Published: April 2024

Who we are

Mission

We help people find, evaluate, use, and create knowledge to better the world.

Vision

We will be a leader and partner in creating and implementing ideas and services that advance research, teaching, and learning.

Values

• Collaboration and community
• Equity and inclusion
• Learning and growth
• Openness and transparency
• Read more: Statement of values
   

About the strategic plan

The UC Berkeley Library’s updated strategic plan is designed to:

• Reinvest energy and resources into core Library services that support Berkeley undergraduate students, graduate students, faculty members, and other researchers.
• Confirm and communicate decisions about what we can accomplish — and what we can’t — in the current budget landscape.
• Solidify the Library’s commitment to living up to and proactively acting on our values of diversity, equity, inclusion, and belonging for our employees and patrons.
• Identify our aspirations as a university library in alignment with advancements in research, teaching, and learning.
• Read more: About the strategic plan

Goal 1: Stabilize core services to support research, teaching, and learning

Action 1

• Execute the long-term space plan to address users’ evolving needs and fiscal realities; as spaces change, prioritize new opportunities for equitable access and inclusive design.
• Read more: Goal 1, action 1 (opens Google Doc)

Action 2

• Conduct a services review to align Library priorities with the goals of the UC Berkeley academic community; develop a sustainable plan for budget, staffing, and infrastructure for core services.

Action 3

• Prioritize core services and staffing when allocating resources and making budget decisions.
• Read more: What are the Library’s core services?

Goal 2: Build an inclusive and adaptive culture

Action 1

• Develop and commit to actions that build trust, transparency, and accountability in the workplace.

Action 2

• Assess hiring practices, and improve recruitment and retention of an engaged and diverse workforce.

Action 3

• Foster an environment that promotes racial justice; work as a community to cultivate a sense of belonging for all, elevating the voices of colleagues from historically marginalized groups.

Goal 3: Improve access to resources

Action 1

• Incorporate equity and inclusion principles into workflows and practices of all collecting areas and collections services units.

Action 2

• Create and preserve digital collections that expand the use of the diverse materials the libraries steward; prioritize accessibility and discoverability of materials that represent historically marginalized communities.

Action 3

• Fulfill research needs by developing collections, and prioritizing collaborative relationships and shared print resources across the University of California system and with peer institutions.

Goal 4: Expand engagement and advocacy

Action 1

• Prioritize communications that highlight the spaces, services, activities, and expertise that only the Library can provide.

Action 2

• Grow funding, and elevate core services when cultivating donor support.

Action 3

• Increase representation of diverse perspectives and the people from historically marginalized communities in our workshops, events, exhibitions, and news stories.

About the strategic plan

The strategic plan is founded on principles gleaned from our experience supporting the UC Berkeley academic community and our Library workforce during and after the COVID-19 lockdown, which spurred us to focus more intensively on our most essential functions. Core services are the foundation of this organization and the plan. Our list of core services, as outlined in the plan, is long, reflecting the complex and multifaceted nature of an academic library that supports people at a leading public research university.

The priorities outlined in the plan were developed through the analysis of Library data trends, national academic library trends, and input from Library employees. Many of the actions called for in the strategic plan build on work started in the previous plan; a few are new, having emerged through conversations with the Library community or evaluation of Library data.

In developing a road map for implementing the strategic plan, we will be intentional about setting realistic expectations for what the scope of each action should be and when each action should be pursued. We can’t do everything at once; the Library will embark on this work over the course of several years and in alignment with the organization’s staffing and financial resources.

In the spirit of the strategic plan’s renewed focus on transparency, accountability, and prioritization, the scope and timeline for each action will be confirmed and communicated as part of a forthcoming implementation phase. In addition, deliverables and measurements of accountability and success will be developed, tracked, and published. 

What are the Library’s core services?

• Access services and resource sharing: Study space; circulation services; access to noncirculating materials, special formats, and special collections; Northern Regional Library Facility (NRLF) requests; privileges; course reserves; interlibrary borrowing and lending; collection management; shelving of materials.
• Collections and technical services: Selection, acquisition, management, and licensing of circulating and special collections materials; receiving of materials; cataloging; processing; archival processing; NRLF deposits; scholarly communication services.
• Administrative services: Human resources support for Library employees; hiring; purchasing, contracts, and other financial support; emergency planning and preparedness; annual statistics from the UC Office of the President (UCOP), the Association of Research Libraries (ARL), and the Association of College and Research Libraries (ACRL).
• Communications: Communications with Library staff, the campus community, and the public; website content; events; signage; exhibitions.
• Development: Fundraising to support our mission; engagement; outreach.
• Facilities and security: Security and building access; facilities maintenance and upkeep of essential building systems; mail receiving and delivery; space planning.
• Information technology: Library employee, spaces, and public computing and printing support; digital collections; imaging services and digitization; network, Wi-Fi, systems, and applications infrastructure; website technology; integrated library system and discovery; research data services.
• Preservation: Binding of unbound and at-risk materials; repairs; special collections treatment; preparation of materials for digitization; disaster and salvage services.
• Public services: Reference; instruction; disability resources; liaisons and outreach to students and faculty through academic departments and academic support units

Light the Way: The Campaign for Berkeley was one of the largest university fundraising campaigns ever undertaken. As part of the effort, the UC Berkeley Library set an unprecedented goal — to raise $150 million by the end of 2023. Thanks to our amazing donors, we surpassed that goal, raising a record-setting $155,536,726.

Whether you have supported the Library Fund, the Center for Connected Learning at Moffitt Library, or one of our other campaign priorities, the Library is so grateful for your generosity. Here are a few of the accomplishments made possible by your philanthropy.

Goal: $150 million

Total raised: $155,536,726

Donors: 10,397

Campaign priority highlights

Library Fund

Because of donors like you, the Library has been able to address its most pressing needs through this critical fund. During the height of the pandemic, the Library developed a digital version of its popular course reserves program, giving students seamless access to materials for their classes at no cost. In 2021, UC Library Search was launched, unifying the collections of libraries across the University of California system under one virtual roof. The Library has also hosted multiple memorable exhibits in the Bernice Layne Brown Gallery, including one on the legacy of The Daily Californian, and has launched and expanded innovative programs, such as Library Data Services, which helps students, faculty, and researchers access, share, and preserve data.

Center for Connected Learning at Moffitt Library 

Moffitt Library, the go-to campus destination for undergraduates, is looking radiant, thanks to the prodigious support of donors. The beloved library, which already welcomes more than 1 million visitors per year, is in the midst of a bold transformation that will greatly expand its capacity. In 2016, the library’s fourth and fifth floors were upgraded, bringing new vitality to those spaces. An additional $58 million was raised to overhaul the lower three floors, which will open up hundreds of spots where students can work, learn, and connect with one another.  

Western Americana collection

Thanks to the success of the campaign, The Bancroft Library is able to shine an even brighter light on the West. Bancroft’s Western Americana collection, the library’s most heavily used, allows researchers to unravel the complex history of our region. The $8 million in funds raised is helping the library build this vital collection and connect materials with the communities they represent. Donations have provided financial support for the acquisition and cataloging of artifacts that deepen our knowledge of California; the preservation of Bancroft’s Western Jewish Americana archives; the collecting of stories of women leaders at Berkeley; and much more.

Work+Learn program 

With your support as donors, the Library is able to employ hundreds of students per year in its workforce. We are one of the campus’s leading employers of students. Our impressive student workers serve in key roles, helping host events, create social media posts, preserve and digitize materials, and more. On-campus jobs are a great benefit to students, who earn money to finance their education, and often develop skills that are relevant to their careers.

Digitization

The Library initiated a sweeping effort to digitize its world-class treasures, so that students, researchers, and people across the globe could access these valuable resources online. To streamline that process, the Library launched its Digital Lifecycle Program. We also developed a robust Digital Collections portal, which provides access to the Library’s rare and unique digitized special collections, books, photographs, and more. These efforts, fortified by support from donors like you, have had a dramatic impact. In the 2022-23 fiscal year, for example, the Library scanned nearly 2 million images and added 47 collections to its portal, making the materials available to an even wider audience.

Scholarly communication and open access

The Library is working to ensure that more UC Berkeley research is freely available to people worldwide. As part of that commitment, the Library created the Office of Scholarly Communication Services, which helps students and scholars navigate the complex world of academic writing and publishing. Library leaders have also played key roles in helping the UC system negotiate open access agreements with publishing industry giants. In 2022, UC reached the milestone of having secured agreements with 15 publishers. Through these deals, more than half of UC research has become eligible to be published and read at no cost.

Collections

World-class collections drive world-changing research. And the Library’s collections, with more than 14 million volumes, are truly outstanding. How many libraries can say they helped solve the mystery of van Gogh’s ear? A document in library collections shed new light on that old question. With donor support, we also acquired the oldest known letter that Mark Twain wrote to someone outside of his family.