Earlier this month, the Libraries celebrated the end of its fourth year of Catalyst, the Libraries’ strategic plan. Catalyst is a flexible, iterative, staff-driven approach to strategic planning with yearly initiatives centered around three goals. This year, three teams worked on projects ranging from staff onboarding and recruitment to increasing the Libraries’ external funding.
Goal 1: Develop talent, resources, and experiences that facilitate an inclusive community.
Talent Management - Onboarding: Workgroup members developed a new LibGuide to aid in onboarding new Libraries staff members. The guide includes “New to the Area” information, a cheatsheet of Library terminology, acronyms, and listservs, and dedicated information for different staff groups. The group also created and implemented a pilot Buddy Program to pair new staff with colleagues who can help them feel at home at Miami.
Goal 2: Transform the Libraries’ environment and user-centered experience to anticipate evolving modes of learning.
Collection Policy: The Libraries’ completed work towards developing a process for updating its collection policies and assessing the content of its current collections.
Recruitment and Hiring Practices: This workgroup made progress in updating the Libraries’ hiring and recruitment tools.
Accessibility Training: Workgroup members outlined and began building standardized accessibility training for library staff. This training and supporting documentation will be incorporated into onboarding for all new library employees.
Signage and Documentation: This group completed an assessment of the Libraries’ directory signage and wayfinding maps and began the design process for updating stacks signage. Signage improvements, including posted hours for ground floor access to King Library, have improved accessibility to the building.
Physical Accessibility: Workgroup members completed the planning and funding process for two sensory study rooms in collaboration with student consultants. The construction of these sensory study rooms is in progress, and completion is expected in fall 2024. The usage patterns of the new rooms will be assessed in hopes that these spaces will act as proof-of-concept plans for further renovations of study spaces in King Library. The Libraries’ also added adjustable height workstations and high weight-limit chairs to improve accessibility.
Goal 3: Forge meaningful partnerships that foster affordability, ensure relevancy, and cultivate life-long connections.
External Funding: This workgroup partnered with the Office of Research and Innovation on workshops for GrantForward and SciEnCV tools for grant searches and applications. A Library staff grant writing LibGuide and grant pre-proposal form were created to support and encourage external funding proposals.
Planning for Catalyst ‘25 is well underway, with this year’s initiatives being developed in intentional alignment with MiamiTHRIVE, the University’s new strategic plan.
More information on Catalyst can be found at Lib.MiamiOH.edu/Strategic.