Mission
Gumberg Library provides information resources, educational opportunities, and individualized services embodying Duquesne University’s Spiritan identity and commitment to academic excellence.
Vision
Gumberg Library is an essential contributor to successful teaching, learning, and scholarship at Duquesne University.
Core Values
Gumberg Library embraces the University’s mission to serve God by serving students. Inspired by the Spiritan tradition of service and community building, staff endeavor to model the mission in our daily activities. Our vision for turning mission into action centers upon these core values:
Learning: We foster student learning by working to provide excellent library collections and services, and by creating a comfortable learning environment. We collaborate with faculty in advancing information literacy across the curriculum. We value personal learning, and we mentor and collaborate with each other to build shared expertise.
Leadership: We envision the library as an organization that encourages, supports, and provides opportunities for developing leadership skills, and seeks to achieve a position of leadership both at Duquesne and among peer libraries. We lead by providing proactive support for teaching, learning, and the innovative application of technology.
Empowerment: We believe that empowering individuals contributes to the success of the organization as a whole. We seek to cultivate an environment in which individuals can work independently. We value communication and encourage each other to share ideas.
Excellence: We identify and document professional standards of ethics and competency and strive to meet or exceed those standards. We consistently incorporate assessment into our decision-making processes.
Integrity: We try to be fair and honest in our service to library users, modeling positive behaviors and civility. We work to create an environment that is welcoming, nonjudgmental, open to inquiry, respectful of diversity and supportive of creativity and innovation.
Community: We treat all interactions professionally, with appropriate thoroughness, and with concern for the dignity and privacy of the individual. We are mindful of the needs of diverse users including the differently-abled, and we are committed to equal access to information.
Gumberg Library's Strategic Plan for 2010-2015
describes ways the library carries out its mission.
Public Libraries provide essential services in their communities. They support literacy, help job seekers, teach technology skills, and provide community meeting spaces.
"Professional" by Kiera M. is licensed under a CC Attribution 4.0
Libraries work to support other professional values in research and education, such as enhancing literacy skills, resisting censorship, and supporting the privacy of users.
The Gumberg Library supports professional values like these and others by raising awareness to the library community through workshops and displays. Check out the following links for more information:
Image courtesy of the Gumberg Library Twitter Page
The 2013 Gumberg Library Banned Books Display
Banned Books Display (left side) by Joel Bullock is licensed under a CC Attribution 2.0
The Carmichael Library of the University of Montevallo: Banned Books Display in 2009
Banned Books JKM by Kiera M. is licensed under a CC Attribution 4.0
The Jennie King Mellon Library at Chatham University's Banned Book Display for 2015
