Library Strategic Framework for One UNH: Roadmap to 2030
UNH’s strategic plan, One UNH: Roadmap to 2030, includes four strategic priorities:
- Strengthening UNH's Impact
- First Choice Destination
- Interdisciplinary Education & Research Excellence
- Commitment to Well-Being & Belonging
Every day, the collective work of the UNH Library, as well as the work of its individual employees, advances the priorities outlined in One UNH. The following framework details that work and suggests possible areas to advance it further.
Strengthening UNH's Impact
We help New Hampshire thrive by preparing students with the skills they need for the careers of today and tomorrow, conducting research that addresses real-world problems, and partnering with communities and businesses to set priorities that drive impact. Together, we improve lives, protect natural and cultural resources, and build a stronger, healthier future for our state.
The UNH Library plays a key role in extending the university’s impact across New Hampshire by providing direct services to residents—including access to collections, research assistance, interlibrary loan, and on-site database use—and by supporting the creation, preservation, and dissemination of research that addresses the state’s most pressing challenges. The library promotes information access and open scholarship, maintains the UNH Scholars Repository and expansive Digital Collections, and ensures that UNH-generated knowledge is accessible to all, regardless of affiliation or ability to pay. Library faculty contribute to public engagement and policy in part through collaborative research with other UNH faculty, support for entrepreneurship and innovation, and stewardship of cultural resources that document New Hampshire’s rich history. Additionally, the library’s professional leadership, scholarship, and student employment programs, including a partnership with UNH Career and Professional Success, prepare the next generation of informed citizens and professionals, further strengthening the university’s long-term benefit to the state.
Some directions to strengthen UNH's impact could include:
- Increasing the number of internships we provide to help students learn about careers in archives, libraries, and information science, and growing participation in the Campus-2-Career program.
- Exploring the needs of K-12 educators in the state and how we can provide leadership, resources, and guidance at scale for their endeavors to create information-literate students.
- Exploring deeper collaborations with USNH libraries in Concord, Keene, and Plymouth.
First Choice Destination
While UNH is already a first-choice university for many, we’re working to expand that distinction among motivated prospective students who are seeking a university that matches their ambition and values. By advancing academic excellence, research impact, a vibrant campus, and student success, we will continue to attract a highly driven student body and ensure every student thrives academically, socially, and professionally. With a focus on faculty excellence, research, career pathways, student support, and campus culture, UNH will reinforce its status as a premier public university in New England.
The UNH Library plays a vital role in making UNH a top-choice destination for students by fostering academic excellence, inclusivity, and career development. Librarians lead the way in information literacy, regularly collaborating with academic departments to integrate research skills into coursework and offer expertly curated research guides, classes, and workshops. The library provides expert research support to the entire UNH community, maintaining inclusive, welcoming spaces designed for collaboration and study. The library curates broad, diverse, up-to-date collections—favoring electronic resources—and supports both in-person and online access to research assistance. It promotes open access publishing, supports student career development through internships and job programs, and showcases UNH research via the Scholars Repository.
Some directions to contribute to UNH being a first-choice destination could include:
- Refreshing library spaces and bringing in partners with aligned missions to create a scholarly commons, while remaining true to our primary mission as a library.
- Tending our physical collection, ensuring it meets the needs of scholars while reducing its footprint to prepare for renovation and new space uses.
- Identifying, measuring, and communicating our impact to the region.
Interdisciplinary Education & Research Excellence
UNH is a Land, Sea, and Space Grant university with recognized strengths across the arts, sciences, humanities, and professional disciplines. Our distinctive interdisciplinary education and research bring together world-class faculty from diverse fields to spark innovation, deepen understanding, and prepare students to tackle complex, real-world challenges in New Hampshire and beyond. To support this and the other priorities of the plan, we must take steps to identify the unique programs that will set us apart from our peers. A focus on a small number of truly differentiated programs will lift the entire university through increased reputation and perception in a crowded, competitive marketplace for students, faculty, and funding.
The UNH Library is central to advancing the university’s mission by embedding librarians into the academic fabric of the institution. As leaders in information literacy, librarians equip students and researchers with essential, transferable skills—such as critical thinking, data management, and scholarly communication—crucial for addressing complex, interdisciplinary challenges. They collaborate closely with academic departments to integrate these competencies into coursework, support student and faculty research across all levels, and guide scholarly dissemination. Librarians also contribute to institutional research infrastructure through service on governance committees and strategic exploration of emerging technologies, such as AI. While exhibits and programming complement academic learning, the library’s focus is on empowering the research and teaching enterprise through expert instruction, curation of targeted collections, stewardship of historical archives, and digital platforms such as the Scholars Repository, which showcases the breadth of interdisciplinary scholarship at UNH.
Some directions to further interdisciplinary education and research excellence could include:
- Increasing the number of students and researchers reached through workshops, credit-bearing classes, and learning modules on information literacy and research skills.
- Identifying our role with West Edge research park partners.
- Expanding our partnership with the Graduate School to provide a space for interdisciplinary collaboration and community throughout the research process.
- Clarifying and simplifying the library’s learning outcomes.
Commitment to Well-Being & Belonging
Through collaboration and innovative programs, policies, and practices, UNH will promote and embody well-being, belonging, and accessibility, empowering students and employees to thrive both personally and professionally in a welcoming, inclusive, and supportive UNH community.
The UNH Library actively supports the university’s commitment to well-being and belonging by fostering an inclusive, supportive environment for both the campus community and library employees. Through strategic partnerships with student services, the library co-hosts wellness-focused programming and informational exhibits that promote physical and mental health and holistic student support. Library spaces are intentionally designed to cultivate a sense of safety, inclusion, and community, and we provide spaces for both private and group use. Internally, the library prioritizes staff well-being by encouraging professional growth, peer connection, and recognition, contributing to a positive and compassionate workplace culture. Additionally, library faculty and staff serve as Sustainability Ambassadors, reinforcing a shared responsibility for community care and environmental well-being. Across all efforts, the library remains committed to recognizing and supporting the whole person, on campus and beyond.
Some directions to advance well-being and belonging could include:
- Building on our successful staff recognition program to recognize other library employee classifications.
- Increasing options for inclusive spaces targeted to specific needs (graduate space, space for neurodiverse students, prayer/meditation space, etc.)
- Building on the success of Frazzle-Free Finals to offer programming to encourage well-being and belonging throughout the semester.
- Conducting a culture survey using the Organizational Culture Assessment Instrument.
