Strategic Plan 2010-2012
Strategic Plan 2010-2012 |
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The Utah State Library (USL) has a unique place in the labyrinth of state government. It is both a state agency with statutory responsibilities for helping Utah Libraries fulfill the needs of their communities and a library in its own right that directly serves a broad array of Utahns.
USL supports state-wide library services by providing critical funding, training, and consulting. Community Library Enhancement funds provide mission essential additions to traditionally inadequate local library budgets, and rewards those libraries that: 1) provide a healthy local financial commitment, 2) meet minimum service requirements, and 3) serve communities dependent on their resources. Lender Support funds help defray the cost to libraries of lending their resources to other libraries across the state through the Interlibrary loan program helps to provide users with materials from across the state and country that would not otherwise be available in their local library. Special grant programs provide funding for worthwhile partnership projects that encourage resource sharing.
Training programs provided by USL enable skill building opportunities for public library directors and key staff of all libraries in Utah. These include training opportunities in management, preservation, technology, cataloging, and other library-related work. In addition to receiving funding and training from USL, public libraries also receive the benefits of expert consulting in all areas of public library operations, including training for boards of trustees. USL does more than help libraries. As its name makes clear, it is a library. It is the library for blind and disabled users who cannot access traditional library materials or services. It is the library for users of state government publications who want to find documents all in one place and easily searchable on the web. It is the library for users of quality online resources, including downloadable audiobooks, and facts on many topics from car repair information and genealogy resources to magazine and newspaper archives. And it is the library that serves rural Utah through nine bookmobiles providing residents in 14 rural counties, in cooperation with local county governments, with otherwise unavailable library services. USL services are provided by a dedicated, well-trained, patron oriented staff, all of whom are supported by the Department of Community and Culture.
The next three years hold a few certainties; 1) digital media, in the form of ebooks, and online audio and visual media, will increase; 2) Internet bandwidth will increase for most users, including libraries that are now on the disadvantaged side of the digital divide; 3) libraries will continue to expand beyond traditional roles to become school, campus, and community centers; and 4) Utah's young "digital native" population will continue to grow rapidly. USL the agency will help ensure libraries meet the challenges ahead, and USL the library will strive to be the model for a 21st century library.
Download the Strategic Plan (pdf)
Questions? Contact:
Jeri Openshaw
Public Information Specialist
(801) 715-6737
jerio@utah.gov