University Library Strategic Plan

The University Library’s strategic priorities and objectives for 2020-25.

The Library’s planning cycle

In February each year the Library produces a strategic planning update, along with the other Professional Services, which presents a framework for development for the following five year period. This planning statement informs an internal set of strategic priorities and objectives, which are summarised below.

Our strategic priorities and objectives for the coming year also reflect and support the University’s vision and strategies.They are informed and shaped by the University’s core and aspirational values of Excellence, Creativity, Impact, EDI, Social and Environmental Justice and follow the guiding principles of working together, visibly leading, freedom and opportunity to succeed and responding to current and future challenges.

The Library’s Strategic Priorities

The Library’s Strategic Priorities (SP) for the next five years are focused on the following themes:

SP1 - To contribute to the delivery of an outstanding educational experience at Newcastle University which supports the University’s commitment to improve access, success and progression for all students.
SP2 - To provide effective and impactful support for the University’s research and researchers.
SP3 - To strategically deploy library resources and spaces in a financially and environmentally sustainable manner.

Within each Strategic Priority theme, the Strategic Objectives (SO) are as follows:

SP1 - To contribute to the delivery of an outstanding educational experience at Newcastle University which supports the University’s commitment to improve access, success and progression for all students.

SO1	Continue to develop engaging, inclusive and technology-rich study environments across the library estate and contribute library expertise in the design of study and learning spaces across the wider University, with particular emphasis on supporting blended learning.
SO2	Enhance and promote student engagement activities to ensure that students remain at the centre of our service.
SO3	Collaborate with the Dean of Digital Education, students and colleagues in the Learning and Teaching Development Service, and the wider University to facilitate the design and delivery of digital education.
SO4	Exploit the capacity afforded by our expanded Academic Skills team to work with students and academic colleagues to introduce, extend and enhance support for digital, academic and information literacy skills, in line with best practice around blended learning.
SO5	Help to empower students to feel more confident about the transition from school to University by offering online learning resources and library visits to sixth form students and other year groups to help raise aspirations, enhance information literacy and inspire and enable them to succeed.
SO6	Work with colleagues across the University to deliver meaningful and impactful learning activity to meet the requirements of the OfS regarding access, success and progression, particularly those from low participation neighbourhoods and to help address attainment gaps in certain cohorts.
SO7	Support the University and NUSU’s commitment to decolonise and diversify the curriculum by working with academic staff and students to make our holdings more inclusive and by sensitively reappraising collection descriptions for our Special Collections & Archives.
SO8	Collaborate with colleagues across the University to develop and promote inclusive services and support for international students to enhance their transition into and through HE.
SO9	Work in partnership with Academic Schools to develop and support new modes of programme delivery, providing expertise in embedding skills development in the curricula and licensing of appropriate resources.

Jill Taylor-Roe
Director of Academic Services and University Librarian

March 2023

SO10	Encourage and promote Open Research practices to maximize the visibility and impact of research, in line with the University’s Institutional Open Research position statement.
SO11	Investigate and support new modes of publication for University research, with particular emphasis on Open Access monographs in light of the new UKRI policy on monographs, which applies from 1 Jan 2024.
SO12	Contribute to the ongoing evolution of the University’s research management infrastructure, with particular reference to the selection and implementation of a new Current Research Information System (CRIS) and the related development of the institutional eprint and etheses repositories.
SO13	Advise on the creation of a University digital preservation service for born digital and digital surrogates in order to secure institutional digital assets for the future and to support the growth of digital scholarship.
SO14	Participate in the UK Reproducibility Network and Research England’s Open Research Programme which will deliver a framework for ongoing evaluation of institutional practice and learning in open research, leading to the embedding of a culture of continuous research improvement.
SO15	Work in partnership with colleagues across the University to develop and deliver research skills training suited for all modes of delivery, and in line with developments in open research and scholarly communications.
SO16	Support international reputation building by leveraging the profile of the Library and its distinctive collections and services, for example through promoting the UNESCO Memory of the World Status of the Gertrude Bell Collection and building relationships with national and international libraries with collection strengths that complement ours.

SO17	Further develop the Library’s five year space development plan, in line with University Space Plans, to ensure that space is optimally deployed across the Library Estate and remains reflective of, and responsive to, University policies on space planning, development, modes of use and management.
S018	Explore the potential of data analytics to refresh and refine our KPIs and core management information to enhance accessibility, increase impact and improve intelligence gathering on the use of library buildings, resources and services.
SO19	Continue to exploit regional and national procurement agreements to secure best VFM in relation to shared services and information resource provision, with particular emphasis on the growing number of read and publish deals for journals.
SO20	Work with colleagues across the University to implement its environmental sustainability and energy management policies in line with the University’s commitment to reduce our overall environmental impact.
SO21	Identify the skills and aptitudes required to drive the technological developments encapsulated in our strategic priorities and objectives and provide a supportive environment in which colleagues can acquire and develop these skills.
SO22	Work with colleagues in People Services to develop more inclusive approaches to recruitment to help diversify our teams and ensure that our job descriptions and staffing arrangements are optimally configured to attract and retain talented staff and enable us to deliver agile and responsive services.