ACRL Strategic Plan including core values, mission, vision, and strategic directions

Charting our Future: ACRL Strategic Plan 2020

(Approved by the ACRL Board of Directors, June 26, 2004)
(Revised by the ACRL Executive Committee, October 29, 2005)
(Revised by the Board on Oct. 27, 2006)
(Revised by the Board on October 20, 2007)

10-30 Year Planning Horizon
~ Core Ideology & Envisioned Future ~

Core ideology describes an association's consistent identity that transcends all changes related to its relevant environment. It consists of two elements: core purpose — the association's reason for being, and core values — essential and enduring principles that guide an association in creating its culture and making decisions. Envisioned future conveys a concrete yet unrealized vision for the association. It consists of a big audacious goal — a clear and compelling catalyst that serves as a focal point for effort — and a vivid description — vibrant and engaging descriptions of what it will be like to achieve the big audacious goal.

Core Ideology

Core Purpose:

To lead academic and research librarians and libraries in advancing learning and scholarship.

Core Values:

  1. ACRL has visionary leadership and is open to change, new ideas, and global perspectives.
  2. ACRL is committed to service to members.
  3. ACRL is committed to integrity and transparency.
  4. ACRL is committed to diversity of people and ideas.
  5. ACRL is committed to continuous learning.
  6. ACRL is dedicated to the values of higher education, to intellectual freedom, and to upholding "The Library Bill of Rights."

Envisioned Future

Big Audacious Goal

ACRL is responsible and universally recognized for positioning academic and research librarians and libraries as indispensable in advancing learning and scholarship.

Vivid Description of the desired future:

ACRL Members

  1. ACRL members are recognized as flexible, dynamic, and progressive leaders in their institutions and in scholarly communities.
  2. Academic and research librarians regard membership in ACRL as essential to professional development and success.
  3. ACRL members are recognized as essential partners in learning and scholarship with faculty and other colleagues.
  4. Academic and research library personnel use ACRL as "first source" for professional development and networking.
  5. Academic and research librarians reflect the diversity of their communities.

The Association

  1. ACRL is a leader in transforming the scholarly communication system.
  2. ACRL is recognized as a leader in building collaborative relationships.
  3. ACRL is recognized as a key player in higher education.
  4. Other higher education organizations recognize the value of partnering with ACRL to achieve common goals.
  5. ACRL's programming engages all personnel in academic and research libraries.
  6. ACRL is recognized as the leader in setting standards for academic and research libraries.
  7. ACRL is recognized as the organization that champions issues in support of academic librarianship.
  8. Its members perceive ACRL as a flexible, dynamic, and progressive organization.
  9. ACRL is recognized as the authority on trends and issues affecting academic and research libraries.
  10. ACRL is a global leader in creating, expanding, and transferring academic librarianship's body of knowledge.
  11. ALA is a strong advocate of ACRL's priorities, programs, and services.

Academic and Research Library Users

  1. Students, faculty, independent scholars, and administrators are information literate.
  2. Students, faculty, independent scholars, and administrators turn to academic and research libraries and librarians as their primary source for information and research needs.
  3. Students, faculty, independent scholars, and administrators highly value libraries, the expertise of library personnel, and life-long learning.
  4. 100% of faculty, students, and academic administrators use the library.

Higher Education

  1. Administrators, faculty and other members of the academic community recognize ACRL and its members as authorities on knowledge management, creation, collection, preservation, access, and the exchange of information.
  2. Administrators, faculty and other members of the academic community seek the expertise of librarians on a wide range of issues.
  3. Administrators, faculty and other members of the academic community recognize that librarians are essential members of the institution's decision-making team.
  4. Budgets of academic and research libraries are increased to advance changing learning, teaching, and research needs of their users.

3-5 Year Planning Horizon
~ Outcome-Oriented Strategic Areas, Goals and Strategic Objectives ~

The following thinking represents strategic areas of focus for the next three to five years. They are areas in which ACRL will explicitly state the conditions or attributes it wants to achieve through specific goals. The goals articulate the outcomes ACRL would like to achieve and answer the question, "What will constitute future success?" The achievement of each goal within the strategic areas will move the organization toward realization of its vision articulated in its big audacious goal. These goal areas are not intended to be in priority order.

Strategic Objectives provide direction on how the association will accomplish its articulated goals. Strategic Objectives are considered in the 3-5 year planning horizon. .

In addition to Strategic Objectives, strategies and action plans are created to describe how the organization will create the actions and implementation plans to move the organization closer to accomplishing its goals. Strategies and action plans are considered in a 1-3 year planning horizon.

Strategic Areas, Goals, and Strategic Objectives

Strategic Area: Higher Education and Research

Goal Area: Learning

ACRL and its members are recognized as collaborative leaders and partners in ensuring that students graduate with lifelong learning skills, improving techniques for assessing learning outcomes, and in creating environments for discovery.

Strategic Objectives:

  1. ACRL expands adoption, use and development of information literacy standards.
  2. ACRL increases members' ability to collaborate and partner with faculty and other campus professionals to integrate lifelong learning skills into the curriculum and to evaluate programs and assess individuals’ lifelong learning skills..
  3. ACRL increases member abilities to create and manage physical and virtual spaces and services as environments for discovery.

Goal Area: Scholarship

ACRL and its members are recognized as authorities on knowledge management; and the creation, collection, preservation, access, and exchange of information.

Strategic Objectives:

  1. Strengthen ACRL's role in supporting and developing new scholarly communication models.
  2. Continue to play a leadership role in promoting research and publication in academic and research librarianship thereby creating and disseminating tools and a body of knowledge for the field.
  3. Strengthen ACRL's emphasis on evolving knowledge management systems including, but not limited to, the creation, collection, preservation, access, and exchange of information.
  4. Strengthen ACRL's relationships with learned societies.

Goal Area: Advocacy

ACRL has greater influence on the higher education and research environment.

Strategic Objectives:

  1. Increase ACRL's influence on campus information, academic, and communication technology priorities.
  2. Increase ACRL's communication on major trends and issues in libraries.
  3. Strengthen partnerships with other organizations.
  4. Increase ACRL's influence in public policy affecting higher education.
  5. Increase ACRL's influence on accrediting entities.

Strategic Area: The Profession

Goal Area: Continuous Learning

ACRL provides continuous learning opportunities enabling members to strengthen their effectiveness and achieve recognition as valued contributors to their academic and research communities.

Strategic Objectives:

  1. Align programs and other learning opportunities with member needs and strategic priorities.
  2. Increase professional development opportunities focused on assisting librarians in advocating the value of the library.
  3. Increase learning opportunities in information technology, including practice, theory, and policy, ensuring appropriate integration throughout ACRL programming.
  4. Increase accessibility of learning opportunities and enhance incentives and recognition for member participation.
  5. Increase agility in providing cutting-edge content and delivery formats for learning programs and publications.

Goal Area: Leadership

ACRL members achieve recognition as leaders and advocates for academic and research libraries.

Strategic Objectives:

  1. Empower members to communicate the value of their contributions to learning and scholarship.
  2. Increase recognition of the value of libraries and librarians by leaders in higher education, information technology, funding agencies, and campus decision-making.
  3. Increase ACRL's efforts to support recruitment of new and diverse talent to academic and research librarianship.
  4. Support and encourage research and programming on the changing workforce in academic libraries and the implications for library education and training, leadership and middle management development, and staff recruitment and retention..

Goal Area: Information Technology

Academic and research librarians are leaders in using information and academic technologies to create and manage information resources and to deliver library and information services.

Strategic Objectives:

  1. Support the development and recognition of academic and research librarians as experts and campus leaders in information technology applications in libraries.
  2. Build ACRL's capacity to partner with other technology-oriented higher education organizations to develop standards and best practices for managing digital libraries and digital library services.
  3. Support members in their exploration and implementation of new and emerging information technologies and their application for library services in educational environments.

Strategic Area: The Association

Goal Area: Membership

ACRL's membership growth builds on retaining core membership while recruiting from new and diverse communities.

Strategic Objectives:

  1. Expand the appeal of ACRL membership among current members.
  2. Increase the number of academic and research librarian members.
  3. Increase ACRL's membership of underrepresented ethnic and racial academic and research librarians.
  4. Increase the appeal of ACRL membership to broader communities.

Goal Area: Sustainability

ACRL will have the fiscal resources, staff expertise, and organizational structure to advance the association's strategic plan.

Strategic Objectives:

  1. Increase and diversify fiscal and human assets.
  2. Increase the mutual benefits of the ACRL/ALA relationship.
  3. Increase and improve ACRL's organizational use of information technology.

10 Year Planning – Mega Issues
(Revised: 10.06)

Mega – issues are questions that span areas within the Strategic Plan, and that are also reflected in the strategic areas, goal areas and strategic objectives. They reflect concerns and challenges faced by the profession and the association in many areas of the plan, including technology, membership and member services, advocacy, marketing, communication, outreach and liaison, and the environment in which we work and live. Some mega-issues are inclusive of others, some serve as the over-arching questions we all work to address, and some focus energy and inquiry in specific program areas influenced by our changing world. The ACRL Board considers these mega-issues in shaping the framework for addressing these questions through constant revision of the Strategic Plan, and through annual prioritization of member effort, budget, and staff resources.

  1. How does the profession stay relevant?
  2. How should ACRL structure itself for future success?
  3. What role does ACRL play in recruiting aspiring librarians to the profession while improving diversity?
  4. What role will ACRL play in ensuring that the profession is leading technology change rather than responding to it?
  5. How does ACRL assist its members in communicating the value of the library to faculty, and administrative and academic decision-makers?
  6. How does ACRL assist librarians in garnering greater understanding and respect for their profession?
  7. How will ACRL assist in promoting information literacy or other library services?
  8. How will ACRL assist academic libraries in planning the physical space needed for the library of the future given the increase in virtual research capabilities and changes in pedagogy?
  9. How will academic libraries design and deliver programs, including instruction, to users who rely primarily on the library’s web-based content and services?
  10. How does ACRL assist libraries engaged in collaboration and cooperative work?
  11. What does the academic library of the future look like and how will the association help its members shape both facilities and services to meet future user needs?
  12. How will academic libraries manage and improve services to meet the differing needs and preferences of all user groups, including students, staff, faculty, and the public?