MIT Libraries Public Service Values
A Working Document

The Public Services in MIT Libraries are committed to serving the needs of the MIT community. These are statements of our values from which we will set our service priorities.

We value the MIT Libraries as a learning community within learning communities.

• The Libraries share the goals of MIT and MIT’s commitment to learning, teaching, and innovative thinking.
• We value intellectual and academic freedom.
• The Libraries participate in the community of academic research libraries.
• The Libraries contribute to the wider scholarly, scientific, and technical world.
• We value communication, cooperation, respect, and resource-sharing among these diverse communities.

We value our patrons and provide them with excellent public services.

• We consider the varied and diverse needs of our users and design our services, collections, access, and instruction to meet those needs.
• We provide a rich variety of services designed to increase access to information, to provide instruction, and to support our collections.
• We organize all aspects of library services to promote maximum user self-sufficiency.
• We provide excellent collections in various formats, strong in MIT's many specialty areas, to support teaching and research at the Institute.
• We invest in the ongoing development and preservation of the Libraries' collections.
• We collect and preserve unique materials produced at MIT.
• We provide thorough access to our collections and other information resources with access tools that are convenient and meet the needs of the MIT community.
• We facilitate access to materials and information not available at MIT.
• We instruct patrons in the various aspects of information literacy to meet both immediate and future information needs.

We value the Libraries’ staff.

• We value the competence, commitment, integrity, resourcefulness, knowledge and enthusiasm of staff.
• The Libraries provide opportunities for growth, recognition for achievements and rewards for a job well done.
• We provide our staff with tools, resources, and training needed to do the best work possible.
• We design organizational structures that allow staff at all levels to make decisions which affect their work, to work cooperatively toward shared goals, and to work in a flexible and supportive atmosphere.

We value the Libraries’ environment.

• We create a friendly, patron-oriented atmosphere in which everyone is treated with respect and kindness.
• We provide Library users and staff with an environment that is comfortable, safe, clean, well-maintained, accessible, and aesthetically pleasing.
• We provide ample, well-equipped, and appropriate space for work, study, research and learning.

We value the Libraries’ organizational culture.

• We value an organization that makes the Libraries a superior place to work and learn.
• The Libraries encourage creativity, innovation, flexibility and a dynamic attitude toward work and change.
• We celebrate the diversity of people, cultures and opinions.
• We value stating organizational goals clearly, making timely decisions, creating clear and consistent policies, and budgeting time, money, and staff effort wisely.
• We expect ethical conduct from everyone in the MIT Libraries.

Public Services Redefinition Process: Public Service Values Task Force
May 11, 1998