Our mission
What do we do?
The UCSF Library connects people to stimulate inclusive learning, advance scientific inquiry, and enable open access to historical and current health sciences information resources.
Our vision
Where do we want to be?
The UCSF Library is a catalyst for discovery, learning, healing, and innovation that connects our partners and community for the benefit of humankind.
Our values
- Deliver EQUITABLE and INCLUSIVE service
- Nurture CONNECTION
- Foster COLLABORATION
- Advance LEARNING
- Inspire INNOVATION
- Embrace UCSF’s PRIDE Values
Strategic Initiatives and Goals
Innovative Technologies – Dynamic and collaborative research and learning experiences through expertise, tools, and platforms.
- Create a Tech Innovations Hub to enhance the utilization of cutting-edge technologies and expertise within spaces that provide fluid pathways for the UCSF community to design, create, and embed innovative technologies into curriculum and research.
- Create a Center of Teaching Excellence and Innovation to support teaching and learning across the graduate and professional programs through central facilitation and support of UCSF core applications and integrations.
- Bring historical health data into the realm of digital humanities and scientific research by making them computationally actionable.
- Expand awareness of and equitable access to current and cutting-edge research and learning technologies and support for how to best utilize them in innovative ways.
- Develop library staff and enhance collaboration to empower creative technological solutions for supporting open scholarship, education, and research.
Library as Educators – Expertise and resources to build knowledge and skills in key areas of education, research, and clinical care.
- Align and coordinate the library education program with the UCSF education and research missions, connecting all campus educational offerings that intersect with the library’s domains of expertise.
- Strategically integrate the library into education, research, and (at ZSFG) clinical care to better support the mission of these areas across UCSF in alignment with the library’s core missions: open scholarship, education, and research.
- Support the university’s historical reconciliation initiatives by identifying and democratizing access to relevant archival collections by engaging UCSF and the wider community through programming, curriculum, and publications.
- Become a community hub for data science at UCSF.
- Expand awareness of offerings and services to increase the visibility of library staff as experts.
- Develop and implement best practices for equitable and inclusive library teaching, increasing and empowering collaboration across the library through shared expertise.
Discovery and Access to Current and Historical Resources – Expertise, tools, and collections that provide access and navigation guidance through the changing landscapes of scholarly research, including rare, unique, and historical materials.
- Provide equitable access to current and historical collections for a broad range of users, ensuring the representation and recognition of the diverse history and population of UCSF.
- Increase awareness of traditional and distinctive collections.
- Ensure sustainability of collection maintenance and growth.
- Increase accessibility to print collections by creating an open digital lending library program.
- Collaborate internally and externally to increase awareness and support for open scholarship in education and research, including innovations in developing open-source solutions.
Learning Community and Cultural Environment – Open and accessible environments that invite curiosity, collaboration, and innovation.
- Transform the library into the virtual and physical heart of the university.
- Deliver a high-quality, welcoming, inclusive, and user-centered experience across all services and virtual and physical spaces.
- In partnership with cultural and other organizations, strengthen the library’s role as a hub that unites and connects campus and local communities, enhancing collaboration and learning.
- Empower community members by providing interactive virtual and physical community spaces that allow UCSF educators, researchers, and health care providers to share knowledge and profile discoveries.
Strategic Planning Process
The planning process began in October 2020. The work was accomplished in a series of virtual meetings and work sessions that took place from October 13, 2020, through August 26, 2021. The Library Leadership Team led the process and worked under the guidance of consultant Maureen Sullivan to design the planning process; to determine meaningful ways to engage library staff; to determine when and how to engage other stakeholders; to identify promising practices from other similar libraries and educational technology providers; to understand trends and developments that are likely to be key influences on the future of the library; and to prepare a communication plan to ensure that staff and other stakeholders are kept informed throughout the planning process.
Early in its work, the Library Leadership Team developed a set of planning principles for the process, created an overall timetable, and identified a list of key stakeholders to be involved.
An online survey was created and administered to the campus community to solicit information about the importance and value of the range of services provided and to learn the extent and frequency of library use.
A series of individual and group interviews were conducted in February, March, and April. The interviews opened with an invitation for participants to describe the current and upcoming priorities and challenges they face. They were then asked for their ideas about the library could support them. Participants also were asked to describe how the library makes a difference in their work, what they value about the library, and what are the most important services provided by the library.
The January 21, 2021, meeting of COLASC included a fruitful discussion of the library’s strategic issues, the library’s role in research and education in the future, the ways in which the library makes a difference in research and learning, and possible opportunities for the library to pursue.
Work sessions with library staff were held on December 8, 2020, April 14, 2021, July 7, 2021. These sessions were opportunities for all staff to be involved in the work. An update of the process was given at the start of each session and staff were invited to review and comment on draft documents that had been prepared by the Library Leadership Team. These drafts included the mission statement, the planning principles, themes derived from the discussion with COLASC, proposed values, and components of a vision for the future of the UCSF Library.
In the July 7 work session, staff worked in small groups to propose goals in each of the general theme areas for the new plan: Innovative Technologies; Library Teaching; Discovery and Access to Historic and Current Resources; and Learning Community and Cultural Environment. The Library Leadership Team carefully reviewed and analyzed the work accomplished and incorporated it in the draft strategic plan.
In August 2021, the Library Leadership Team reviewed all the information gathered and the work accomplished and prepared a draft of the new strategic plan.