Implementation and Reporting
The Essential Library presents the background and rationale for the USC Libraries' activities throughout the coming 12-18 months, as well as the steps our library faculty and staff will take to deliver the tangible benefits of this plan to our community of users. With this strategy in place, implementation is set to begin.
Subcommittees of the USC Libraries' Strategic Planning Group have begun drafting implementation frameworks for each objective detailed under collections, technology and access, and customer service. The subcommittees will develop timelines, estimate budget and staffing requirements, and recommend metrics to quantify success.
Wherever the work of USC schools and units presents pathways for collaboration, wherever existing library innovations provide platforms for further enhancements, and wherever strategic partnerships with regional, national, or international learning-focused organizations advance our mission-we will seize those opportunities.
The publication of The Essential Library marks the beginning of our ongoing conversation with the USC community. The Office of the Dean will prepare and disseminate annual reports to USC administrators, faculty, students, and staff through appropriate and relevant channels. These reports will help to ensure that progress toward our objectives is clear to everyone, as the libraries support the entire USC community of scholars and researchers.
The Essential Library is not simply about creating great libraries. It is about creating great libraries at and for the University of Southern California. We invite questions, comments, and critiques from USC faculty, students, staff, and other members of our user community as implementation progresses. Feedback is fundamental to our success.
The development and implementation of this plan are the first phases in a continuing planning-and-implementation cycle for the USC Libraries. Next, we will construct a plan for the 2010-2013 timeframe that will set an agenda for growth and innovation made possible by the foundational achievements of the next year and a half. We look forward to beginning work on a visionary, longer-term plan that will contribute to the ascendancy of the University of Southern California into the next decade and beyond.