University of Southern Queensland Library Stories of 2020
In 2019, USQ Library undertook a mapping exercise to reflect upon, and highlight its contribution to the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). These goals were adopted by UN members in 2015 to provide “a shared blueprint for peace and prosperity for people and the planet, now and into the future”. There are 17 goals with 169 targets and the International Federation of Library Associations (IFLA) contributed to the development of the goals. We engaged staff across the Library to develop understanding about the SDGs and reflect on how the Library’s purpose and vision align with these goals. This mapping exercise led to applying the SDGs as a framework with which to evaluate outcomes and actions.
For 2020, USQ Library has chosen again to base our assessment of our services, projects and action plans on this framework. In addition to mapping the 2020 Library action goals against the University’s strategic goals and the UN SDGs, we tracked our progress and final outcomes as well as identified other initiatives and activities that emerged during the challenges faced by library staff as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. The 2020 Library Report recognises the agile and transformative ways in which USQ Library staff has responded to the pandemic. Further to this, we looked for opportunities to enable staff to identify where their professional and personal values intersect with the SDGs. As one example, some Library teams and individual staff aligned their own 2020 professional goals with SDGs. We have sought to include those voices in the stories included in our 2020 report.