Mission, Vision + Priorities

Mission

To foster the creation of knowledge, to enable its dissemination, and to ensure its preservation.

Vision

We apply our expertise to help our community create, find, use, and analyze a wide array of information and data. We create a dynamic Library that is essential for every researcher, teacher, and learner at the University of Alberta.

Pillars

Teaching & Learning

Through excellent instruction and support, we respond and adapt to the changing needs of learners. Our information resources, along with our teaching and reference services, provide the scaffolding that learners need to build their academic and professional careers. We believe learners should have access to high-quality information when they need it and where they need it, and we strive to continually expand and improve this access.

Decolonization & Indigenization

We actively support the decolonial Indigenization1 of the University library. Through collaboration across our campuses and in the community we work to dismantle barriers to our collections, spaces, and services. We respect the land on which our library spaces sit and on which we work-Treaty Six and Métis territory. We acknowledge past exclusions and misrepresentations of Indigenous peoples and knowledge systems, as well as the inherent and harmful gaps and oversights in library practices. We make ongoing efforts to move beyond these practices and toward those that further reconciliation, expand accessibility to our resources, and increase equity to our collections and to learning for all.

Inclusion

We aim to create a welcoming, inspiring, accessible library where people know they belong and are able to fully and confidently learn, research, collaborate, and work. As a strategic priority we build spaces, collections, and services that value and support our diverse community.

Research

We bring curiosity, passion, and expertise to research challenges. We seek to find opportunities to support and participate in all parts of the research lifecycle, from discovery to publication. We work to enable discovery, provide expertise, and access to information and technology. We support research data management and open access publishing. We work with the community to help understand research impact.

We help lead and build partnerships that enable research to happen locally, nationally, and internationally, and for knowledge to be optimally shared.

We build on a tradition of service and stewardship, as well as seek new ways to support research in a continually changing environment.

1 See: Gaudry A, Lorenz D. Indigenization as inclusion, reconciliation, and decolonization: navigating the different visions for indigenizing the Canadian Academy. AlterNative: An International Journal of Indigenous Peoples. 2018;14(3):218-227. https://doi-org.login.ezproxy.library.ualberta.ca/10.1177/1177180118785382

Strategic Priorities for 2026/2027

The Library’s strategic priorities identify specific areas of focus for the year. These targeted initiatives guide our immediate work and resources to ensure we adapt, innovate and respond effectively to the evolving needs of the University of Alberta community in alignment with Shape: The University Strategic Plan 2023-2033 and other high-impact strategic initiatives.

Prepare for enrolment growth and contribute to SEAP 2.0

We will assess how enrolment growth may affect Library collections, instruction, services, spaces, technology and staffing, and identify where we may need to adapt, scale or invest.

Our goal is to use evidence to understand evolving user needs and create more accessible, connected and responsive Library experiences. This work will align with and contribute to the next phase of the Student Experience Action Plan (SEAP 2.0), supporting student success, belonging, affordability, academic transitions and other priorities. These efforts will also broadly support Changing the Story, the University’s strategic action plan for access, community and belonging.

Advance Indigenization, decolonization and knowledge sovereignty

We will clarify the Library’s strategic outcomes for Indigenization, decolonization and knowledge sovereignty and develop a coordinated plan to advance them. This will include considering how the mandate of the Indigenous Initiatives Team can support shared priorities and coordination across the Library.

We will align this work with University-wide Indigenous priorities articulated in Braiding Past, Present and Future: University of Alberta Indigenous Strategic Plan, deepen relationships with Indigenous partners and communities, and identify how the Library’s expertise, collections, services and spaces can contribute to meaningful change within the University and beyond.

Partner to strengthen the visibility and impact of University research

We will work with campus partners to align and embed Library services and expertise more deliberately within the University’s research infrastructure, workflows and priorities captured in Forward with Purpose: A Strategic Plan for Research and Innovation. This coordinated approach will bring together related areas, including open access publishing, repository services, researcher profiles and ORCID adoption and integration, research data management, and the discovery of University scholarship.

By coordinating with University units, initiatives and systems, we can increase awareness of Library research services, advance the adoption of open access practices, and provide more seamless, value-added Library support throughout the research lifecycle. This work will strengthen the Library’s role within the University’s research infrastructure, enhance the visibility and impact of University scholarship, and support the University’s response to the Tri-Agency Open Access Policy and Research Data Management Policy.

Develop responsible approaches to AI

We will develop a focused action plan to guide how the Library can responsibly apply and support AI across our services, collections, technologies and staff development in ways that advance our academic mission and service priorities. As AI reshapes teaching, learning, research, information use, scholarly communication and how work is carried out across post-secondary institutions, the Library has an important role in helping our University community navigate these changes and apply AI in human-centred ways that support trustworthy knowledge, responsible research and critical learning.

Through Library-wide engagement, we will create space for different perspectives, build a shared understanding of our roles and responsibilities, and identify where the Library should lead, partner or provide support. Staff expertise and perspectives will help shape the plan and translate it into coordinated action.