Mission of Stockwell-Mudd Library

The Stockwell-Mudd Library supports the mission of Albion College by delivering a range of services that support a liberal arts education. The library develops strong collections in appropriate formats for all areas of the academic program that directly support teaching and learning.

The staff provides a range of services that extends access to the wider world of information through various bibliographic access and document delivery mechanisms.  Librarians provide instruction which fosters life-long information retrieval and critical thinking skills.   

The library program is committed to supporting the values and goals of Albion’s Mission:

1.   “... to create and maintain a supportive, intellectually stimulating community in a residential setting which exhibits and prizes curiosity, creativity, dissent, and diversity.”

2.   the belief “in the fundamental worth of a broad exposure to intellectual and artistic achievement, to the best that has been thought and said about the world and our place in it.”

3.   introducing students “to classical modes of analysis, interpretation, and arguments; to unfolding scientific inquiry into the nature of the physical world; to the ways in which contemporary debates derive from and extend an historical but continuing dialogue about enduring questions.”

4.   “… students will find their own voices by paying attention to the finest expressions of Western and other intellectual and spiritual traditions.”

5.   “... encourage students to question and challenge” such traditions, “to evaluate ethically the social uses they serve and the ends they advocate.”

6.   “…encourage students to develop mastery in the methods by which knowledge is acquired, critically evaluated, and appropriately applied"

7.    "...prepare students for a lifetime of learning ..."

Goals

1.         Students and faculty are able to find information resources in appropriate formats to support their basic research and/or instructional needs.

2.       Library staff cooperate and coordinate with other academic and administrative units in developing and maintaining a strong information and instructional technology program on campus.

3.       Students and faculty are able to locate internal and external information sources in as transparent a manner as possible.

4.       Students will acquire a range of information skills that will enable them to retrieve and critically select the best available information in preparation for lifelong learning.

Strategic Planning

The last strategic planning process of Albion College resulted in the current vision plan known as “Liberal Arts at Work.” The process began with a series of faculty retreats and was led by a College Vision Committee. The Library Director participated in the retreats and had an opportunity for input on issues relating to the library and access to information. No member of the  library staff was on the Vision Committee, but some staff participated in the various working groups. One of these groups focused on learning skills and support for teaching and learning and scholarship and research, but none of the recommendations became part of the final vision document.  However, some of the recommendations were implemented subsequently as part of the general effort to provide better support for student learning. 

In an effort to address the concerns that librarians and some faculty had about the failure to address library issues in the final Vision plan, the library undertook an internal planning process. This was further motivated by the added frustration of the library staff when they found out that there would not be a report on the library in the decennial accreditation self-study for the North Central Association.

Currently, with the strong support of the Library Advisory Committee, the library is attempting once again to make the case that the library is a key institutional resource that needs to be adequately funded to support faculty and student teaching, learning and research. At present, the library budget and staff  are struggling to meet the needs of established programs and have not been able fully to support new programs added through the implementation of the Vision plan.