Guiding Objectives
Guiding Objectives for the University – The university library will be a leader and partner on campus in creating and implementing ideas and services that advance teaching, learning, and research. It aims to contribute through the intelligent collection and arrangement of resources, the preservation of church and school history, and the teaching of information literacy.
Guiding Objectives for Students – The university library will design, adapt, and maintain a range of physical spaces to support students, including those engaged in collaborative, connected learning, as well as those seeking quiet, private study areas. The library will advocate for evolving library spaces that address enrollment growth and resources that reflect the changes in scholarship and learning.
Guiding Objective for Faculty – The university library desires to work with faculty to be a place for scholarship and learning that is increasingly collaborative and interdisciplinary. Its intent is to support the faculty with resources for academic excellence and for world-class research so that they may experiment fearlessly and create new knowledge. The library seeks to promote unique archival primary sources materials in the curriculum.
Vision of Beaman Library (What We Intend To Become)
Beaman Library aspires to become the intellectual hub of Lipscomb University by fully integrating its services, technologies, and unique collections into all aspects of our institution. The university library endeavors to be the center of intellectual inquiry where all are welcomed to learn, discover, create, and connect. Beaman Library will promote community and collaboration by cultivating relationships across campus through sponsoring and participating in campus-wide activities and through the creative use of the library’s physical and virtual spaces.
It strives to develop and utilize the talents of everyone who works in the library to achieve excellence in service to our faculty, staff, and students.
Goals (Next 3-5 Years)
Operational/Functional
- Update library space to meet student needs
- Add study rooms and collaborative spaces
- Add power outlets for technology
- Improve lighting
- Replace carpet and worn furniture original to the building
- Increase digital resources
- Add databases
- Upgrade basic databases to premium editions
- Add coffee shop
- Address student needs for caffeine and snacks while studying, particularly late at night
- Improve research instruction
- Publish online tutorials on website
- Offer and promote workshops for Academic Writer and Endnote
- Create business center
- Supply equipment and space for students working on presentations
- Introduce and encourage Open Educational Resources (OER) for classroom use
- Increase storage area for Beaman Library Archives and Special Collections
- Allowing for acceptance of more gifts and collections from donors
- Design a space honoring former Library Director Carolyn Wilson
- Reading room named after her that could host scholarly discussions and book talks
- Promote librarian/student interaction
- Increase library events in number and variety to appeal to wider audiences
- Improve social media and other communication strategies
Personnel
- Recruit and retain outstanding library faculty and staff
- Equip them with the skills and training they need to succeed in their work through increased professional development
- Provide an attractive environment where good work is acknowledged and rewarded
- Increase salaries
- Offer other incentives to stay
- Maximize value of membership organizations and consortium partnerships
- Hire
- Cataloging librarian
- Administrative assistant
- Additional student workers
Technological
- Improve website
- Conduct usability testing/solicit feedback
- Redesign pages for consistency and simplicity
- Improve access to e-resources
- Re-evaluate discovery services
- Re-evaluate content providers to attain the best match between discovery service and providers
- Start institutional repository (Digital Commons) The cost for this software would be $26,013 annually if purchased in 2022.
- Publish theses/dissertations online rather than just in print
- Collect and publish student and faculty scholarly contributions online
- Optimize search results to make the repository searchable by Google or other search engines
- Help faculty edit and publish online journal
- Create and preserve digital archives and special collections (Preservica) The cost for this software would be $18,000 - $20,000 annually if purchased in 2022.
- Expand use of our historic and current materials through widespread digitization and new access services
- Upgrade technology access to provide success for at-risk students
- Purchase or lease new computers for computer lab
- Purchase or lease new printers that can print in color on larger paper sizes
- Add software such as JAWS for visually-impaired students
- Purchase or lease new laptop/mobile technology for checkout
- Provide laptop charging station for students’ technology