Strategic Framework

Download the Strategic Framework for the University Libraries as a PDF.

Mission

We collect and curate what matters to Carolina. We help our users find, evaluate, and use information to create knowledge.

Vision

We will set the standard for the public university research library in the digital age.

Goal

We will differentiate the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and provide a competitive advantage over our peers and competitors.


Pillars

Preservation

We are the only library in the world committed to preserving the complex history and culture of the state of North Carolina, including the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. We ensure that the information and resources that scholars and the wider community need are available now and in the future.

  • We protect and chronicle the past, communicate the present, and help shape the future.
  • We guarantee the safekeeping of and access to our cultural heritage in support of inquiry, scholarship, and creativity.
  • We make our collections available to all current and future users.
  • We implement robust processes and infrastructures so that we can preserve materials for use today and by future generations, regardless of format.

Student Success

Libraries are incubators for student learning, centers for interdisciplinarity, and sources of inspiration, curiosity, and contemplation. We provide spaces and opportunities for teaching and learning—both in support of and alongside the curriculum.

  • We are a central hub for technologies, collections, and expertise for the use of the entire University community.
  • We empower learners to navigate the complex digital world as information consumers and creators.
  • We build students’ research competence and confidence and we contribute to student performance and retention.
  • We foster social and academic community among students.
  • We focus our resources on students most in need of support.

Research Enterprise

The University Libraries enables scholarship through deep and accessible collections, services that support research from idea through implementation, and the expertise of librarians and archivists.

  • We are a partner at every stage of research: discovery, analysis, writing, publication, outreach, assessment, and grants.
  • We serve all academic departments, research programs, clinical activities, and initiatives at the University.
  • We facilitate robust communities of practice.
  • We provide the University’s laboratory for digital scholarship.
  • We advocate for open access to all products of scholarship.

Values

One Library

  • We are a connected and unified staff that seeks to eliminate silos.
  • We communicate and engage with one another.
  • We optimize the user experience across the entire library system, reducing friction for the user.

Innovation

  • We provide an ideal environment to foster curiosity, exploration, and creative thinking.
  • We anticipate the tools that learners and researchers will need and provide technologies for researchers to enhance their own learning.
  • We continually seek better ways to fulfill our mission.

Inclusive Excellence

  • We empower diverse populations for full participation in the learning community and in a democratic society.
  • We eliminate barriers to the use of library spaces, collections, services, and activities.
  • We embrace diversity, equity, inclusion, and accessibility for our workforce and for library users.

Global Perspective

  • We collaborate and partner across borders to meet the challenges and needs of our interconnected world.
  • We seek out diverse ideas, strategies, people, and institutions.
  • We support the global reach of the University and facilitate global connections for members of the University community.

Priorities

Strategic Initiatives

  • Data Science
  • Sustainable Scholarship
  • Philanthropic Growth
  • Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Accessibility
  • Global Engagement

Operational Alignment

  • Workforce and Professional Excellence
  • Budget and Finance
  • Collections Strategy
  • Master Space Plan