Janet R.

Cottrell

What are we doing here, anyway?

Tying academic library goals to institutional mission

I n commissioning “The Value of Academic

Libraries: A Comprehensive Research Re-
view and Report” by Megan Oakleaf,1 ACRL
• college competencies or outcomes; and
• marketing materials.

has issued a professional mandate to aca- Although you probably won’t find all
demic libraries.2 For all of us who have been of these elements, any of them may prove
struggling to keep up with mounting stacks useful in defining the context of the library.
of readings in the field of assessment, Oak- For example, my own institution has a mis-
leaf’s compilation and analysis are welcome. sion, vision, strategic plan and goals, values
Her report provides context and describes statement, and college competencies, all of
specific techniques for identifying and il- which we rely on for direction in setting and
luminating the value of an academic library. assessing library objectives.
The report emphasizes tying the role of Be aware that different institutions may
the academic library to institutional mission use different terminologies to describe each
and outcomes by identifying and under- of these elements. Many institutions aim for
standing the parent institution’s mission and succinct mission statements, which may or
goals; identifying and understanding how may not be supplemented by longer, more
the library contributes to these; and com- operational “visions” or “strategic plans,”
municating that alignment.2 while other institutions value depth and de-
This article expands on ideas for rec- tail over brevity.3 You may be able to work
ognizing and elucidating this alignment as effectively with a short institutional mission,
preparatory work to developing an assess- but be sure you don’t miss a longer articu-
ment plan. lation under some other name. Similarly,
even if the institutional mission statement is
Where are we? Identifying substantive, don’t discount other elements.
institutional context My institution has a short vision statement
Institutional mission and goals are often (18 words) and a relatively long mission
clearly publicized on the college or univer- statement (about 70 words), both of which
sity Web site. Most campuses have readily inform the library’s planning and assessment.
identifiable mission statements, and they In addition to publicly accessible docu-
may be long, short, substantive, catchy, en- ments, ask key players for ideas. If a new
during, or trendy, and, for your purposes, president or chief academic officer joins
more useful or less useful. Once you find your institution, pay close attention to any
the institutional mission, don’t stop there. speeches, letters to the community, or other
In addition to mission and goals, watch for
other institutional statements with which you
might strategically align, such as: Janet R. Cottrell is director of academic resources and
the library at Champlain College in Burlington, Vermont,
• strategic plan, strategic objectives; e-mail: cottrell@champlain.edu
• vision or values statements; © 2011 Janet R. Cottrell

C&RL News October 2011 516

communications. If it suits your institutional goals: try to produce a “map” that clearly
culture, request a meeting and explain what delineates that alignment.5
you are trying to do, then ask for advice in As you work, watch for any institutional
identifying changes in direction that may tie goals the library does not currently support,
in with library objectives. but could. These may provide important
In some cases, institutional statements markers to chart your future path, so be sure
may be lacking, difficult to find, insubstan- to include them in your chart or list, even
tial, or otherwise not as useful to the purpose if you have to highlight them in a different
as one might hope. If you encounter that color or mark them as “forthcoming.”
problem, consider looking for similar state- In some institutions you may find little
ments at other levels of the institution. For or no formal library planning or assessment
example, watch for: material to compare with the institution’s
• outcomes or goals for the general edu- goals. If that is the case, use the institutional
cation curriculum; elements as a map for library goal-setting.
• outcomes or goals for specific academic Examine each element to see if you can
units or programs; identify goals, objectives, or values that
• curriculum proposals; should be incorporated in the library’s own
• goal statements from other areas within mission and planning materials.
the institution, such as recruitment, reten- An extreme example of this occurred
tion, or engagement goals; and some years ago when I was asked to write
• research project descriptions; grant a statement applying the college’s institu-
funding proposals.4 tional mission to the library. At that time
These won’t substitute for institutional the library’s mission fell loosely into the
mandates, but they are excellent supple- “support the academic mission of the col-
ments and can prove very useful. Working lege” category—a lack of detail that was
with them will provide practice and experi- inappropriate for the task at hand. The
ence in the next step: tying the library to institutional-level statement, on the other
broader initiatives within the institution. hand, articulated many factors that make
Champlain College unique, and provided
What are we doing here? Aligning the plenty of clues for library alignment. 6 As
library with the institution I expressed it then, “the challenge was to
Years ago, academic service units could sim- determine how this vision can best inform
ply state their aim to support the academic the planning and operation of the library.
mission of their college or university. Today’s The most expedient approach seemed to
climate of accountability and assessment be to translate—literally—the college’s vi-
requires a more meaningful connection. sion statement by capturing the intent and
If your library already has a mission, spirit of it in terms that can be realized in
vision statement, objectives, or outcomes, the context of the library.”7 Figure 1 shows
examine them closely for alignment with the process of “translating” the institutional
the institutional materials. Lay them side by statement phrase by phrase into language
side, pin them up around the room, or do that was relevant for the library.
whatever works for your team in order to The resulting library mission statement is
study the library and the institutional materi- long, but it succeeds in capturing the spirit
als together. of the institutional statement.8 Several years
As you find points of overlap or support, later, during the library’s strategic planning
document them: highlight the relevant text process, this particular statement was ed-
and note the overlap in a chart or list. Aim ited lightly—probably due to its clear and
for a literal, visual representation of how close alliance with the college’s mission
the library’s work relates to the institution’s statement.

October 2011 517 C&RL News

 The process of understanding institu- institutional mission—and often lead to a
tional goals and recognizing the library’s renewed sense of pride and connectedness
role in fostering them is not an individual within the library. These conversations may
pursuit. Extensive conversations within also help guide future development within
the library will ensure that all aspects of the library: elucidating the library’s current
the library’s work are considered, and in- role in the context of broader institutional
crease the likelihood of discovering wider goals can facilitate future connectivity simply
connections between the library and the because it is on people’s minds.

How the College’s Strategic Vision ... ... translates to the Library

“Educate today’s students to become = Help educate students to become skilled, ef-
skilled practitioners, effective profes- fective, responsible information users. That is,
sionals and global citizens”
people who recognize when they need informa-
tion, and know how to find, retrieve, evaluate,
and use it effectively, efficiently, and ethically.

“Agile” Able to respond quickly and effectively to fast-

=
paced change in our profession of librarianship
and information science, our college, and our
higher education arena.

“Entrepreneurial” = Undertake the challenge of providing exemplary

library and information resources and services in
the innovative Champlain College environment;
organizing, operating, and assuming the risk for
securing and deploying the needed resources
in creative, sometimes unconventional ways. As
“intrepreneurs,” creating and growing an effec-
tive library unit within the larger organizational
context of the college.

“Blend technology leadership, market = Secure and deploy the best available technology
savvy, innovation and fiscal responsibil- to support students and faculty in their informa-
ity with a commitment to ‘the human tion needs. Capitalize on the innovative design
touch’” and purpose of the information commons. Cre-
ate, maintain, and make known the information
commons as an intellectual center on campus
that provides a welcoming environment staffed
by effective and caring professionals.

“This distinctive approach permeates the This distinctive approach permeates both the
=
delivery of relevant, student-centered physical and virtual library, its resources, staff,
and rigorous programs in business, and services, as they provide relevant, patron-
applied technology and public service” centered support to students, faculty, and staff.

Figure 1: The “translation” process.

C&RL News October 2011 518

 While hardly anyone wants more meet- • faculty;
ings, time spent on conversations like these • students;
may be well spent. • prospective students and their parents;
At Champlain College, library folks were • current and potential donors;
actually anxious to talk about our work • external recognition or accrediting
as part of a bigger picture. Talking about bodies; and
institutional goals proved essential as we • granting organizations.
developed a library strategic plan and goals.
Exploring these connections deepened our Several formal communication vehicles
sense of engagement and placed our day- can be used for this communication, such as:
to-day work in a broader context. We also
found ourselves thinking of that context as • annual reports;
we planned future projects. In our planning • library Web site;
sessions it is now common for someone • marketing materials;
to ask “How does that tie in to the college • curriculum reviews;
goals?” • presentations to faculty or board members;
• library assessment documents; and
Is anybody listening? Communicating • accreditation reports.
the alignment
Within the library, illuminating the relation- Remembering Oakleaf’s advice, don’t as-
ship between library and institution helps sume that the audience already knows your
set the context for everything from day-to- message. If you mapped the alignment by
day tasks to long-range planning and major producing a chart or list illustrating ways that
initiatives. It can inform priority setting and the library supports institutional priorities,
resource allocation, and foster a sense of include it in your formal communications.
involvement in the larger endeavor and pride You can also reinforce the notion of align-
in contributing. ment informally. When discussing a new
But the resulting alignment is not truly idea in library meetings, talk about it in the
fulfilled until it is communicated outside context of institutional goals and priorities.
the library.9 As Oakleaf advises regarding Do the same in campus meetings and conver-
information literacy assessment plans, the sations. Share anecdotes about instructional
“connection between [library initiatives such programs or individual student successes in
as] information literacy instruction programs which librarians played a role. Participate in
and institutional strategic documents is faculty orientations and prospective student
one that is often assumed by librarians but visit days, and watch for ways to insert your
rarely articulated beyond the library orga- message.
nization.”10 An exercise that may be helpful is to
Appropriate audiences for this type of inventory all the ways you are currently
communication will vary by institution, and spreading your message of alignment. List all
you may choose to target specific audiences the formal communication mechanisms that
by priority or to simply reach as many as you have used, then the informal ones, and
possible, including: then brainstorm any additional venues you
might consider. When we attempted a similar
• senior institutional administrators; exercise in a workshop led by Oakleaf, we
• other areas within the administration realized that we could be using more informal
whose goals the library supports, such as mechanisms. As a result, we are trying to
enrollment management; compile faculty and student anecdotes more
• unit administrators, such as deans or carefully so that we can work them into our
department chairs; “alignment” communications.

October 2011 519 C&RL News

 In both formal and informal communi- /news/2011/06/20/colleges_pare_down
cations, practice the art of grace. Getting _mission_statements_to_stand_out (accessed
your message out is crucial, and you may June 20, 2011).
suspect that there is no danger of overdoing 4. See also ACRL, “The Value of Academic
it. Generally this is true. But beware of the Libraries,” 94ff for additional ideas.
possibility of boring your audiences through 5. For an excellent discussion and sample
repetition. Most of us share an aversion to of a “mission impact map,” see Table 2 and
overly persistent sales pitches. If you feel as text on p. 68 of Megan Oakleaf’s “Are They
though you are simply repeating yourself, Learning? Are We? Learning Outcomes and
examine your message to see whether you the Academic Library,” Library Quarterly 81
can tailor it more specifically to the values (2011), www.jstor.org/stable/10.1086/657444
and goals of each audience, and monitor (accessed July 25, 2011).
those values and goal for change over time. 6. Champlain College, “Mission State-
ment and Values,” www.champlain.edu
Where do we go from here? /About-Champlain/Mission-and-Values.html
The preparatory steps described here for (accessed July 5, 2011). The mission state-
identifying and understanding the parent ment reads: “Champlain College endeavors
institution’s mission and goals, determining to be a leader in educating today’s students
their overlap with the library, and com- to become skilled practitioners, effective
municating that alignment can help to set professionals and engaged global citizens.
the stage for more authentic assessment of Champlain’s agile and entrepreneurial ap-
academic libraries. proach to higher education uniquely blends
Of course, these steps alone are not technology leadership, market savvy, in-
sufficient. For most of us, the hard work of novation and fiscal responsibility with a
documenting the value of the library has commitment to liberal learning, community
yet to be done. Addressing any one of the involvement and ‘the human touch.’ This
potential areas of library impact detailed in distinctive approach permeates the delivery
the “Research Agenda” section of “The Value of relevant, rigorous student-centered pro-
of Academic Libraries” report11 requires an grams in business, arts, applied technology,
ongoing commitment of time and effort. and public service.”
But the exercise of examining in detail the 7. Champlain College, Champ-
alignment between the goals of the library lain College Library Annual Report, 3-4.
and those of the institution provides a strong cosmos.champlain.edu/library/pages/about
foundation for that work. In the process, a _library/20052006AnnualReport.pdf (ac-
growing recognition of the strength of that cessed July 21, 2011).
alignment —and perhaps the discovery of 8. Champlain College Library Vision State-
opportunities for new connections—may ment, http://cosmos.champlain.edu/library
renew our sense of purpose and strengthen /pages/about_library/vision.html (accessed
our determination for the task at hand. July 5, 2011).
9. ACRL, “The Value of Academic Librar-
Notes ies,” 30.
1. ACRL, “The Value of Academic Libraries: 10 Megan Oakleaf, “Writing Information
A Comprehensive Research Review and Re- Literacy Assessment Plans,” Communica-
port, “researched by Megan Oakleaf, www. tions in Information Literacy 3 (2009),
ala.org/ala/mgrps/divs/acrl/issues/value 82, http://search.ebscohost.com/login.asp
/val_report.pdf (accessed June 20, 2011). x?direct=true&db=lih&AN=52241846&site
2. Ibid., 29–30. =ehost-live (accessed July 1, 2011).
3. Kevin Kiley, “Saying More with Less,” 11. ACRL, “The Value of Academic Librar-
Inside Higher Ed., www.insidehighered.com ies,” 101–39.

C&RL News October 2011 520