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VIVA: Mission and Vision

Virginia's Academic Library Consortium

This guide has variable layouts and houses the majority of the "sub" pages for VIVA's website.

 

Norfolk State University

Mission and Vision

The Virtual Library of Virginia (VIVA) is the consortium of nonprofit academic libraries within the Commonwealth of Virginia. Members include all of the 39 state-assisted colleges and universities (the 6 doctoral universities, 9 4-year institutions, and 24 community and two-year branch colleges), as well as 31 of the independent (private, nonprofit) institutions and the Library of Virginia.

Mission
As Virginia’s academic library consortium, VIVA builds an equitable, accessible, and robust infrastructure of library resources and services for Virginia higher education students and faculty.

Vision
VIVA seeks to create permanent, lasting benefit for the Commonwealth by building sustainable infrastructure for library cooperation; amplifying the Virginia academic library voice; and serving as a catalyst for improved and innovative library services and technologies.

Values
VIVA works cooperatively for the common good by:

  • Enabling equitable access to resources and services across institution type and size.
  • Maximizing the return on investment by the state and member institutions through the creation of shared collections, programs, and services.
  • Building community and capacity through networking, training, and sharing expertise.
  • Supporting statewide student and faculty success.
  • Empowering academic freedom, diversity of thought and ideas, and inclusivity by providing a broad spectrum of resources.
  • Advancing the active contributions of its member libraries.

How does Virginia benefit from VIVA?
Virginia benefits academically.
VIVA:

  • Enhances learning and "levels the academic playing field" for Virginia students by providing equal access to high-quality electronic resources to students at all member institutions and by facilitating interlibrary loans throughout the state.
  • Provides Virginia students with 24/7 access to a robust collection of electronic books and journals, research databases, and a wealth of academic and professional working papers, proceedings, and transactions, all covering subject areas from science, medicine, and technology to the arts and humanities.
  • Speeds information delivery between libraries by providing software and support to interlibrary lending.

Virginia benefits financially.
VIVA:

  • Brings $5 of value for every $1 spent through VIVA's cooperative purchasing of resources.
  • Saves institutional money and staff time by avoiding duplication of collections and enabled shared agreements and central invoicing.

VIVA History
VIVA history can be found in the Special Collections and Archives of George Mason University. There are documents and correspondence from the development and operations of the consortium from its founding onward.