Powered by questions, we spark discovery—within ourselves, our community, and our world.
From the Dean
From the Dean
We are proud that the strategic direction for the Dartmouth Libraries was developed through engagement with a broad cross-section of Dartmouth stakeholders - students, faculty, library staff, and Trustees. Grounded in the Dartmouth Libraries values and our commitment to diversity, equity, inclusion, access, and belonging, the result is a dynamic and ambitious plan, responding to and anticipating the needs of our communities in a fast-paced and ever-changing world. Our strategic direction is one that accelerates, engages, elevates, and amplifies scholarship and research at Dartmouth and beyond. Both achievable and aspirational, this strategic direction highlights our expertise while encouraging new discoveries and innovations.
Susanne Mehrer, Dean of Libraries
The library should be known as the place where ideas can be incubated in collaboration and conversation with the expertise of librarians.
Faculty Member
Purpose
Powered by questions, we spark discovery—within ourselves, our community, and our world.
Vision
We aspire to be the intellectual home of open and collaborative enquiry, moving us towards a more just society.
Our Strategic Direction
Research Engine, Powering Knowledge articulates our values, purpose, and vision. We define research as comprising all forms of enquiry and creativity, powered by every question asked along the journey toward discovery and knowledge. It encompasses how we share our expertise to spark discovery for the Dartmouth community and beyond.
Strategic Pillars
Accelerate advanced research
Our specialized experts and experienced research professionals are ready to collaborate more deeply at every stage of producing and sharing world-class research, scholarship, and creative outputs.
Elevate scholarship with powerful research tools and methods
Staying current with technological developments that advance information and research practices, we harness the power of our expertise and experience to provide innovative solutions for research and knowledge creation.
Empower students by unlocking individual potential
We meet the varied research and learning needs of our students by thoughtfully curating collections and tailoring experiences that acknowledge our students' diverse backgrounds in support of achieving their future ambitions.
Amplify Dartmouth's impact across the scholarly ecosystem
We promote Dartmouth across the evolving scholarly ecosystem by connecting knowledge creation and dissemination, reproducible research, and long-term Preservation, underpinning Dartmouth as a research-intensive institution.
Students are coming into this college to learn and grow and develop as people and scholars. Without someone to guide you, you’re not going to know or be able to use the resources to their fullest extent.
Dartmouth Student
Values
Community
We strengthen our vibrant community by contributing our expertise to research, learning, and scholarship, and through a commitment to being welcoming and inclusive to individuals, identities, backgrounds, and groups that have been historically marginalized.
Curiosity
We foster an environment of continuous learning, creativity, innovation, and support for the creation of knowledge and scholarship. We welcome, encourage, and honor differing perspectives.
Respect
We act with respect, appreciation, and support for the professionalism and expertise of our colleagues. We work to develop Library collections, programs, and teams that are ever more inclusive and just for our community.
Service
We are dedicated to service through our partnerships and our commitments to excellence, access, and expertise. We remain adaptable and focused on long-term sustainability of our work.
Trust
We choose to start from a place of trust and to build and maintain trust by acting with integrity, transparency, and authenticity in our collaborations, communications, and partnerships.
Commitment
Dartmouth Libraries commit to diversity, equity, inclusion, access, and belonging in all levels of our work. While learning from the past, we act to help shape a more just society now and for the future. Driven by our values - trust, respect, service, curiosity, and community - our commitment becomes manifest in our work through:
- widening access to local and global research information to advance new knowledge creation and dissemination.
- addressing collection and content gaps to better represent diverse voices and scholarship.
- creating environments that strengthen belonging through individuals’ exploration, discovery, and respectful engagement with differing views.
- critically examining and improving our legacy systems, professional tools, and processes.
- producing and supporting research projects that explore Dartmouth’s history to understand changing perspectives on its responsibilities for fair treatment of its communities.
This commitment aligns with Dartmouth’s goal of valuing our diverse community’s unique contributions, experiences, and perspectives and is supported by Dartmouth Libraries’ Dean’s Council for Equity and Inclusion.