Library Mission + Strategic Plan

Mission

Cultivating scholarship and intellectual curiosity in our community through access to expertise, collections, and spaces.

Strategic Plan, 2025 - 2027

Expertise

GOAL: Take a leadership role in furthering the educational mission of the college.

Objectives:

• Help shape the curriculum through interdisciplinary learning and research supported by library resources.
• Ensure that all students graduate with a strong knowledge of the research process and are literate in the use of information, digital technologies, and primary sources.
• Build library staff capacity for, and communication about, responsible use of emerging technologies across campus.
• Develop sustainable and accessible professional practices.

Collections

GOAL: Adapt collections and discovery practices to our evolving information landscape.

Objectives:

• Acquire and preserve resources that provide a foundation for intellectual inquiry, foster critical thinking, and reflect diverse perspectives, while promoting lifelong learning.
• Elevate the visibility and accessibility of our Special Collections, maximizing their impact both within the Swarthmore community and across the globe.
• Improve the discoverability, sustainability, usability, and cross-compatibility of our digital spaces and infrastructure ecosystem.

Spaces

GOAL: Maximize the potential of library spaces to strengthen teaching, learning, and research at the College.

Objectives:

• Use inclusive, rigorous, and evidence-based processes to develop plans for the next physical iteration of the Swarthmore College libraries.
• Develop existing library space to better meet the needs of current students and explore potential innovative uses.
• Engage faculty, students, staff, researchers, and alumni in sustained and lively conversation around library planning.