CSU Libraries Future Themes

TO: Peter Dorhout, Chair, Library/IT Task Force

FROM: Amy Hoseth, Chair, Libraries Faculty Council (LFC)

DATE: March 25, 2009

SUBJECT: LFC “Future Themes” for the CSU Libraries

In February and March the Libraries Faculty Council (LFC), at the suggestion of Dean Patrick Burns, conducted an exercise to identify “Future Themes” for the Libraries and develop action items related to those themes. The goal of the exercise was to identify key strategic priorities to help the Libraries “leapfrog into the future” over the next five years.

The Libraries’ unit coordinators and administrators developed four main themes, and ad hoc LFC subcommittees then brainstormed action items related to each theme. After several rounds of discussion, LFC members voted on the action items that they feel are most important and that will best help the Libraries to move forward. Those action items are presented below, in bulleted form, for your review.

We hope that this information will be useful to the Library/IT Task Force as you complete your review of the CSU Libraries. It is worth noting that Libraries faculty and staff are working on many of these items already. However, much more work remains to be done, including discussions about how the Libraries can best achieve these strategic goals given fiscal realities and staffing constraints.

LFC-recommended action items for the CSU Libraries

The CSU Libraries should:

 Engage the campus to explore current research dissemination strategies as they relate to scholarship, teaching, and outreach, in order to address the rapid evolution of the traditional collections/information resources environment

 Enhance and expand the development of distinctive content and information resources

 With the assistance of consultants and/or other knowledgeable parties, address issues of workflow, priorities, and resource allocation  The Libraries value the specialized knowledge of library faculty. It is critical to retain and hire library faculty with specialized knowledge (i.e. metadata expertise; discipline/subject knowledge; digital information management skills) to support the larger CSU academic community

 Take critical actions related to the Libraries’ physical space  Build a configurable instruction space capable of accommodating library and information literacy instruction for groups of many sizes  Systematically seek broad stakeholder input and researcher expertise to determine future library space needs and considerations  Thoroughly weed the Libraries’ collection, actively pursue cooperative de-accessioning arrangements with other libraries, and continue to develop storage strategies for collections

 Continue to collaborate as teaching partners with ACNS, TILT, RamCT, teaching faculty, and others to deliver and integrate high-quality instruction into the curriculum in support of CSU’s teaching and learning mission. Success for this outcome will be resource-dependent

 Review processes for information resources development, including collections, access, and content strategies  Review and, if necessary, revise existing content acquisitions strategies, priorities, and commitments, given fiscal realities and the needs of the campus community  Explore evolving purchasing models based on metrics such as patron use, and incorporate best practices tested by other academic libraries  Continue to pursue new cooperative purchasing arrangements and models with other libraries, as well as continuing existing arrangements.