Indiana University South Bend

Mission of the Indiana University South Bend Library

The mission of the Franklin D. Schurz Library, the Educational Resource Commons, and Instructional Media Services is to prepare and to support the members of the Indiana University South Bend community in successfully meeting their teaching, learning, and research goals, to foster intellectual discovery, and to encourage lifelong learning.

To achieve this mission, the faculty and staff of the IU South Bend Libraries

• develop and maintain a wide range of information services
• select resources reflective of the curriculum and research of the IU South Bend community
• teach research concepts and effective acquisition and evaluation of information
• provide optimal access to information and services in environments conducive to research and study
• provide appropriate services to the community and complement local information resources
• assess and develop strategies that are responsive to our users' needs

We are guided by our ethical and professional values which are in accordance with the American Library Association Bill of Rights.

The faculty and staff of the Schurz Library and Learning Resource Center are committed to these Core Values:

Equity of access
Excellence in professional service to users
Fair use of copyrighted materials
An informed citizenry and lifelong learning
Intellectual freedom
Leadership and service to the library profession, university, and community
Preservation of the cultural record
Privacy for users and of user records
Professional neutrality
Respect for the individuality and diversity of all people

Adopted by Library and Media Service
faculty and staff
November 2003

The American Library Association affirms that all libraries are forums for information and ideas, and that the following basic policies should guide their services.

1. Books and other library resources should be provided for the interest, 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.

6. Libraries which make exhibit spaces and meeting rooms available to the public they serve should make such facilities available on an equitable basis, regardless of the beliefs or affiliations of individuals or groups requesting their use.

Adopted June 18, 1948.
Amended February 2, 1961, and January 23, 1980,
inclusion of Aage@ reaffirmed January 23, 1996,
by the ALA Council.