No Researcher Is an Island
Opening Knowledge, Transforming Lives
No researcher is an island. Scientists and scholars come together digitally and in person to combine their efforts and sharpen their arguments. They build on the data and the ideas of their predecessors as they make new discoveries and redefine the future of their fields.
No student is an island. College, graduate, and professional school students learn from faculty and their classmates as they pore over original sources, scholarly research, and data of every type. They come together in campus libraries to work out problem sets on white boards. They build research and information literacy skills through instruction by librarians and faculty.
No campus is an island. By becoming a trusted partner for South Side communities, we can create lasting impact and opportunity in Chicago and beyond, learning from one another and building a brighter future for all who live, work, and study in our historic Chicago neighborhoods.
And no library is an island. We work with libraries and archives across the U.S. and around the world to provide access to comprehensive connected collections. We collaborate with UChicago faculty, students, and staff to create a better world and a culture of innovation, respect and partnership. And we offer events that stimulate debate on issues of information in academia and society, including banned books and artificial intelligence.
The Library has updated its mission, vision, and principles to recognize and embrace the interconnectedness of our communities, our systems, and our resources. We are positioning ourselves as a leader in an inclusive and sustainable global knowledge environment, supporting free inquiry and expression, and enabling the University of Chicago and our greater community to create a better world. Today and in the future, we are enabling field-defining faculty research and working to solve the world’s most pressing issues while enhancing our global knowledge environment. We cannot do one without the others.
Our Library Strategic Plan, Opening Knowledge, Transforming Lives, outlines the ways we will pursue this mission over the next four years. We will amplify UChicago research and make comprehensive connected collections more discoverable and accessible. We will engage UChicago faculty, students, and staff, the South Side community, and the world in learning and debate about information in academia and society. We will nurture a resilient, innovative organizational culture that develops our staff, construct a master plan for our spaces, grow and diversify Library income, and build a long-term vision for carbon-neutral library operations.
These priorities assume collaboration and dialogue with you—our faculty, students, colleagues, donors, community members, and friends. I look forward to working with you in the years to come on creating a global knowledge environment that can make life better for everyone.
