The rapidly changing landscape in higher education brings winds that propel academic libraries toward innovation, development, and new possibilities, while keeping them aligned with their institutions’ trajectory. New leadership, management, and administration bring new courses to chart, milestones to set, and destinations to journey toward. Before any new adventure begins, recalibration is necessary: checking current coordinates, taking stock of resources, assessing the crew, plotting the route, and marking checkpoints toward the X. The CS Libraries have just recalibrated and charted a new shared course toward becoming more dynamic and indispensable libraries for the College and the University. 

This recalibration is grounded in a renewed vision for the CS Libraries. During the strategic planning activity on August 3 and 4, 2026, Head Librarian Jocelyn O. Razal presented the Libraries’ renewed Vision and Mission, along with a new set of Core Values to guide the shared direction over the next five years. The CS Libraries envision becoming a technologically advanced science knowledge hub, one that not only supports academic excellence and scientific discovery but also creates spaces for collaboration, research, wellness, and inclusive access to information. The values represented by I-C-A-R-E will guide the Libraries’ continued commitment to innovation, stewardship, responsive service, and staff excellence.

Core Values: I-C-A-R-E

• Innovation & Digital Transformation
• Collection Stewardship
• Adaptive Spaces & Wellness
• Reliable & Responsive Services
• Empowered Staff Excellence

This strategic planning allowed the CS Libraries to readjust its priorities and plot out its plans for the succeeding years. All sections, Admin, IT, Readers, Technical, Research and Extension Services (RES), and Institute Libraries worked together to answer three questions: Where are we now? Where do we want to be? And how do we get there? On Day 1, each section looked inward, assessing its capacities individually and as a team, current initiatives, challenges, and projects it hopes to accomplish. Bottlenecks, constraints, and limitations each section currently experiences were also identified and considered. The answers to these questions were itemized on sticky notes, visualizing each section’s assessments and aspirations. On Day 2, the sections looked forward. Each goal was translated into priorities with specified action plans to guide their implementation. Each priority was then aligned with the Head Librarian’s VMGs and Core Values, and Dean Saloma’s Action Plans, ensuring institutional alignment.

With a shared direction now taking shape, the CS Libraries look toward a future where its spaces, services, technology, and people grow alongside the changing needs of the College and the University. Initiatives range from creating more responsive spaces for wellness and graduate education to developing technologies that enhance user and library services while strengthening the skills and capabilities of the people who make these initiatives possible. Beyond these internal developments, the Libraries also see opportunities to build stronger institutional collaborations and organizational partnerships, recognizing that meaningful innovation is not achieved in isolation. Together, these efforts move the CS Libraries toward becoming more dynamic, inclusive, technologically responsive, and indispensable partners in higher education.

Now that the CS Libraries’ sails have been steered and their course charted, the journey to the new destination starts!

Prepared by: C.A.B.