University Library strategic bridge plan 2025-2027

University Library strategic bridge plan 2025-2027

I. Introduction

As the University of Virginia Library concludes its 2019-2024 Strategic Plan, it embarks on a pivotal transitional period spanning 2025-2027. This interim plan has been designed to provide continuity and stability during a time of leadership change, as Dean John Unsworth prepares for his retirement, and the Library anticipates welcoming a new dean. The primary goal of this transitional strategic plan is to maintain alignment with the University’s broader goals and initiatives while allowing the incoming dean the flexibility to craft their long-term vision for the Library.

The 2025-2027 Strategic Plan outlines a forward-thinking approach to address key areas critical to the Library’s success. These areas include advancing research and teaching support to meet the needs of faculty and students, ensuring digital accessibility compliance, investing in infrastructure and technology, promoting organizational health and workforce retention, and fostering meaningful engagement with the local community. By focusing on these strategic priorities, the Library is positioned to remain a vital resource for the University, empowering innovation, inclusivity, and collaboration.

Financial stewardship is a cornerstone of this plan, ensuring the Library has the resources to support its mission and goals. With a solid financial base established in the University’s budget model and supplemented with the anticipated success of the Library’s $100 million capital campaign, and after completing a top-to-bottom compensation review for all staff, the Library is well-equipped to maintain and enhance its core services while funding new initiatives.

The plan also emphasizes adaptability and accountability through a rigorous approach to monitoring and evaluation. Metrics and regular reviews will guide progress, enabling the Library to respond effectively to emerging challenges and opportunities. Additionally, the leadership transition is a central focus, with measures in place to safeguard the Library’s operations, ongoing projects, and strategic momentum during this critical period.

By bridging the achievements of the past with the aspirations of the future, this plan ensures the UVA Library continues to uphold its legacy of excellence, accessibility, and innovation while preparing for a new chapter under incoming leadership.

II. Executive Summary

The 2025-2027 Strategic Plan charts a course for the UVA Library through a significant transition. Dean John Unsworth’s retirement and the onboarding of a new dean mark a critical juncture, and this plan is designed to ensure continuity, resilience, and forward momentum during this leadership change.

The Library’s strategic priorities focus on maintaining its financial stability, enhancing its support for research and teaching, and investing in modern infrastructure to address the evolving needs of the University community. Key initiatives include advancing institutional repository services, meeting accessibility mandates, and creating a three-year Library IT roadmap. Furthermore, the plan emphasizes the importance of workforce planning and engagement to promote organizational health and effectiveness.

This transitional period is guided by a commitment to excellence, adaptability, and user-centered service. By addressing both immediate priorities and longer-term goals, the UVA Library remains steadfast in its dedication to providing innovative, inclusive, and impactful resources and services.

III. Mission and Values

Mission

The UVA Library is a cornerstone of a transformative education and intellectual exploration, offering diverse information resources, fostering knowledge, and preserving cultural heritage. The Library innovates to meet emerging needs, supports the University’s teaching, research, and public service, and ensures preservation and accessibility of the cultural record.

Values

  • Respect: Value all individuals and diverse perspectives.
  • Integrity: Act with honesty and strong principles.
  • Collaboration: Work together toward shared goals.
  • Accountability: Take responsibility for actions and outcomes.
  • Transparency: Communicate clearly and openly.
  • Fairness: Ensure equal treatment and access for everyone.
  • Adaptability: Embrace change and be flexible in dynamic situations.
  • Resilience: Thrive despite challenges.

IV. Highlights of Recent Achievements

The University of Virginia Library’s 2019-2024 Strategic Plan concluded with numerous accomplishments that demonstrate its commitment to excellence, innovation, and service. These achievements reflect the Library’s dedication to fostering collaboration, supporting cutting-edge research, enhancing learning spaces, and ensuring financial sustainability in alignment with the University’s mission and priorities.

Engagement with the Commonwealth

The Library strengthened its role as a partner to faculty, students, and the broader Virginia community. In a significant collaboration with the other research libraries in the Commonwealth of Virginia, the UVA Library led a successful renegotiation of subscriptions to commercially published journals, exiting several Big Deals and successfully reducing subscription spending with the biggest publishers by half. The regained funds have supported more diverse collection development in new areas of research and teaching. This effort directly contributes to equitable access to scholarly resources. The Library also advanced affordability in education by identifying and producing open educational resources, helping to reduce the financial burden on students. The Library’s Special Collections arm has established an exhibition model designed to foster university and community engagement by featuring curators from the faculty and from the local community. Furthering its community focus, the integration of the Library catalog with the regional public library system has expanded access to resources, enabling convenient delivery of materials to local library branches.

Research Support

The Library continued to solidify its role as a cornerstone of the University’s research infrastructure. Leadership and staff participated in University-wide initiatives to enhance research computing services, promote equity in research, and expand opportunities for open scholarship. In addition, the Library bolstered its Research Data Services team, joined the Data Curation Network to advance data stewardship practices, and established a new Digital Humanities Center in partnership with the College of Arts and Sciences. This new center, which integrates the Scholars’ Lab and the Institute for Advanced Technology in the Humanities, serves as a hub for interdisciplinary research and innovation.

Space Renovations

To better support the academic and creative needs of students and faculty, the Library completed major renovations at Shannon Library. This updated space has been designed to inspire contemplation, collaboration, and creativity, providing environments that adapt to the evolving needs of the University community.

Financial Stability

Despite financial challenges, the Library has maintained a strong and sustainable financial position. Investments in equitable employee compensation have enhanced workforce retention and morale, while the diversification of collections ensures continued access to a wide range of resources. The anticipated successful completion of a $100 million capital campaign further underscores the Library’s financial health and its ability to support strategic initiatives.

These accomplishments highlight the Library’s dedication to fostering academic excellence, advancing research, and enriching the community it serves. For a more detailed account of the Library’s recent achievements, please refer to the Library Annual Reports.

V. Leadership Transition

The upcoming leadership transition marks a pivotal moment for the University of Virginia Library, as it prepares for the retirement of Dean John Unsworth after nine years of service. This change presents an opportunity to reflect on the Library’s achievements under Dean Unsworth’s leadership while looking forward to a new chapter of innovation and growth. Careful planning and clear goals will guide this transition, ensuring that the Library maintains core services as well as its momentum, and is well-positioned to support the incoming dean in shaping the future of its services, programs, and strategic direction. By approaching this transition with careful planning and a focus on stability, the Library aims to build on Dean Unsworth’s legacy while positioning itself for continued growth and success under new leadership.

Transition Timeline

The leadership transition will officially begin with Dean Unsworth’s retirement, anticipated in the summer or fall of 2025. Following his departure, the focus will shift to the onboarding of a new dean, a process designed to ensure a seamless transfer of leadership responsibilities. The timeline will be carefully managed to allow for continuity in governance and the successful integration of the new leader into the Library’s operations, culture, and community.

Transition Goals

  • Maintain Core Services and Critical Functions: During this period of leadership transition, the Library will prioritize maintaining its core services and critical functions to ensure uninterrupted operations and continued support for the University community. Access to  critical resources and services (library spaces and collections, research assistance and academic support services) must remain robust and responsive to user needs. By reinforcing the Library’s foundational services, the transition can proceed without impacting the quality and reliability of resources available to students, faculty, and researchers.
  • Maintain Momentum: The Library is committed to ensuring a smooth transition that safeguards the progress of ongoing projects and strategic initiatives. This includes clear communication with staff, stakeholders, and the University community to reinforce confidence in the Library’s direction during this period of change.
  • Preparing for New Leadership: In anticipation of the new dean’s arrival, the Library will take proactive steps to ensure readiness for the transition. This includes briefing the incoming dean on current operations, priorities, and challenges, as well as setting the stage for an inclusive and collaborative strategic planning process under their guidance.

VI. Strategic Priorities 2025-2027

Priority 1: Research and Teaching Support

The Library is committed to advancing its mission of excellence in research and education by providing robust support for federally funded research, innovative teaching methods, and cutting-edge collaboration. This priority underscores the Library’s essential role in fostering interdisciplinary research, meeting federal compliance requirements, and supporting emerging technologies like artificial intelligence to enhance academic outcomes.

Key Initiatives

  • Develop and implement a plan to comply with the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy memorandum (The Nelson Memo) requiring free, immediate, and equitable access to federally funded research. Our focus will be on institutional repository services and research collaboration.
  • Complete the selection and implementation of next-generation institutional repository services.
  • Obtain, promote, and sustain collections that support the University’s Grand Challenges Research Investments, fostering interdisciplinary collaboration within the UVA research community.
  • Provide support in teaching, collaboration, and research using artificial intelligence.

Priority 2: Digital Accessibility

Ensuring equitable access to information is fundamental to the Library’s mission of inclusion and academic excellence. This priority emphasizes the Library’s commitment to meeting internal and external accessibility needs, adhering to State and Federal regulations, and collaborating with key stakeholders to provide accessible content and services for all users.

Key Initiatives

  • Develop a Library-wide plan and begin work to meet internal and external accessibility needs, in line with State and Federal accessibility mandates.
  • Work with UVA Procurement and the Student Disability Access Center (SDAC) to license and provide accessible content and services.

Priority 3: Infrastructure and Technology

A strong technological foundation is critical to advancing the Library’s strategic goals. This priority focuses on ensuring the Library's infrastructure and technology systems remain robust, adaptable, and aligned with institutional and user needs. By evaluating catalog and discovery services and creating a forward-looking IT roadmap, the Library aims to enhance operational efficiency and provide seamless, innovative services to its community.

Key Initiatives

  • Conduct a thorough evaluation of software options for catalog/discovery services.
  • Create a Library IT roadmap for the next three years, aligning with the Library’s strategic priorities and the broader University IT initiatives.

Priority 4: Organizational Health and Effectiveness

The Library recognizes that its people are its greatest asset. Strengthening organizational health and effectiveness is essential to achieving long-term success. This priority focuses on fostering a resilient, adaptable workforce by investing in strategic planning, supporting employee well-being, and creating a workplace culture that attracts, retains, and develops talent.

Key Initiatives

  • Invest in organizational health and effectiveness, including workforce planning, succession planning, and business continuity.
  • Implement measures to support workforce experience and retention.

Priority 5: Community and Engagement

Building meaningful relationships with diverse communities is central to the Library’s mission. This priority highlights the importance of strengthening connections with researchers and fostering engagement beyond the University to create collaborative opportunities, share knowledge, and support the broader community.

Key Initiative

  • Broaden and deepen engagement with researchers and communities within and outside the University of Virginia.

VII. Challenges and Mitigation

The challenges outlined in this section were identified through community connections workshops conducted with Library staff. These workshops provided a collaborative space for staff to share insights, voice concerns, and discuss barriers to achieving the Library’s strategic priorities. The resulting list reflects the collective input from those sessions, capturing a comprehensive understanding of the obstacles the Library must address. By engaging staff in this process, the Library ensures that its approach to overcoming these challenges is informed and inclusive, paving the way for actionable solutions that align with the community's needs and aspirations.

Leadership Changes

  • Challenge: New leadership may introduce or redefine values, potentially causing confusion and disengagement among staff if not managed effectively.
  • Mitigation: Develop clear communication plans to ensure alignment of values during leadership transitions.

Resource Constraints and Staffing Challenges

  • Challenge: Concerns about insufficient resources to support initiatives and the risk of staff burnout due to overwhelming responsibilities, especially in specialized areas.
  • Mitigation: Prioritize initiatives to align with available resources.

Succession Planning and Retention Challenges

  • Challenge: Recruitment and retention remain difficult, particularly for critical roles. Limited succession planning exacerbates staffing vulnerabilities.
  • Mitigation: Establish formal succession plans for critical roles and work to enhance recruitment and retention strategies.

Sustainability of Initiatives

  • Challenge: Difficulty in maintaining long-term support for projects after initial funding ends.
  • Mitigation: Create multi-year funding plans and seek diverse funding sources.

Time Constraints and Planning

  • Challenge: Pressures to meet tight deadlines may compromise trust and the sustainability of initiatives.
  • Mitigation: Build flexible timelines to accommodate unforeseen delays. Regularly review and adjust project plans to ensure feasibility.

Infrastructure and Data Challenges

  • Challenge: The Library’s capacity to manage the scope and demands of new technology and systems could be strained, posing significant operational challenges.
  • Mitigation: Invest in scalable infrastructure and provide ongoing system evaluations.

Compliance and Legal Risks

  • Challenge: Risks of non-compliance with State, Federal, and institutional requirements, which could impact funding and partnerships.
  • Mitigation: Conduct regular compliance audits. Partner with the University’s General Counsel to ensure adherence to regulations.

Training and Upskilling Needs

  • Challenge: Insufficient training resources and capacity may lead to inconsistent staff proficiency with essential tools and practices.
  • Mitigation: Identify all training programs available for staff. Allocate time and resources for upskilling to keep pace with evolving tools.

Vendor Coordination and External Partnerships

  • Challenge: Heavy reliance on vendors carries risks, including potential non-compliance with required standards.
  • Mitigation: Establish clear contractual expectations with vendors regarding compliance and deliverables. Develop contingency plans for critical vendor-dependent services.

Trust and Relationship Building

  • Challenge: Address the ongoing need to build and sustain trust with the local community to ensure alignment and engagement.
  • Mitigation: Regularly engage with community stakeholders using various methods. Build transparent communication channels to maintain trust.

VIII. Financial Overview

The Library's financial health underpins its ability to fulfill its mission and advance strategic priorities. This section provides an overview of the Library’s current financial status, budget allocation strategies, and philanthropic goals. With a stable budget, recent investments in staff compensation, and a $100M capital campaign nearing its conclusion, the Library is well-positioned to sustain and enhance its core services. Moving forward, disciplined resource management and continued engagement with donors will ensure the Library remains adaptable to external mandates and capable of funding innovative initiatives and addressing emerging needs.

Current Financial Status

The Library’s financial stability is the result of strong support from the Provost and sound management and strategic resource allocation in the Library.  The current budget exceeds pre-pandemic levels—but so do our activities and commitments. It is a point of pride in the Library that we managed balanced budgets through the pandemic without resorting to layoffs, demonstrating our commitment to staff retention and a positive organizational culture.  Other evidence of that is our comprehensive compensation review, resulting in $1M recurring being invested in raises to align our salaries and wages with market standards, and underscoring the Library’s dedication to supporting its workforce.

Budget Allocation

To ensure the effective use of available resources, the Library is adopting a disciplined approach to budget allocation. Funding decisions will prioritize the sustainability and enhancement of the Library’s core services, ensuring these foundational offerings remain robust and responsive to the needs of the University community. Additionally, resources will be directed toward the advancement of strategic priorities, fostering innovation and growth while addressing emerging challenges and opportunities. This balanced approach to financial management underscores the Library’s commitment to achieving its mission in a fiscally responsible manner.

Philanthropic Goals

Recognizing the importance of external support, the Library will continue to actively engage with donors to secure philanthropic contributions. These efforts will focus particularly on funding new initiatives that align with the Library’s strategic vision, enabling the Library to pursue opportunities that might otherwise be beyond the scope of its operating budget. Philanthropic resources will also play a key role in bridging funding gaps, ensuring the Library can sustain and expand its impact across research, teaching, and community engagement. By cultivating strong relationships with donors, the Library aims to build a resilient financial foundation that supports its mission and strategic goals.

IX. Monitoring and Evaluation

Effective monitoring and evaluation are critical to ensuring the success of the Library's strategic plan. This section outlines the metrics and review processes that will guide the Library’s progress and accountability. By tracking key performance indicators—such as progress on strategic initiatives, financial health, employee engagement, user satisfaction, and the impact of services on research and teaching—the Library will maintain a clear understanding of its achievements and areas for improvement. Regular reviews by the Senior Leadership Team will ensure the plan remains flexible and responsive to emerging challenges and opportunities, enabling continuous alignment with institutional goals and community needs.

Performance Metrics

To ensure that the Library’s strategic initiatives are on track and achieving desired outcomes, the following detailed performance metrics will continued to be used to evaluate progress:

Progress on Strategic Initiatives

  • Regular assessments of each strategic priority, tracking milestones and deliverables.
  • Review of annual goals and outcomes in relation to the Library’s long-term vision.
  • Identification of challenges or delays in implementation, with corrective actions taken as necessary.

Financial Performance

  • Provide monthly Cost Center Balance Reports for all cost center managers to keep them informed of current cost center balances.
  • Annual budget performance evaluations, comparing actual expenditures to planned allocations.
  • Analysis of funding sustainability, ensuring that financial resources are effectively managed to support strategic priorities.

Employee Engagement

  • Regular staff climate surveys and focus groups to measure morale, job satisfaction, and alignment with the Library’s mission and values.
  • Monitoring retention rates, promotion trends, and career development opportunities to identify areas for improvement.
  • Tracking the effectiveness of workforce programs such as professional development and inclusion, diversity, equity, and accessibility efforts.

User Satisfaction

  • Collection and analysis of user feedback through surveys, interviews, and usability testing to assess satisfaction with Library services, resources, and facilities.
  • Monitoring of service usage patterns and trends to identify areas where user needs are being met or unmet.
  • Evaluation of user engagement with digital tools, collections, and Library programs, including feedback from user groups (students, faculty, and staff) through University-wide surveys.

Impact of Library Services on Research and Teaching

  • Assessment of how Library resources, services, and initiatives support faculty and student research, including usage of institutional repositories and research support tools.
  • Tracking the integration of Library services into teaching and learning, including support for instructional materials, digital literacy programs, and collaboration with academic departments.
  • Measuring the effectiveness of partnerships with interdisciplinary research teams and faculty in advancing the University’s research goals.

X. Conclusion

The 2025-2027 Strategic Bridge Plan represents a pivotal moment for the University of Virginia Library as it navigates a period of transition while continuing to build on its legacy of excellence. With a focus on sustaining core services, advancing strategic priorities, and embracing new opportunities, the plan provides a roadmap for continuity and growth during the leadership transition.

This plan reflects the Library’s unwavering commitment to supporting the University’s mission by fostering innovation, inclusivity, and collaboration across research, teaching, and community engagement. By addressing challenges proactively, investing in infrastructure and workforce development, and ensuring financial sustainability, the Library is well-prepared to meet the evolving needs of the University and its broader community.

As the Library welcomes new leadership, this plan provides a foundation for continued success while allowing the next dean to shape a bold vision for the future. Together, the Library, its staff, and the University community will work to uphold the values of knowledge, accessibility, and service that define the Library’s mission, ensuring its impact remains transformative for years to come.