Mission, Vision & Values

As regional premier academic research libraries, we serve as a conduit of information, prioritizing access and providing expertise, services and spaces to enrich, elevate and preserve the research, learning, teaching and creative activities of University at Buffalo faculty, students and staff as well as the diverse local, national and global communities we serve.

The University at Buffalo Libraries is a nexus of information and knowledge, supporting and advocating for equitable, diverse and inclusive scholarship by advancing and preserving intellectual discovery.

The University at Buffalo Libraries’ values and goals direct our efforts to support and enrich the three traditional pillars of the public higher education mission - research, education and service. Guided by our values, all of us are empowered and committed to contribute to these goals in pursuit of our mission.

We remove barriers to access and scholarship based on race, gender identity, sex, sexual orientation, religion, disability or veteran status for students, faculty, staff and the communities we serve. We believe embracing and exhibiting the highest level of quality in research, teaching and service can be achieved only when diverse perspectives are engaged.

We do this by

• Ensuring a safe and inclusive environment in all libraries' facilities.
• Embracing diversity of personnel, resources, collections, programming and services to better serve our communities.
• Respecting differences in ideas, perspectives, backgrounds, roles and identities reflecting the diversity of the human experience.
• Providing equitable access to resources and facilities to empower our users.

We support and participate in the pursuit and creation of knowledge through research and teaching.

We do this by

• Championing the advancement of knowledge, curiosity, creativity and literacy through our diverse and inclusive staff, spaces, collections, services, and programming.
• Upholding the principles of the free exchange of ideas while protecting user privacy.
• Supporting researchers at every level and each discipline for all the diverse communities we serve.

We equip our users with the resources to fill their information needs through responsive and intuitive practices and tools.

We do this by

• Engaging our users to help shape inclusive spaces, collaborative services and diverse collections while providing equitable access.
• Partnering with libraries around the world to borrow the material needed to support student success and faculty research conducted here at UB.
• Exploring innovative technologies to better achieve the principles above.

We provide our users with exemplary assistance that is accessible, inclusive and approachable.

We do this by

• Being proactive and strive to anticipate the evolving needs of our users.
• Offering responsive services such as liaison expertise, information literacy instruction, multi-modal resource delivery and research support.
• Serving all users in an expert, timely and respectful manner no matter where we or they are.

We develop sustained and intentional relationships locally, nationally and globally to foster innovation and creativity.

We do this by

• Acknowledging collaboration as essential to the instruction, research and service missions of the university.
• Pursuing and developing collaborative relationships with faculty, staff, students and community partners within and beyond the university, which are strengthened by mutual trust, respect and compassion.
• Embracing each relationship is an opportunity to collaborate and create innovative ways to solve our most pressing local, national and global challenges.

The land on which the University at Buffalo operates is the original territory of the Seneca Nation, a member of the Haudenosaunee Six Nations Confederacy. This territory is covered by The Dish with One Spoon Treaty of Peace and Friendship, a pledge to peaceably share and care for the resources around the Great Lakes. It is also covered by the 1794 Treaty of Canandaigua, between the United States Government and the Six Nations Confederacy, which further affirmed Haudenosaunee land rights and sovereignty in the State of New York. Today, this region is still the home to the Haudenosaunee people, and we are grateful for the opportunity to live, work, and share ideas in this territory.