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Becker Library Releases its 2007-2010 Strategic Plan

Becker Library Strategic Planning Document

In the fall of 2006, the Bernard Becker Medical Library began planning its strategic directions for 2007-2010. This process was driven by the changing landscape of knowledge, as well as the recent realignment of information technology services to a unit outside of Becker Library. The goal of the planning process was to identify specific programs which would simultaneously support the School of Medicine’s mission and firmly establish Becker Library’s leadership in the changing roles of medical libraries. The outcome of this planning effort acknowledges the continuing responsibilities of Becker Library as a traditional academic medical library – particularly with respect to its collections and core services – and identifies the following programs as priorities for the next three years.

  1. Enhance institutional partnerships – especially with BJC Healthcare – to guarantee access to information for health care professionals.
  2. Expand the biomedical informatics services offered by Becker Library in alignment with BioMed 21.
  3. Enhance curriculum support for lifelong learning by working with educational programs to ensure that students adopt best-practice and best-evidence techniques in clinical and research decision making.
  4. Expand clinical library services to work with Medical Center health care teams.
  5. Support scholarly communication through a program to increase awareness and develop options for addressing issues related to scientific communication.
  6. Foster consumer health information literacy by partnering with School of Medicine community outreach efforts.

Many of these programs are already well underway, while others are just beginning. The library will be pursuing initiatives and focusing its resources on these programs across all library divisions. The result will be a stronger library – recognized as vital to the teaching, research, patient care and outreach missions of the School of Medicine.

Library staff members serving on the planning committee were Susan Fowler, Kristi Holmes, Betsy Kelly, Neville Prendergast, Cathy Sarli, Marysue Schaffer, Paul Schoening, and Philip Skroska. The committee was chaired by Neville Prendergast.