Framework
The Penn Libraries provides services and collections to further the University of Pennsylvania’s research, teaching, and learning mission and to address the essential challenges and opportunities presented by a rapidly changing world.
In 2020, after an 18-month process that entailed gathering and synthesizing information from the University of Pennsylvania community and beyond, the Penn Libraries released a strategic plan to guide its work through 2025.
Our 2020-2025 strategic plan aligns our work with the Penn Compact 2022 pillars of Inclusion, Innovation, and Impact and the University’s goal of advancing knowledge for good.
Through engagement efforts beginning in spring 2019, we have actively met as a staff, and gathered and synthesized information and feedback from across the Libraries and the Penn community. This collective journey led the Libraries to think strategically about such concepts as cultivating knowledge, inspiring inquiry, engaging communities of researchers and learners, and empowering people.
As an organization, we recognize that our success depends on investment in building technical, structural, and human capacity for the changing landscape of Penn and academic libraries. Together, we will construct a unified approach to library services. We will continue to develop an adaptive workforce with skills for the 21st-century library through recruitment and professional development opportunities. We will foster organizational learning and a culture of mutual respect and professional regard.
Our strategic priorities provide the compass for navigating our future. They are supported by an ongoing investment in building the organization’s capacity and learning, and informed by a commitment to equity, diversity, and inclusion. The priorities are also steeped in values identified by Penn Libraries staff.
Values
As part of the strategic planning process, all Penn Libraries staff were invited to participate in a series of interactive sessions to define shared organizational values. These values clarify the essential elements of our future and our aim continually to shape a library system where both staff and patrons thrive.
The Penn Libraries staff value:
Communication
Recognizing the importance of relaying essential and accurate information clearly, openly, and in a timely manner for the health of our organization.
Innovation
Encouraging experimentation and risk-taking in initiating creative approaches to current challenges and new directions.
Empowerment
Providing the tools and support necessary to create an agile, adaptable, and resilient workforce.
Respect
Acknowledging the value of every individual within our organization and their contributions to its success.
Collaboration
Sharing information, ideas, and approaches, and connecting with colleagues across the Libraries, at Penn, and beyond.
Transparency
Acting with clarity, honesty, and integrity.
Mission
The Penn Libraries partners with communities at Penn and beyond to produce, preserve, and provide access to knowledge. Together we build dynamic resources, tools, and expertise that inspire critical inquiry and creative expression.
Vision
The Penn Libraries will advance knowledge to power Penn and better the world.
Strategic Priorities
Advance
Advance information equity by opening scholarship and resources to expansive audiences.
Penn shines today as one of the top higher education institutions in the United States, with a clear focus on innovative research that yields actionable knowledge. The Penn Libraries plays an essential role not only in producing research but also in making it accessible to the Penn community and beyond. As the information ecosystem becomes more complex and materials become available in a multitude of formats, we aim to increase and streamline access to many of the resources our users need to create, disseminate, and preserve knowledge. We will build and support new and innovative models for digital projects, collaborative scholarship, interdisciplinary research, and teaching and learning spaces. We will also invest in and expand on our open-data foundation initiatives to expose Penn-created content to a broader audience.
Advance Strategies:
Develop new partnerships, improve workflows, and expand interfaces to open Penn scholarship to local, national, and international constituencies.
Partner in the creation of knowledge in the classroom using digital pedagogy, archival collections, and enhanced informational resources.
Construct new learning, study, and event spaces to physically embody the Penn Libraries’ work in engagement, preservation, and outreach.
Engage
Expand global impact through intentional and effective engagements with institutions, individuals, & communities.
The Penn Compact 2022 motivates community members to innovate, be radically inclusive, and positively impact their local, national, and global communities. The Penn Libraries opens our doors to all, from students and faculty across campus, to partner organizations across the Philadelphia region and researchers around the world. As trusted information providers in a rapidIy changing world, we must intentionally shape and strengthen engagement in order to communicate and deliver our services more effectively and achieve greater impact. To that end, we will increase support for learning through active collaboration with teachers and knowledge creators, and inspire critical inquiry and creative expression through our exhibitions, events, and programming.
Engage Strategies:
Embed librarians at critical points in the research and teaching life cycle at Penn to offer proactive and integrated provision of collections, expertise, and services.
Enhance and expand our digital scholarship support and programming to foster learning and project creation across the Penn community.
Convey our impact and promote our services in ways that inspire stakeholders to engage with us and invest in our future.
Preserve
Ensure long-term access to and preservation of the scholarly and cultural record in all forms.
The Penn Libraries’ distinctive collections range from printed books to maps and ancient manuscripts; and from sound recordings and digital images to journals and data sets. It’s crucial that we continue to build collections that not only fuel today’s research and teaching but also actively contribute to the global scholarship of tomorrow. We will lead and contribute to collaborative national and international preservation efforts to ensure the survival and stewardship of the scholarly record and cultural resources for generations to come. And we will build dynamic and inclusive repositories that expand diversity, accessibility, and preservation in all formats.
Preserve Strategies:
Protect the integrity of the world’s cultural heritage by building and safeguarding collections, with a focus on education, access, and resource sharing.
Pursue effective models for the preservation and stewardship of digital and material collections through expanded and updated digitization, print retention, and web archiving.
Build collections for current research and pedagogical needs while actively contributing to the global scholarship of tomorrow.
Enrich
Build the organization’s capacity through ongoing assessment and development, informed by a commitment to equity, diversity, & inclusion.
The world of information changes quickly. In order to serve the Penn community and other knowledge seekers most effectively, we will prepare for an evolving future through continuous learning and staff empowerment. We will foster a culture of learning, assessment, and best practices that aligns our strategy with the mission of Penn. We will equalize opportunity, develop leaders, and enrich the experience of all members of the Penn Libraries’ community. We will improve communication and collaboration in order to positively impact our work together and successfully support the changing needs of an eminent research university.
Enrich Strategies:
Invest in continuous learning and staff development to ensure the Libraries’ value to the scholarly enterprise.
Build technical, structural, and staff capacity to support a rapidIy changing teaching, research, and learning landscape.
Promote the value of diversity and diverse perspectives among staff.
Digital Strategy
Libraries of the future must pioneer change rather than merely manage it.
Read the Complete Digital StrategyVision, Goals, and Values
The Penn Libraries Digital Strategy 2022-2024 presents a broad vision to plan, implement, scale, and sustain digital technologies and practices that enable Penn students, researchers, scholars, and their collaborators to function skillfully and competitively in a digital world.
Aiming to pioneer change rather than merely manage it, the digital strategy supports a proactive approach that assumes full alignment with the priorities and values of the Penn Libraries’ Strategic Plan 2020-2025 and seamlessly connects the Libraries’ digital services and systems with the University’s research, teaching, and learning mission. The goals outlined by the strategy are to achieve resilient systems, increase agility and capacity for growth, manage change and evolutions in services, and thereby foster innovation.
The following action-oriented values frame the strategy:
Design and develop with a human-centered focus.
Create and sustain a future-ready infrastructure.
Inspire and empower excellence in digital leadership.
Read the complete digital strategy, which includes digital governance principles and additional details on vision, goals, and values.