidly changing educational and technological
environment in which libraries are currently operating. We trust this important effort, to be completed during
the fall semester 2016, will lead to increased effectiveness, more valuable partnerships, and greater student
success. This annual report reflects the work of a library staff heavily engaged in striving to achieve those ends.
2015-2016 Library Verse of the Year
“Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be pleasing in your sight, O Lord, my
Rock and my Redeemer.” Psalm 19:14
Message from the Dean
~Lynn A. Brock