An Interview with Jen-chien Yu

Director of Library Assessment University of Illinois

at Urbana-Champaign

Tereza : Thank you Jen for granting me this interview :

First – tell me a bit about yourself and your career and how this led to you becoming interested in the area of strategic planning.

My name is Jen-chien Yu and I have been an academic librarian for over 20 years. I started participating in library assessment projects in the early 2000s and started leading library assessment projects at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign in 2012. “Library Assessment” is an integral part of strategic planning – it not only collects data and evidence to demonstrate how a library or an institution has developed and overcome or struggled with various challenges, it supports data-driven thinking throughout a strategic planning process. That’s why I have been interested in strategic planning, both at my own library and in higher education in general.

Tereza : How are you engaged in strategic planning at the University of Illinois Library and what is the strategic vision for the next 5 – 10 years?

I joined the University Library in 2012 and my early involvement with the Library strategic planning and the University strategic planning was mostly reporting progress since the strategic plans were created before I came. It often included collecting data on library expenditures and service usage (e.g. circulation, instruction statistics) and reporting them to the Library or the University as evidence about how the Library had worked toward (or accomplished) the strategic goals.

In 2019, the University Library formed a Library Strategic Planning Team and the team was to revise the existing strategic framework. I, as the Director of Library Assessment, served as the ex officio and provided data and analysis to guide the revision process. I also co-lead a Library Strategic Planning retreat.

“What is the strategic vision for the next 5-10 years?” In no particular order :

– “Listening to users” – I believe a library’s strategic vision should be defined and shaped by its users, not by the books, e-journals or the building that the library already has or wants to have. Since I work in an academic library, I look at what our users need when I think about the strategic vision. I think the high cost of a college degree, faculty research productivity and teaching quality and institutional effectiveness (e.g. university budget and graduation rates) should be addressed in university or library strategic plans more clearly.

– “Be innovative” – Technologies like learning analytics, AI or ChatGPT will continue to emerge and may be disruptive. However, librarians often become either naysayers or technophiles to emerging technologies that generate hype or panic, but not real innovation. That is why I say “be innovative” should be part of the strategic vision for the next 5-10 years too.

– “Invest in and listen to library workers” – The mention of librarians or the library workforce rarely appears in strategic plans. Some library strategic planning took the “top down” approach and the library workers played little or no role in shaping their strategic plan. I hope that has been changing in recent years, especially how library workers had been considered as essential workers at the height of the COVID-19 Pandemic. A library cannot have the best strategic vision without its workers to execute it.

Tereza : What new developments and challenges are there in strategic planning?

I think I brought up some challenges in the answer to the previous question. During my career working in higher education and academic libraries, two criticisms about strategic planning I often hear about – First, academics including librarians are good at making “pretty plans” that are beautifully-written and distributed in glossy publications. However, the execution of these plans often falls short. Second, some academic institutions tend to obtain services from outside consulting companies to lead strategic planning activities, and help write strategic plans. While outside consultants can bring expertise, fresh perspectives and look at data more objectively, they often lack institutional knowledge and the human connection to the people who are going to be impacted by the plans.

There have been some developments in strategic planning that I think are the adjustments to the criticisms I described above. In recent years, I’ve seen institutions conducting strategic planning activities, from collecting data, visioning to the writing of the plan, on their own instead of employing outside consultants. This trend also indicates that many institutions are investing in their own personnel to conduct and follow through the strategic planning process. As an assessment practitioner, I’m also happy to see that in recent years, some strategic plans would include key performance indicators (KPIs), metrics, or some kind of structure to ensure that institutions would follow the strategic plans. This holds the institutions accountable to real actions and changes.

Tereza : Finally, is there anything else you would like to share with me as I go back to my own library?

I can’t address the “human” factor in a strategic planning process more. I think strategic planning leaders need to listen to people, involve staff and stakeholders in the planning process, and develop plans that are actionable by people.

Tereza : Jen thank you for so generously sharing your insight and expertise which is instructive as I engage with the current strategic plan at my Library.

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