The Jane Bancroft Cook Library supports the Mission of the University of South Florida by providing support and library services to a university that is dedicated to excellence in teaching and lifelong learning in a student-centered environment.  The mission of the Jane Bancroft Cook Library is to promote the ability to seek, evaluate, and employ library resources in the full exercise of freedom of inquiry which is an integral part of the education of students in undergraduate and graduate programs. To this end, the Library develops collections which uphold the learning and teaching objectives of a strong institution; organizes and provides both intellectual and physical access to materials; and guides members of our academic community toward a grasp of bibliographic and technical skills which facilitate use of the collections at hand and information resources worldwide.

GOALS OF THE LIBRARY

TO SERVE OUR ACADEMIC COMMUNITY:

* By teaching students to seek, evaluate, and use information in their studies at the University of South Florida at Sarasota/Manatee and in preparation for their work in the world.

* By working with faculty to meet student needs for bibliographic instruction.

* By providing faculty and other staff with resources they need to fulfill their educational mission.

* By implementing policies and procedures which encourage full and responsible use of the Library's resources and services by all who use it.

* By developing links to other libraries, collections, organizations, and networks in order to expand the resources available to library users.

TO DEVELOP, ORGANIZE, AND MAINTAIN COLLECTIONS:

* By acquiring materials as described in our collection development policies with subject emphases in accord with the curriculum.

* By organizing the collections and providing full bibliographic and physical access to materials.

* By developing and maintaining databases and information management systems that provide effective and efficient access to library materials and resources of interest to our academic community.

* By maintaining the collections as responsible stewards using proven preservation techniques.

* By building upon established special collections which preserve for future generations library and archival materials important to the University of South Florida at Sarasota/Manatee.

TO ADMINISTER RESOURCES EFFECTIVELY:

* By ensuring that facilities are adequate to house and service the collections; that space and environment allow both users and staff to work productively; and that equipment and systems used to carry out the programs of the Library are equal to the tasks we need to accomplish.

* By reviewing and evaluating, on a regular basis, our mission and goals, policies, programs, personnel, equipment, systems, and facilities in order to improve effectiveness in accomplishing our mission.

* By recognizing that our success depends upon human resources and implementing policies which foster staff development.

* By establishing a dialogue with all segments of the campus community which promotes understanding of Library policies, programs and needs, and facilitates our awareness of developments which have implications for the Library.

* By actively planning for the future role of the Library in the life of the University of South Florida at Sarasota/Manatee in light of technical developments in the storage and transfer of information, capital improvement plans, and changes in the educational program.

GUIDING PRINCIPLES

We are guided by principles outlined in the Library Bill of Rights:*

1. Books and other library resources should be provided for the interests, information, and enlightenment of all people of the community the library serves. Materials should not be excluded because of the origin, background, or views of those contributing to their creation.

2. Libraries should provide materials and information presenting all points of view on current and historical issues. Materials should not be proscribed or removed because of partisan or doctrinal disapproval.

3. Libraries should challenge censorship in the fulfillment of their responsibility to provide information and enlightenment.

4. Libraries should cooperate with all persons and groups concerned with resisting abridgment of free expression and free access to ideas.

5. A person's right to use a library should not be denied or abridged because of origin, age, background, or views.

In endorsing these statements we seek to guard against incursions upon the academic freedom of the teacher in teaching and the rights of the student in learning.

*adopted June 18, 1948, amended February 2, 1961, June 27, 1967, and January 23, 1980, by the American Library Association.