In 2019, University Libraries launched a project to develop a new strategic plan based on the University's new strategic priorities. Data gathering began with small focus groups for faculty, students, and administrators, following the Harwood Institute for Public Innovation's "Turning Outward" framework. This method is designed to gain insight into community aspirations and uncover innovative connections between what the community envisions and what our libraries can offer. Several library faculty members and administrators are certified Harwood facilitators, which enabled us to use this approach to inform strategic planning. We paused in 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic and developed an interim set of priorities to focus our work and extend the existing strategic plan.
The revised process began in earnest in December 2022, with a campus-wide survey designed to gather baseline perceptions about the libraries and inform discussion topics for more intensive focus groups. We sent the survey through campus email and other channels and received nearly 200 responses: 34% faculty, 7% staff, 12% graduate students, and 46% undergraduates. Following the survey, four Harwood-styled listening sessions were conducted with 21 faculty and staff, expanding and updating the four previous sessions conducted in 2019. At the same time, we captured student input during five tabling sessions in Waldo Library, the College of Health and Human Services, Floyd Hall, and Sangren Hall with 89 participants. We asked participants five brief questions and grouped responses by theme.
We held select conversations with campus administrators, including interviews with Remzi Seker, VP of Research and Innovation, and Andy Holmes, Chief Information Technology Officer. Dean Julie Garrison discussed with Provost Council members and shared feedback. As a final listening phase, we invited library staff and faculty to four
Although our efforts focused primarily on the campus community, select external resources were reviewed during this stage, including national library statistics from the Association of Research and College Libraries, several future forecast reports, and a review of peer institutions' strategic plans. We shared information about the future of libraries with all staff before authoring the final plan.
In May 2023, University Libraries convened all employees for a half-day retreat. The planning committee presented feedback from listening groups and facilitated three exercises to craft the plan's thematic structure, capture emerging topics, and establish authoring teams.
We charged four cross-functional writing groups to review all community feedback and develop an initial draft for each theme. Each writing group was led by a Strategic Planning Committee liaison, using templates and documentation developed to inform the process. This initial effort included 32 library employees and produced 17 pages of narrative. The planning committee reviewed and edited the combined draft before submitting it for an extensive administrative review focused on clarity and sustainability. We collected additional feedback from library staff and faculty at a July all-staff meeting and with a final survey on the final draft. Final administrative review and editing was completed in December 2023.
