Strategic Plan, 2023-2028

Facilitate Holistic Student Success

We prioritize student success by providing relevant and engaging physical and virtual collections, in-person and online research consultations, information literacy instruction, and events and exhibits. Through dynamic study environments, empathetic and efficient access services, and innovative technology and spaces, the Library supports both the academic and co-curricular needs of students.

Priorities:

Establish new methods to engage students through reference, research consultations, instruction, outreach, and digital learning objects, with a focus on a robust information literacy program.
Encourage faculty to embrace the CSU’s Affordable Learning Solutions (AL$) initiative and adopt Open Educational Resources or library-provided materials to provide students free access to necessary course content.
Enhance existing technologies and resources within the Learning Commons and other public areas, and establish digital innovation and scholarship services and spaces to support embodied and integrative learning.
Advocate for the expansion of innovative study and maker spaces, along with the necessary accessible technology, furnishings, and services to support both individual and collaborative learning and scholarship.

Advance Academic Excellence

We support traditional and increasingly interdisciplinary research and innovation within an equity framework. This is achieved by acquiring, licensing, managing, and providing access to relevant print and electronic collections, primary source materials, and data. We provide research consultations, information literacy instruction, access services, and interlibrary loan to facilitate the advancement of inquiry and discovery. We also recognize and affirm community cultural wealth, proactive innovation, and learning for all through our public programs and outreach.

Priorities:

Expand institutional repository services, copyright advisory referrals, and research consultations with librarian subject specialists to meet the needs of CSUN students and scholars.
Develop services to support data management and preservation, data visualization, data mining, data analysis, and knowledge sharing.
Broaden access to existing Special Collections & Archives collections, encourage public exhibits derived from these collections, and acquire new archival collections to enrich teaching, learning, and research.
Strategize the funding and creation of the Center for the Study of Charles Dickens, in collaboration with the College of Humanities.
Expand the use of library data, assessment, and user feedback to develop best practices for policies, workflows, systems, and spaces to adapt to evolving user requirements, contexts, and opportunities.

Strengthen Capacity for Institutional Transformation

The University Library strives to effect necessary changes and strategic investments that align with our mission, vision, and values. We aim to transform our structures, resources, processes, systems, and spaces (both physical and virtual), and invest in library employees who have the skill sets and commitment essential for realizing a more equitable and just future.

Priorities:

Encourage the hiring and retention of library faculty, staff, and administrators who represent the diversity of our community and are guided by the principles of diversity, equity, inclusion, social justice, and accessibility.
Support library employees’ professional development through continuing education, leadership training, and mentoring, and acknowledge the contributions of those who further the Library’s mission, vision, values, and strategic priorities.
Advocate for collaboration within and between library teams through shared goals, leadership, and cooperation, to expand innovation in all library areas.
Explore new strategies to continuously improve the user experience through transformative collections, technical services, access services, research and instruction support, technologies, and renovated spaces and furnishings.
Leverage library assessment data to articulate our story and demonstrate a strong correlation between library usage and our contributions to student success to garner philanthropic and institutional support for our collections, spaces, and technology.

Enhance Community Connections

We strive to nurture a culture of caring and belonging, reinforcing partnerships internally and with the wider community to align the Library with the University’s core values, particularly promoting equity and inclusion.

Priorities:

Provide the broader community access to the University Library’s resources, technology, services, and public spaces whenever licensing, resource sharing agreements, and other policies permit.
Promote library outreach activities like tours and invitations to special events and exhibits, and offer library instruction and research assistance to local high schools to help attract prospective students to CSUN.
Showcase the Library’s unique and extensive archival and specialized collections of historical, cultural, and educational significance, and promote and expand our innovative spaces and services through programming, creative fundraising, grant writing, and establishing new endowments.

Honor our Historical Legacy and Advocate for an Equitable Future

The Library honors CSUN's history while advocating for a more equitable future, emphasizing our commitment to diversity, equity, inclusion, social justice, and accessibility in our communications, decision-making, and resource allocation.

Priorities:

Implement new strategies and projects rooted in the University Archives & Campus History Collections to raise campus awareness of our shared CSUN history and to foster a sense of community and belonging.
Apply an equity and social justice lens to library policies, practices, programming, acquisitions, spaces, student engagement, and employee recruitment and retention.
Collect data that assess the Library’s impact by demographic and student success variables to determine how best to support the diverse needs of students, faculty, and staff.

The University Library’s 2023-28 Strategic Plan is based on CSUN’s Road Map to the Future, with input gathered from focus group meetings with campus stakeholders, Library employee meetings, the Library’s biannual student survey, and the professional literature and other external sources. Questions and comments can be directed to Kathy Dabbour, Associate Dean.