Paul J. Gutman Library's Strategic Five-Year Plan and
Mission/Vision/Value Statements

As part of our five year strategic plan (word document), the library developed mission, vision, and value statements.

Gutman Library works collaboratively with faculty to ensure students achieve institutional learning outcomes.  As the University’s information portal, the Library develops a collection that supports the institution’s curricular goals. The Library supports and advances the educational discovery and research missions of the University.

• We support the campus community and university mission.
• We help students learn how to become effective and efficient researchers.
• We help faculty blend research and instruction for the benefit of their disciplines and our students.
• We are student centered in service delivery as it guides our decision making.
• We achieve a balance between physical and digital resources.  
• We are a cultural, social and intellectual center of campus.

Our vision of the Paul J. Gutman Library is one of a library that:

• Makes it easy and simple for members of the Philadelphia University community to find the information they need
   
• Has the services and resources that the campus community uses regularly to obtain the information they need wherever and in whatever format it exists
   
• Provides an inviting and comfortable physical environment for study, computing, socialization, and intellectual discovery; the library is a facility that community members want to use
   
• Thoughtfully acquires technology to enhance information accessibility, recognizing the importance of balancing technology acquisition with serving people and the larger needs of the campus community.
   
• Establishes the necessary level of connectedness with the campus community to ensure the library staff is an active partner in the achievement student learning outcomes.
   
• Supports the learning needs of on-campus and distance learners equitably, as well as researchers at off-campus centers.
   
• Leverages campus-wide learning and computing technologies to ensure the library has a presence that allows it to achieve its mission.
   
• Seeks out and enters into consortial relationships with other academic libraries to derive the benefits of resource sharing.

To realize our vision and carry out our mission, and in dealing with our
customers and the people we work with, we will:

• Listen to our patrons so that we understand what they need and what they want. We will neither assume we know what another "really means," nor to see how another is wrong. We will treat our patrons with the respect and dignity they deserve.
   
• Be committed to high-quality customer service. We will give our patrons a reason to want to use Gutman Library, and to ask us to help them when they need assistance with library research.
   
• Respect our patrons' feelings. Be compassionate. Be courteous. Be fair.
   
• Accept responsibility for our actions. Think before we act. Consider
  consequences. Be accountable. After making a mistake, apologize.
   
• Be professional. Try ever to do better. Never quit easily. Seek first the
  real causes of problems, not the blameworthy. Work constantly to improve our skills and to expand our learning.
   
• Be technology advanced and adept. Take risks in trying new information resources and technologies. Emphasize the use of information technology but stay true to traditional library services. Stay focused on human interaction and personalized service, and avoid the temptation to allow the pursuit of new technology to become the means and the end that we strive for in our library's operation.