Strategic Plan

Bellevue College Library 5-year Strategic Plan (2024-2028)

This strategic plan is placed in the context of the mission and values of the library.

Mission:

The Bellevue College Library plays a vital role in the mission and goals of the College by being a place for personal and intellectual discovery, a student-centered place committed to research & teaching excellence. To actively support lifelong learning, the Library continually assesses its policies, services, and collections to be responsive to the curriculum, instructional modalities and the pursuit of equitable, diverse, and inclusive learning experiences and resources. We pursue this mission with an unwavering focus on our shared values.

Shared Values:

• People are our greatest asset and our focus.
• Respect is the basic requirement of all interactions.
• Collaboration is our greatest strength.
• Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion are at the heart of what we do.
• Our policies and practices are grounded in environmental and financial sustainability.

Strategic Plan:

1. Evaluate, weed, purchase, and promote physical and digital collections so that students, faculty, and staff can find the resources they need to complete their personal and academic goals.
   • Support students whose economic situations are precarious through increased support for OER (Open Educational Resources) and other textbook-access initiatives.
   • Promote collections and OER initiatives to promote free or reduced-cost textbooks.
   • Evaluate current collections to develop a plan for weeding and purchasing to update and maintain collections appropriate to current and future curricular needs.
2. Build an outreach program that will increase visibility and use of library services and resources to promote and support equitable access to research and information resources and services.
   • Rebuild and establish new relationships with faculty, student groups, and campus partners (i.e. under-represented groups; eLearning Summer Institute; Benefits Hub; MSC; RISE) to reach new courses and populations. Include student employees and/or student voices, where appropriate, in the planning and implementation of these initiatives.
   • Establish an assessment and data collection process to demonstrate the impact that the Library has on student and faculty success.
3. Reimagine the Library’s physical building to improve accessibility, solve structural issues, better support student learning, and become THE place where students want to be.
   • Create library signage, using new branding/style, and improve way-finding signage throughout building. Rename and rebrand the Library and announce this via an event.
   • Conduct an accessibility audit of the Library’s physical spaces and make improvements.
   • Redesign areas in the library to meet current student needs and to create welcoming environments in the Library through student art, displays, new furniture, etc. Gather data from students to help inform decision-making.
   • Work with facilities on plans for water leaks, lighting issues, and other structural problems.
4. Seek an appropriate and steady stream of resources and develop a more streamlined method of accountability in order for the Library to continue to meet the needs of its users.
   • Advocate for funding already used for library resources to be added to the Library’s permanent budget.
   • Request increased funding to cover inflationary impacts and to update the book collection (print, electronic, and media).
   • Continue representation on the Budget Review Advisory Committee (BRAC) to advocate for library budget.
   • Work with the Foundation to increase funding streams for the library and strengthen ties with the community outside of the campus.
   • Reorganize budget and centralize more financial accounting to streamline the process of accountability and reporting.
5. Reimagine reference and library instruction in the post-pandemic world to increase the information literacy skills of students and assist faculty in reaching their course goals.
   • Examine and improve accessibility of all instructional materials and methods.
   • Work with First Year Seminar (FYS), General Education, and Achieving the Dream (ATD) programs to ensure that information literacy has a place within the campus’ curricular goals.
   • Increase the presence of library content in Canvas.
   • Investigate (and then implement) how the library instruction program can increase information literacy skills and reduce points of confusion within the research process.
   • Examine current reference services to make any improvements needed to respond to equitable and accessible practices.
6. Provide an equitable, humane, and vibrant workspace which encourages and supports employee continuous learning so that Library services remain relevant and capable of adapting to changing needs.
   • Support and expect employees to inform themselves about emerging technologies (i.e. AI, accessibility technologies) and instructional and service approaches. This includes an active program of professional development.
   • Expand a cohesive and collaborative team approach amongst well-supported staff and faculty.
   • Leverage student employee knowledge and involvement to build on campus connections and improve services/resources.