Organizational Framework

Vision 

Emory Libraries transform teaching, learning, research, and patient care through innovative resources, spaces, services, and collections.

Mission 

Emory Libraries:

• Deliver and produce distinctive services, information, and content
• Preserve and promote our intellectual and cultural heritage
• Engage as partners in the academic enterprise to advance student and faculty success
• Create diverse and engaging environments for work, production, study, and intellectual and social engagement
• Initiate, implement, and teach emerging trends in technology and information literacy
• Cultivate an organizational culture of agility and innovation

We Value 

• Excellence in teaching, learning, and scholarship. We enable transformative services, methods, and perspectives by offering resources, services, and programs that foster intellectual inquiry, exploration, and discovery. Our efforts transcend traditional boundaries.
• Stewardship and preservation of the cultural, historical, and intellectual record. We take the lead in developing and implementing trusted strategies for all formats to provide for future generations.
• Collaboration, connectivity, and partnership to expand our knowledge and expertise and leverage our resources. Our future success relies on a one library mindset with strategic partnerships across campus, with other institutions, within the broader community and globally. Through collaboration, connectivity, and partnership we can provide the best possible experience for our customers and staff.
• Equity, diversity, and inclusion and work to cultivate an environment accepting and respectful of a broad range of differences within our organization, the campus and global communities. By embracing diversity and inclusion we enhance our knowledge and perspectives and enrich our decisions, services, processes, collections, and environments.
• User-centered services, programming, and systems that allow us to address and meet the needs of users. We will analyze use data and actively seek input from our users to implement user driven collection building, resource sharing, access services, system development, teaching and digital initiatives, and space planning.
• Innovation and continuous learning to increase our ability to fully engage and achieve success in a constantly changing environment. We accept that risk-taking is essential for growth and cutting-edge results. We provide a variety of platforms to explore new ideas and opportunities, and we communicate and celebrate individual and group accomplishments and impact.
• Ethics and integrity as noted in the Code of Ethics for our profession. We recognize the importance of adhering to these principles in our day-to-day operations and processes and our professional and service activities. We align with the ethics principles of the University and are committed to creating an environment of work, teaching, living, and learning that enables all persons to strive toward their highest potential.

Our Guiding Principles 

Emory University’s Mission & Vision  

Emory’s Strategic Framework 

ALA Code of Ethics 

ALA Core Values of Librarianship 

ALA Library Bill of Rights 

Code of Ethics for Health Sciences Librarianship 

SAA Core Values Statement and Code of Ethics 

Framework for Information Literacy for Higher Education

Strategic Themes/Programmatic Areas 

Strategic themes have been identified based on the current and emerging trends and needs of higher education and those of the Emory campus. Our strategic themes are determined based on research, data, requests, and any needed enhancements to the expertise, resources, spaces, and services we offer. The Roadmap which contains specific goals are developed in alignment with the framework, Emory Libraries objectives, and the strategies and goals of the University, and are agreed upon by the Libraries leadership for the broader organization during the period designated. This is a living document which is continuously revised as items are completed and as new priorities emerge.

Organization Development & Culture 

The most essential component of any organization is its staff. The Libraries will build strategies to expand our capacity as a learning organization. We will implement activities to enhance our ability to adapt to emerging trends and technology; create opportunities for innovation; cultivate a work environment and culture of inclusion; mentor and encourage leadership and creative thought; and develop an agile and resilient workforce.

• Continue to create, identify, and develop professional development opportunities for all staff to enhance knowledge, leadership, operations, wellness, and inclusion
• Improve communication channels with in-person and online forums to disseminate organizational information to staff
• Build an organizational culture that supports and acknowledges innovation. Create opportunities to share ideas and engage in discussion
• Address results of the 2019 employee engagement survey

Infrastructure & Services 

The Libraries provide expertise, services, infrastructure, tools, and spaces to enable productivity, innovation, and excellence for our students, faculty, and staff. Our environment adapts to the diversity of our clientele; our infrastructure facilitates discovery; and our tools and spaces inspire creativity, collaboration, and new forms of scholarship.

• Develop and implement a discovery to delivery program for the libraries consisting of operations, policies and governance, best practices, staffing, and services to provide access to the University's assets
• Develop and implement a Digital Library Program consisting of operations, policies and governance, best practices, staffing, collection and preservation strategies, and services to provide access to, maintain and preserve the University’s digital assets
• Establish a program for the Libraries web presence and develop goals for future planning, maintenance, and development
• Build a comprehensive records management program and disseminate guidelines and information to the broader campus community
• Support Canvas enhancements and best practices
• Develop Instructional Technology & Design as a Library Service
• Promote and expand access to Academic Production services beyond Coursera
• Enhance library services with improved implementation of SpringShare products
• Implement an Online Exhibition Program
• Implement an Interim Audio/Visual Delivery Program
• Enhance the entrance experience & improve desk efficiencies
• Enhance student collaboration, production, and  technology services throughout the libraries, Cox Hall, and campus computer lab spaces as part of expanding the MakEmory initiative

Collaboration & Community Engagement 

Collaboration is essential if we are to leverage our resources, expand our knowledge and expertise, and provide the best possible services for our customers. The Libraries seek collaboration with other departments, faculty and students as well as the broader community. We strive to be embedded and engaged in Emory's academic enterprise; we assist and partner in the creation and dissemination of knowledge for students and scholars and preserve it for future generations.

• Contribute to the promotion of Emory faculty scholarship and professional activities
• Initiate activities and technology to promote research and scholarship of Emory graduate students
• Strengthen collaboration between special collections departments, and with other library departments on shared functions, services programs

User Experience & Operational Excellence 

The Libraries provide a dynamic environment with a broad array of programming for social and intellectual engagement and interaction for the University and the community. Teaching and interpretive programs developed by our curators and subject and technology specialists are connected to our collections to build awareness and inspire discussions and new knowledge. We survey and assess to measure and evaluate our impact and effectiveness and to meet and exceed expectations.

• Foster a culture of assessment and integrate user experience into decision making
  • Develop and implement an assessment and UX strategy to assess and improve library services through data informed decisions
  • Assessment: Review and recommend tools and methods for consistent assessment activities outside of Alma; charter task force; approve or revise recommendations; develop implementation plan.
  • Assessment and UX:  Design and implement a UX strategy for Research Help, LibGuides, and LibAnswers; implement improvements; create a content governance model. 
  • Undergraduates: Document and assess undergraduate services in each library and Cox Hall and make recommendations to improve the user experience for undergraduates
  • Collections: Create a collection assessment plan; determine assessment metrics; develop Tableau and other dashboards; incorporate assessment into decision-making for collections 
  • Collections: Evaluate ebook collections and develop and implement criteria for ebook acquisitions based on user interfaces
  • Collections: Evaluate cataloging practices and methods of making ebooks findable and accessible to users

• Develop library-wide plans and programming for community outreach and engagement; in support of the emerging University priority of deepening engagement with Atlanta
• Continue the implementation of the Libraries Master Plan by renovating the second floor entrance of the Woodruff Library and adding new egress on the 2nd floor of the WHSCL

Rank 

Ranked among the top 20 Association of Research Libraries (ARL) in North America, Emory University Libraries in Atlanta and Oxford, Georgia, are an intellectual commons for Emory University. The Libraries' holdings include more than 4 million print and electronic volumes, nearly 100,000 electronic journals, and internationally renowned special collections.