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University Library Strategic Plan

The University Library’s strategic priorities and objectives for 2024/25 to 2028/29

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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 an excellent digital education experience.
SO4 Exploit the capacity afforded by our Academic Liaison and 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 across the sector.
SO5 Help to empower students to feel more confident about the transition from school to University by offering online learning resources and research skills training to sixth form students to help raise aspirations, enhance academic skills 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, to help address attainment gaps for students in under-represented groups, and those otherwise identified as being at risk of not reaching their potential.
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 a Leading Edge curriculum in line with the new Education for Life strategy providing expertise in embedding skills development in the curricula and licensing of appropriate resources.
SP2 - To provide effective and impactful support for the University’s research and researchers.
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 methods of Open Research approaches to publication for University research, with particular emphasis on Open Access monographs and book chapters in light of the new UKRI policy on long-form publications, which applies from 1 Jan 2024.
SO12 Continue to 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, etheses and research data repositories.
SO13 Continue to work with NUIT on the development of an institutional long-term file storage service and associated digital preservation facility which will secure institutional digital assets for the future and support the growth of digital scholarship.
SO14 Continue to participate in the UK Reproducibility Network’s Open Research Programme alongside the University’s Research Culture project which together 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, and working with academic colleagues to deliver engaging and impactful research output inspired by its collections.
SP3 - To strategically deploy library resources and spaces in a financially and environmentally sustainable manner.
SO17 Refresh 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, and the wider HE sector, for example, through engagement with the Research Libraries UK (RLUK) Workforce Planning Group, 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.

 

Jill Taylor-Roe
Director of Academic Services and University Librarian

May 2024