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Library Strategic Plan: Phase Five: Implementation

Information about the Library's Strategic Plan and planning initiative

Phase Five: Implementation

Progress

An implementation plan for 2017-2018, including goals for each priority and measurable outcomes for each goal, was drafted in Summer 2017 and progress towards individual outcomes was posted when there were substantive updates. An implementation plan for 2018-2019 was drafted in September 2018, including updating and revising goals for each priority,.

Implementation Plans

Calvin Coolidge Library Strategic Plan

2018-2019 Implementation

Last Updated: October 1, 2019

 

  1. Ensure access to current and relevant collections to support research, teaching and learning, and civic engagement.
    1. Maintain the currency and relevancy of our physical collections through regular and thorough collection analysis and deselection.
      1. Develop and apply standard and rule-based criteria for deselection.
        • Assessment/Deliverable: Apply deselection criteria to first third of the Circulating Collection
        • By: August 2018. As of June 30, 2019: In process.
        • Progress: Deselection began in Fall 2017 on the 1st third of the collection.
        • Assessment/Deliverable: Apply deselection criteria to second third of the Circulating Collection
        • By: August 2019. 
        • Assessment/Deliverable: Apply deselection criteria to final third of the Circulating Collection
        • By: August 2020
      2. Shift Circulating collection to accommodate new and deselected materials.
        • Assessment/Deliverable: Shift Circulating Collection.
        • By: January 2019. As of June 30, 2019: In process pending additional weeding.
      3. Move popular periodicals back to the periodicals area.
        • Assessment/Deliverable: Periodicals moved.
        • By: January 2019 (Completed)
      4. Develop plan for evaluating print periodical collection.
        • Assessment/Deliverable: Plan developed.
        • By: January 2019. As of June 30, 2019: In process.
    2. Continue to implement Koha, the new integrated library system for the Vermont State Colleges libraries.
      1. Add serial subscriptions to Koha.
        • Assessment/Deliverable: Subscriptions added.
        • By: May 2019
      2. Update procedure manuals to reflect Koha processes.
        • Assessment/Deliverable: Manuals updated.
        • By: January 2019. As of June 30, 2019: cataloging manual complete; circulation, serials and, acquisitions manuals in process.
    3. Continue to support the Archives Working Group in increasing access to and awareness of the library’s archival and special collections.
      1. Maintain library’s active involvement in the Archives Working Group.
        • Assessment/Deliverable: Archives Working Group meeting attendance
        • By: May 2019. No AWG meetings in 2018/19.
      2. Advocate for staffing to support library’s archival and special collections.
        • Assessment/Deliverable: TBD
        • By: TBD
  2. Invest in user-centered library spaces.
    1. Continue to assess the usage of our existing space.
      1. Use Suma to track usage at least once per semester.
        • Assessment/Deliverable: Suma tracking.
        • By: May 2019. Suma data collected during 2017/18 and 2018/19.
    2. Continue to make incremental upgrades to library spaces.
      1. Create whiteboard wall spaces.
        • Assessment/Deliverable: Whiteboard walls painted.
        • By: December 2018. As of June 30, 2019: in process; paint purchased.
      2. Develop proposal for furniture replacements.
        • Assessment/Deliverable: Expense and priority replacement list developed.
        • By: December 2018 (Completed)
    3. Explore additional options for offering food and beverages in the library.
      1. Discuss food and beverage options with Sodexho and Student Life representatives
        • Assessment/Deliverable: Meetings with Sodexho and Student Life
        • By: May 2019. Carried over to 2019/20 academic year.
    4. Expand event offerings and the library’s social media presence to increase engagement with faculty and staff, students, and members of the broader community.
      1. Develop or share posts through Castleton University’s social media.
        • Assessment/Deliverable: 3 posts shared per semester.
        • By: May 2019 (Completed)
      2. Host three events during the 2018-2019 academic year, including one event that includes the broader community.
        • Assessment/Deliverable: Events held
        • By: May 2019 (Completed--mini golf, cookies & cocoa, VT reads)
  3. Strengthen partnerships with faculty and staff to promote student success and foster integrative and effective approaches to teaching information literacy.
    1. Continue to support the library’s instruction program to support the integration of information literacy, as defined by the Association of College and Research Libraries’ Framework for Information Literacy for Higher Education, across the curriculum.
      1. Pilot Eng Comp/Effective Speaking instruction sessions.
        • Assessment/Deliverable: Fall 2018 pilots.
        • By: December 2018
      2. Continue to improve lesson plans for scaffolded instruction sessions.
        • Assessment/Deliverable: Updated lesson plans.
        • By: May 2019
      3. Engage with faculty teaching capstone courses to promote 4th year session and better understand information literacy challenges.
        • Assessment/Deliverable: Hold forum with capstone faculty.
        • By: May 2019
    2. Restructure reference services to better support student research and scholarship and to more efficiently use technology and existing staff.
      1. Assess move of Research Help Desk to Circulation area.
        • Assessment/Deliverable: Review Research Help Desk statistics.
        • By: June 2019. Carried over to 2019/20
    3. Market information literacy program to students.
      1. Design Spartan Savvy logo.
        • Assessment/Deliverable: Logo designed.
        • By: December 2018. Carried over to 2019/20
      2. Develop marketing plan.
        • Assessment/Deliverable: Plan developed.
        • By: May 2019. Carried over to 2019/20
  4. Support an organizational culture of service excellence and collaboration.
    1. Prioritize and support the professional development of library staff, including providing opportunities to learn about emerging trends and changing student needs.
      1. Hold training session on Koha and Tipasa systems.
        • Assessment/Deliverable: Session held.
        • By: January 2019 (Completed)
      2. Host an internal professional development day for library faculty and staff.
        • Assessment/Deliverable: PD Day held.
        • By: May 2019 (Completed)
      3. Allocate funding in library budget for library staff attendance at conferences and training and/or to bring in speakers.
        • Assessment/Deliverable: Funds allocated and spent
        • By: June 2019 (Completed)
    2. Expand student employment opportunities to advance their professional growth and development and provide transferrable workplace skills and experiences.
      1. Offer annual trainings for work study students, to include training on Koha and  Emergency Guidelines
        • Assessment/Deliverable: 2 trainings offered
        • By: May 2019
    3. Continue to update and train staff on emergency procedures.
      1. Provide regular training for library faculty and staff on emergency procedures.
        • Assessment/Deliverable: Training offered
        • By: May 2019
      2. Conduct emergency walkthroughs each semester.
        • Assessment/Deliverable: 3 walkthroughs conducted.
        • By: June 2019 (Completed)
      3. Maintain communication with University Emergency Management Team.
        • Assessment/Deliverable: Attend at least 1 Emergency Management Team meeting.
        • By: May 2019. Carried over to 2019/20
    4. Explore additional opportunities for outreach and partnerships with the broader community.
      1. Develop a plan to start a Friends of Library Program.
        1. Assessment/Deliverable: Develop plan.
        2. By: June 2019. Carried over to 2019/20
      2. Continue to investigate grant opportunities to additional funding for the library.
        1. Assessment/Deliverable: Meeting with University Grant staff.
        2. By: May 2019. Carried over to 2019/20
      3. Continue to investigate opportunities to increase engagement and involvement with local High School librarians.
        1. Assessment/Deliverable: Develop list of possible opportunities for engagement.
        2. By: June 2019 (Librarian met with Rutland High School teachers & librarian to bring students to Castleton September 2018)

Calvin Coolidge Library Strategic Plan

2017-2018 Implementation

Last Updated: August 21, 2018

Strategic Priorities

  1. Ensure access to current and relevant collections to support research, teaching and learning, and civic engagement.
    1. Maintain the currency and relevancy of our physical collections through regular and thorough collection analysis and deselection.
      1. Reduce the Reference Collection and increase use of Reference items by identifying titles for deselection and titles to be moved to the Circulating Collection.
        • Assessment/Deliverable: Titles selected for Circulating and discard
        • By: September 2017
        • Progress: Completed
      2. Develop and apply standard and rule-based criteria for deselection.
        • Assessment/Deliverable: Deselection Criteria
        • By: August 2017
        • Progress: Completed - Deselection Criteria were developed and approved by the Reference Librarians in July 2017.
        • Assessment/Deliverable: Apply deselection criteria to first third of the Circulating Collection
        • By: August 2018 
        • Progress: Deselection began in Fall 2017 on the 1st third of the collection.
        • Assessment/Deliverable: Apply deselection criteria to second third of the Circulating Collection
        • By: August 2019
        • Assessment/Deliverable: Apply deselection criteria to final third of the Circulating Collection
        • By: August 2020
      3. Develop plan for broadening the Casual Collection to include popular periodicals.
        • Assessment/Deliverable: Plan
        • By: December 2017
        • Progress: Completed - A pilot move of current issues of 16 titles has been implemented - those titles are now located near the Casual Collection
    2. Explore options for sharing additional database subscriptions with other Vermont State Colleges libraries.
      1. Update list of subscriptions and discuss database sharing with VSC Library Council.
        • Assessment/Deliverable: Discussion item added to Library Council meeting agenda
        • By: December 2017
        • Progress: A list of subscriptions was updated by Library Council in August 2018.
    3. Fully participate in the selection and implementation of a new integrated library system for the Vermont State Colleges libraries.
      1. Develop list of reports to be pulled from existing system.
        • Assessment/Deliverable: List of Reports
        • By: January 2018
        • Progress: Completed as of April 2018.
      2. Participate in RFP and system selection process.
        • Assessment/Deliverable: Service on RFP Committee
        • By: October 2017
        • Progress: Completed - Franny Ryan and Jami Yazdani served on the RFP Committee and participated in the selection of the new system.  System implementation is expected in Summer 2018.
    4. Continue to support the Archives Working Group in increasing access to and awareness of the library’s archival and special collections.
      1. Develop funding proposal for archives digitization project.
        • Assessment/Deliverable: Funding Proposal
        • By: August 2017
        • Progress: Completed - A funding proposal was drafted and provided to Advancement Services in July 2017.
      2. Maintain library’s active involvement in the Archives Working Group.
        • Assessment/Deliverable: Archives Working Group meeting attendance
        • By: May 2018
        • Progress: Completed - Library faculty and staff attended 2017-2018 meetings.
  2. Invest in user-centered library spaces.
    1. Assess the condition and usage of our existing space and solicit feedback on space needs.
      1. Develop a profile of the library’s public spaces and track space usage.
        • Assessment/Deliverable:  Space profile and updated map
        • By: December 2017
        • Progress: Completed - The library map has been updated and a space profile has been completed.
        • Assessment/Deliverable: Implement SUMA for tracking space usage in Spring 2018
        • By: March 2018
        • Progress: Completed - SUMA been installed and is being used for tracking as of March 4, 2018.
      2. Work with the Library Advisory Board to implement a “14 Days to Have Your Say” initiative in Spring 2018 focused on space needs and feedback.
        • Assessment/Deliverable: Completion of “14 Days to Have Your Say” initiative
        • By: April 2018
        • Progress: Completed - A survey was administered in April 2018 - results will be presented in May 2018.
      3. Assemble an internal Space Committee to assess the condition of the public and staff spaces and make recommendations for improvements.
        • Assessment/Deliverable: Space Committee convened
        • By: July 2017
        • Progress: Completed - The committee was convened in July 2017 and met several times in Summer 2017.
        • Assessment/Deliverable: List of space recommendations
        • By: June 2018
        • Progress: Partially Completed - A list of actionable improvements was made and some items, including improved signage, were implemented.  Due to funding concerns, a comprehensive list of space recommendations was not completed.
    2. Explore additional options for offering food and beverages in the library.
      1. Include questions about food and beverage options in “14 Days to Have Your Say” initiative.
        • Assessment/Deliverable: Completion of “14 Days to Have Your Say” initiative.
        • By: April 2018
        • Progress: Completed - A survey was administered in April 2018 - results will be presented in May 2018.
      2. Discuss food and beverage options with Sodexho and Student Life representatives
        • Assessment/Deliverable: Meetings with Sodexho and Student Life
        • By: May 2018
        • Progress: Partially completed - A snack machine was installed in the library in August 2017.  Due to funding concerns, a comprehensive list of space recommendations was not completed.
    3. Implement an online system for booking library conference rooms. 
      1. Implement the LibCal scheduling system for booking library conference/group study rooms.
        • Assessment/Deliverable: LibCal implemented for Fall 2017
        • By: August 2017
        • Progress: Completed
        • Assessment/Deliverable: Survey of LibCal users in Fall 2017
        • By: December 2017
        • Progress: Completed - An online survey was sent to LibCal room reservation users on December 5, 2017. Results are available at http://libcal.castleton.edu/
    4. Expand event offerings and the library’s social media presence to increase engagement with faculty and staff, students, and members of the broader community.
      1. Setup and post at least once a week to Facebook and Instagram accounts for the library.
        • Assessment/Deliverable: Account Activations
        • By: August 2017
        • Progress: Setup Completed - Facebook & Instagram
        • Assessment/Deliverable: Weekly Posts
        • By: May 2018
        • Progress: Completed - 56 posts were made to Facebook and 43 posts to Instagram in AY18.
      2. Setup and post at 10 times a semester to a library news blog.
        • Assessment/Deliverable: Blog setup
        • By: August 2017
        • Progress: Setup Completed
        • Assessment/Deliverable: 20 Posts
        • By: May 2018
        • Progress: Completed - 21 posts were made to the news blog in AY18.
      3. Host three events during the 2017-2018 academic year, including one event that includes the broader community.
        • Assessment/Deliverable: Events held
        • By: May 2018
        • Progress: Completed: (1) Library Mini-golf was held for the broader community as part of Homecoming on September 15 & 16, 2017, (2) a Library Reads event  was held on February 28, 2018, and (3) faculty forums about information literacy were held on March 15 and April 19, 2018.
  3. Strengthen partnerships with faculty and staff to promote student success and foster integrative and effective approaches to teaching information literacy.
    1. Restructure the library’s instruction program to support the integration of information literacy, as defined by the Association of College and Research Libraries’ Framework for Information Literacy for Higher Education, across the curriculum.
      1. Promote the “Integrated Model for Information Literacy at Castleton” plan                   
        • Assessment/Deliverable: Plan information added to library website
        • By: October 2017
        • Progress: Completed - see our Information Literacy & Library Instruction Guide
        • Assessment/Deliverable: Presentation to Faculty Assembly
        • By: December 2017
        • Progress: Completed - presentation at October 10, 2017 meeting
      2. Develop learning goals and activities for 13 information literacy topic modules and 2 of the 4 librarian-led instruction sessions.                       
        • Assessment/Deliverable: Goals and activities
        • By: August 2017
        • Progress: Completed - Goals and activities have been developed for 13 information literacy topic modules and are being added to http://libguides.castleton.edu/integinfolit​.  3 of the 4 librarian-led instruction sessions have been developed and piloted as of March 2018. 1 more session will be developed in Summer 2018.
      3. Pilot librarian-led instruction in at least 2 FYS and 2 professional program sections
        • Assessment/Deliverable: Pilots and Faculty and student satisfaction surveys
        • By: December 2017
        • Progress: Completed - Pilots in 3 FYS and 2 professional program sections were taught in Fall 2017 and surveys were administered.
      4. Develop plan for delivering librarian-developed topic module activities to faculty 
      5. In partnership with Integrative Learning Initiative, pilot instruction in at least two general education and 3rd year course sections
        • Assessment/Deliverable: Pilots and Rubric-based assessment of student work
        • By: May 2018
        • Progress: Partially Completed - 7 pilots were conducted in Fall 2018 and 6 in Spring 2018.  We were not able to pilot a rubric-based assessment.  
      6. Pilot librarian-led instruction on one or more topic modules in at least 2 course sections
        • Assessment/Deliverable: Pilots and Faculty and student satisfaction surveys
        • By: May 2018
        • Progress: Partially Completed - A topic activity was piloted in 1 course.  More pilots are planned for Fall 2018.
    2. Restructure reference services to better support student research and scholarship and to more efficiently use technology and existing staff.
      1. Implement LibCal for scheduling appointments with librarians.
        • Assessment/Deliverable: LibCal implemented
        • By: August 2017
        • Progress: Completed
        • Assessment/Deliverable: Survey of LibCal and appointment users
        • By: May 2018
        • Progress: Completed - A survey is sent to every appointment user 1 day after their appointment.
      2. Revise reference desk scheduling and staffing.
        • Assessment/Deliverable: Revised schedule
        • By: August 2017
        • Progress: Completed - Changes were made to the Fall 2017 Reference Desk schedule to reflect usage and staffing.  Additional changes will be implemented in Spring 2018.
        • Assessment/Deliverable: Review of usage statistics
        • By: May 2018
        • Progress: Completed - Usage statistics have been reviewed and will be taken into consideration in developing desk schedules for AY19.
    3. Redesign online research guides to reflect best practices in research support.
      1. Develop new templates and style guide for Research Guides.
        • Assessment/Deliverable: Templates and style guide
        • By: August 2017
        • Progress: Completed
      2. Revise existing guides to match new template and style guide.
        • Assessment/Deliverable: Revised guides
        • By: June 2018
        • Progress: Content is currently being moved to the new guides.
  4. Support an organizational culture of service excellence and collaboration.
    1. Prioritize and support the professional development of library staff, including providing opportunities to learn about emerging trends and changing student needs.
      1. Host an internal professional development day for library faculty and staff.
        • Assessment/Deliverable: Event hosted
        • By: June 2018
        • Progress: Completed: A professional development day was held on May 31, 2018.
      2. Allocate funding in library budget for library staff attendance at local library and higher education conferences and training.
        • Assessment/Deliverable: Funds allocated and spent
        • By: June 2018
        • Progress: Completed - Funds were allocated for staff professional development in the FY18 budget and all funds were spent by April 2018.
    2. Expand student employment opportunities to advance their professional growth and development and provide transferrable workplace skills and experiences.
      1. Restructure and reclassify student positions to reflect three progressive levels of responsibility.
        • Assessment/Deliverable: Posted position descriptions
        • By: September 2017
        • Progress: Completed for Fall 2017 with new Reference Aide positions at the third level posted and hired.
      2. Offer consolidated annual training for work study students.
        • Assessment/Deliverable: Training offered
        • By: Fall 2017
        • Progress: Completed with training session held on October 13, 2017.
      3. Offer at least two professional development opportunities for work study students per year.
        • Assessment/Deliverable: Two sessions offered
        • By: May 2018
        • Progress: A session, covering transferrable skills and provided by Career Services, was offered on October 13, 2017 during the consolidated annual training for work study students.  Students were also invited and paid to attend an Active Shooter Training on March 27, 2018.
  5.  Provide regular training for library faculty and staff on emergency procedures.
    1. Revise and update the library’s emergency procedures.
      • Assessment/Deliverable: Procedures document
      • By: August 2017
      • Progress: Completed - Procedures were revised in Summer 2017 and finalized in September 2017.
    2. Hold at least one training session on revised procedures for library faculty, staff and student employees.
      • Assessment/Deliverable: Trainings held
      • By: May 2018
      • Progress: Completed - Student employees were trained on October 13, 2017 during the consolidated annual training for work study students.  Faculty and staff will be trained during the planned internal professional development day in May 2018.
  6. Explore additional opportunities for outreach and partnerships with the broader community.
    1. Discuss partnership opportunities with Bridge Initiative group.
      • Assessment/Deliverable: Discussion with Library Director added to Bridge Initiative agenda
      • By: December 2017
      • Progress: Completed - The Library Director met with the Bridge Initiative on March 13, 2018.
    2. Develop plan to increase engagement and involvement with local High School librarians.
      • Assessment/Deliverable: Plan developed
      • By: December 2017
      • Progress: Completed - A tentative plan has been developed.  Meetings were held with relevant constituents in early Spring 2018 to discuss the plan.