Guiding PALCI’s Approach to Collaboration & Innovation

Libraries are facing many wicked challenges that they can’t overcome all on their own, including external and systemic pressures, budgetary and staff capacity challenges, vendor consolidation, and increasing technical complexities.

That’s why PALCI is here. Collaboration through PALCI is a pragmatic, necessary, and strategic tool that provides members with the competitive advantages required to address those pressures, tap into collective negotiating power and creativity, identify and apply sustainable solutions, and thrive.

Vision – PALCI is the trusted and preferred partnership for academic library collaboration and innovation.

Mission – PALCI enables cost-effective and sustainable access to information resources and services for academic libraries in Pennsylvania and surrounding states.

Values – PALCI operates on mutual trust. It is PALCI’s responsibility to continuously earn and renew that trust by consistently demonstrating operational excellence, transparency, innovation, and respect for diversity and privacy.

Strategic Outline

*Note: The outline below was developed iteratively by PALCI staff to guide the consortium’s operations and strategic focus in conversation with members, and based on the direction set by the Executive Director and PALCI Board of Directors.

Organizational Strategies

1) Achieve distinctive impact through relevance and scale.

2) Prioritize inclusivity by honoring diversity.

3) Enhance community and build partnerships.

4) Strengthen our influence and agency to improve the outlook of the library landscape.

Organizational Goals & Priorities

Last Updated: September 2025

Strategic Priority

What it means

Desired Impacts & Outcomes

Advance a sustainable, collaborative knowledge ecosystem for academic and research libraries among members and partners

 globe icon PALCI operates within a complex web of library, partner, and vendor choices. Interoperability and ability to share data across systems, platforms, standards, and communities allows us to navigate this ecosystem together. By fostering these connections, PALCI builds sustainable collaboration that benefits individual libraries, the consortium, and the broader community.

A healthy sharing ecosystem characterized by:

  • Financial sustainability

  • Library agency and choice

  • Improved long-term ability to share and access cost-effective library resources, expertise, and collections, where members excel in supporting their institutional missions

Cultivate applied innovation for collective good

 light bulbs PALCI seeks and applies strategically-aligned creativity to all its work, and lowers its member libraries’ barriers to participation in shared solutions.

  • Opportunities to pilot new approaches, leverage expertise, and respond proactively to an ever-evolving environment

  • Risks associated with innovation are mitigated through shared approaches

Strengthen trust-driven and trust-building community infrastructure and organizational approaches

 PALCI is an organizational, social, and technological platform for making things happen where trust is central. Everything from the PALCI staff, to the EZBorrow resource sharing platform, to partnerships with external entities, must reflect and strengthen the trust our members have in PALCI.

  • PALCI increases, enhances, and extends members‘ institutional capacity through shared governance, expertise, platforms, discussions, systems, and approaches to shared challenges

Maximize access and affordability through shared stewardship

 PALCI applies its scale and leverages members’ distinctive, diverse strengths and existing investments through shared commitments;

PALCI works to contain costs and build access collectively.

  • Improved access to information for patrons

  • Enhanced affordability and efficiency for libraries

  • Increased equity of access to scholarly resources across our membership

Demonstrate PALCI’s value through transparent impact and storytelling

 diamond icon PALCI amplifies its member institutions’ strengths and enhances their resources in distinctive ways that are visible to key decision makers and stakeholders

  • PALCI acts as a key partner in supporting member organizations’ success stories

  • PALCI members decide to join and stay engaged as members in PALCI

  • Members celebrate success together, keeping PALCI growing and vibrant