About PASCAL

Strategic Agenda

Approved by PASCAL Board of Directors, April 21, 2016 
Approved by membership at General Meeting, June 2, 2016

Mission

The Partnership Among South Carolina Academic Libraries provides timely and universal access to information resources and library services - through creative use of technology, central licensing, and collaborative action - in order to support a highly productive knowledge environment for students, faculty and staff at every member institution of higher learning in South Carolina.

Vision

PASCAL supports higher education and the growth of South Carolina’s knowledge-based economy by providing equitable access to high quality academic resources.

Our Values

• Equitable access to information resources and library services
• Transparency, open communication and collaborative decision-making
• Respect for and between all member institutions and the communities they serve
• Responsible stewardship of resources; efficiency and cost savings through collective action
• Innovation and creative use of technology to enhance library services

Strategic Goal 1: Enhance, preserve and provide universal access to print and electronic information resources through statewide delivery services and collaborative collection management.

Objective 1.1: Enhance the value of PASCAL Delivers as a universal borrowing program for member libraries through: training and promotion; improved discovery; annual assessment; and continued development of the service.

Objective 1.2: Enhance PASCAL’s electronic resources program through continued growth of core collections and widely used opt-in resources; improved discovery and access through new technologies; promotional tools and adequate training; and developing licensing best-practices supporting statewide access.

Objective 1.3: Empower libraries to leverage their institutional resources through statewide plans for collection analysis and development that emphasize shared access and shared collections.

Objective 1.4: Investigate methods of shared preservation such as shared off-site storage, last-copy retention and digitization in order to preserve and enhance access to the statewide academic collection.

Strategic Goal 2: Support and foster consortium-wide coordination of technology development and deployment to ensure state of the art library services for all members.

Objective 2.1: Maximize the value of integrated library systems especially those administered by PASCAL to participating libraries.

Objective 2.2: Identify and maintain appropriate collaborative technologies at the consortium level, particularly those that better integrate support for our common collections, access and preservation goals.

Strategic Goal 3: Nurture relationships with key partners.

Objective 3.1: Establish a clear brand and message for the organization and improve channels of communication with external constituencies, both on campuses and within the state as a whole.

Objective 3.2: Strengthen the recognition of PASCAL among SC higher education and government as an organization providing essential services to South Carolina citizens involved in higher education.

Strategic Goal 4: Ensure long term fiscal sustainability.

Objective 4.1: Continue to develop and maintain PASCAL’s value proposition though ongoing assessment and reporting, both internally and to key external constituencies.

Objective 4.2: Work with Commission on Higher Education and other stakeholders to secure permanent funding for ongoing expenditures for core resources.