Hitting Reset: Aligning department goals with shifting university priorities

This presentation will detail the organizational changes to a library’s information literacy department in response to University-wide priorities. The Information Literacy & Outreach (ILO) department at a very large research institution was created in 2006 after “Information Fluency” was chosen as the University’s Quality Enhancement Plan topic. The department has been productive and successful, and is responsible for a set of information literacy modules that is used campus-wide by students in all disciplines. In 2014, a new Provost was hired, and a number of new initiatives came about. The University participated in the Gardner Institute’s Foundations of Excellence Transfer Initiative, a multi-year effort to identify and address factors impacting transfer student success and retention. In 2016, the University unveiled a new strategic plan. In support of these efforts, the library has prioritized demonstrating its impact on student success. Presenters will begin by outlining some external pressures that have impacted university and library goals, then demonstrate how internal changes are preparing librarians to better support these goals. The decision to shift focus and rename the department and librarian positions will be discussed, along with the reconfiguration of librarian roles and responsibilities and new engagement efforts. Attendees will be invited to think about their own organizational structure and how it can best support school-wide, campus-wide, or college-wide goals and priorities