A 12-month update of the University Libraries Strategic Plan (2007-2012) will be presented to the Council of Academic Deans and Directors (CADD) on October 17, 2007. We know that there has been more rapid change in information dissemination, new knowledge, and technologies in the past decade as compared to the past 100 years. We are seeing major shifts in information-seeking behaviors and expectations of our users. Immediate, anytime, anywhere access to information is only one piece of the puzzle. The other piece is remaking the libraries as campus destinations. Here we are talking about increased hours of access, wireless, additional professional services in terms of being able to ask faculty librarians questions via email and chat as well as via phone and in-person, new student academic service spaces — Writing Center, Testing Center — within the library, and ammenities, such as a cafe, that support study and research.
Over the past 12 months, we have come to realize, more-and-more, that University Libraries retain their vital role as multi-purpose environments for study, collaboration, and research. Additionally, the University Libraries continue to seek new partnerships such as expanding the Saint Louis University Manuscripta Conference, and creating a wide variety of intellectually stimulating exhibits such as Facsimiles of Manuscripts Illuminated in the British Isles, and the Ravenna Mosaic Exhibit.
Expanding and improving information resources and library services is a result of continuous assessment, multi-platform communication (i.e., blogs, podcasts, RSS feeds, etc.), and clarifying real needs for these resources and services as new courses and curricula are proposed.
Achieving these much needed successes over the past year places the University Libraries on solid footing to move into the next phase of improvements. Moving forward, we will be addressing the need to house 500,000 volumes from three SLU libraries (Pius XII Memorial Library, the Medical Center Library, and the Omer Poos Law Library) in a climate controlled secure facility designed to maintain these important legacy collections. Once this project is completed, several options to refresh the interior of Pius Library will become available. Along these lines are plans to create a learning commons environment in collaboration with the Center for Teaching Excellence so that faculty can test new teaching and learning pedagogies in a cutting-edge educational environment. We are looking to upgrade the facilities so that we may support showcase collections such as our Vatican Film Library. And we are looking to refresh all the furniture and single and group study rooms within Pius Library.
All of this work is in reaching the University Libraries’ goal of providing excellent facilities, enhancing our outstanding collections and resources, and providing exceptional services to the SLU community.
