Executive Summary
Mission, Goals, Library Vision for the Second Century Planning Report, Historic Overview
Mission Statement
The mission of the Fondren Library of Rice University is to support the highest aspirations of the University in the areas of research, teaching, and service, through innovative research and information services, access to scholarly resources, collaborative alliances, and provision and shared use of physical and virtual spaces.
Fondren Library Vision for the Second Century:
1. We must provide research and information support through specialized staff and services, thus helping the University raise its research and scholarship profile.
2. We must bring to the University community access to the resources needed to further its scholarly activity.
3. We must actively foster collaborative relationships with other organizations in order to broaden the range of resources we can bring to the University community.
4. We must provide leadership for the University in engaging the Houston community.
5. We must embark on a diligent and sustained research initiative that will identify both needs and possibilities for the library of the future.
6. We must energetically promote information fluency and participate in the integration of information resources with pedagogy.
7. We must create and creatively use inviting community spaces, both physical and virtual, that will represent the library to the University community, to Houston, and to broader communities.
8. We must heighten awareness of and strengthen support for Fondren Library's special collections in the Woodson Research Center.
