The development of the OSU Libraries and Press Strategic Plan comes at a time of extraordinary transformation for academic libraries and university presses. We face fundamental changes in higher education, information technology, student and faculty demographics, and scholarly communication. Evolving approaches to teaching and learning are reshaping the way we approach the design of space in our facilities. These approaches require—and students expect—the ability to explore, examine, and study collaboratively. We are in the midst of a revolution that is altering how information can be accessed and linked together. Researchers are looking to OSU Libraries and Press to take the lead in moving the campus forward into a new world of open science, open data, and open publications. Innovative course delivery options, Open Access publishing, new consumer technology products, availability of content outside traditional library boundaries, and data management mandates by grant funding agencies also demand shifts in the way libraries, presses, and universities function. For those reasons, the OSU Libraries and Press Strategic Plan establishes an ambitious pace over the next five years. At the core, we remain committed to flexibility, innovation, and resourcefulness. In addition, we will measure the quality of our programs and services focusing on our impact on student learning and engagement, and faculty productivity. We envision being at the center of intellectual engagement and scholarship at OSU, while helping the University achieve its goal of becoming a top ten land grant institution. Always a forward-thinking organization, OSU Libraries and Press will shape our future around our strengths and values. We will embrace our reputation for experimentation, build upon our essential services and programs, and maintain a strong user-centered orientation. Our plan recognizes the engine of our success: our world-class faculty and staff, and the significant role they will play in shaping our future. In focus groups and conversations, our campus and community stakeholders told us that they recognize and appreciate our core successes:

  • acquiring, organizing, and preserving library resources that support research and instruction;
  • teaching students to find as well as evaluate information;
  • contributing to the development of new knowledge, especially knowledge focused on the Pacific Northwest; and
  • developing programs and services that impact not only the campus, but also the state of Oregon and beyond.

Our stakeholders also challenged us to create inspired spaces for learning and engagement, offer easy-to-find digital resources, and provide expert guidance in data management and new publishing models. They made it clear that the OSU Libraries and Press can always improve how we tell our story, promote our resources and services, and expand upon the support we receive from library and press supporters. We must also challenge ourselves to demonstrate our success at advancing the University’s ambitions as articulated in its strategic initiatives to:

  • create signature programs that advance the science of sustainable earth ecosystems, improve human health and wellness, and promote economic growth and social progress;
  • provide an excellent teaching and learning environment, and achieve student access, persistence, and success through graduation; and
  • substantially increase revenues resulting from private fundraising, partnerships, research grants, and technology transfers.

The OSU Libraries and Press listened to stakeholders and acknowledged the challenges. By enacting this strategic plan, we seek to further align ourselves with the University’s strategic initiatives. However, we must remain agile enough to respond to new university initiatives that will emerge over the next five years. We intend to discover innovative solutions to the major regional, national, and global trends facing Oregon State University and the state of Oregon. Our plan also addresses the principal strategic issues facing the library and press community as a whole. It acknowledges the important areas where we must grow as an organization in terms of resources, staff expertise, and collaboration. In the next five years, OSU Libraries and Press will direct efforts across four key areas:

  1. We will support an exceptional learning and research environment in our physical and virtual spaces. This environment will enable research and learning to thrive at OSU as students and faculty meet to discover content, exchange ideas, and build community.
  2. We will develop a distinctive library learning and engagement program that adds value to an OSU student’s educational experience. Our learning and engagement program will optimize student learning and success.
  3. Not only will we advance the creation and dissemination of knowledge through our own contributions to scholarship and publishing, we will lead changes in the global scholarly environment through innovation and advocacy. Our resources will be globally accessible and responsibly managed. We will be critical to the success of researchers, whether they are faculty or graduate and undergraduate students.
  4. We will leverage the tremendous potential that already exists among our staff and faculty while investing in their ongoing professional development. A heightened focus on staff will increase our organizational capacity for creativity, collaboration, adaptability and productivity, as well as enhance efforts to meet emerging needs.

Our core mission frames every aspect of the plan: To cultivate superior scholarship and creativity, empower discovery, and preserve and disseminate knowledge. With this plan, we acknowledge a future that will redefine academic libraries and university presses, as well as higher education. As those new definitions evolve, we are inspired to build on our outstanding record of success. We are emboldened to establish ourselves as a front-runner among research libraries and university presses.

Mission

The OSU Libraries and Press cultivate superior scholarship and creativity, empower discovery, and preserve and disseminate knowledge. We develop user-focused services, share our expertise through teaching and research, and build gateways to unique resources to further the growth of the University, the people of Oregon, and the global scholarly community. We advance OSU’s land grant mission by contributing to learner success, scholarly excellence, and community engagement.

Vision

The OSU Libraries and Press will be at the center of intellectual engagement and scholarship at Oregon State University. Students, faculty, staff, alumni, and the people of Oregon will highly value our research, teaching, and services. Our solutions to the evolving challenges of higher education and scholarly communication will serve as a model of innovation for academic libraries and university presses.

Core Values

In engaging with our community and working with our partners, we are guided by these values:

Access: We endorse and advocate the open exchange of information.

Civility: We create safe environments for discourse within our community.

Collaboration: We actively seek out partnerships and share our expertise.

Diversity: We recognize, promote, and value the differences within our organization and community.

Innovation: We improve and adapt by valuing risk-taking and intellectual discovery.

Preservation: We safeguard knowledge and the historic record for our community.

Service: We are passionate and intentional about helping others.

Sustainability: We are trusted stewards of our resources.

 

Strategic Plan 2012-17