Strategic Planning

Introduction


The importance of strategic planning has been apparent to me for a long time because my boyfriend is an emergency manager and likes to stress its importance in every paper he's had me review for him. Still I was not sure how strategic planning applied to libraries. Through my reading, I was able to learn more about how to develop and implement a strategic plan in a library and why it is important. I also learned that it helps with accountability, not to mention that it helps cover your butt when stakeholders are interested in what your plan for the library is. I was sure to include two sources for each section because this topic is so important.




Textbook Chapter:


1. Gordon, Rachel Singer. 2005. The Accidental Library Manager. Medford, New Jersey: Information Today, Inc. 183-201. Strategic planning is all about managing change. Chapter 8 gives some useful pointers on managing changes in your library, but it also contains a great section on strategic planning pages 194-200.

2. Stueart, Robert D. and Barbara D. Moran. 2007. Library and Information Center Management, 7th ed. Westport, Connecticut: Libraries Unlimited. 93-117. Chapter 5 is devoted entirely to strategic planning. This chapter goes in-depth to describe why and how one should plan strategically. It also goes into detail on SWOT.


Article from Prof Library Literature:


1. Spadafora, David. "Short-term Costs for Long-term Benefits." Journal of Library Administration 52, no. 1 (2012): 108-123. This article outlines how the Newberry Library used its strategic planning skills to carry itself through recent tough economic times. The administration at the Newberry were attempting to reinvent their library for the twenty-first century patron. They effectively outlined their short term and long term goals while keeping realistic funding in mind. Their actions can be used as a model for the future.

2. McNicol, Sarah. "The challenges of strategic planning in academic libraries." New Library World 106, no. 11 (2005): 496-509. Outlines the benefits of strategic planning in academic libraries.


Article from Prof Management Literature:


1. Johnson, Heather. "Strategic Planning for Modern Libraries." Library Management 15, no. 1 (1994): 7-18. While this article is older, the information it presents is still relevant. It outlines the process of strategic planning and why we do it.


2. Brockmann, Erich N. and Kenneth J. Lacho. "Strategic Planning: A Practical Primer for the Entrepreneur." The Entrepreneurial Executive 15, (2010): 25-32. This article gives pointers for strategic planning from a business perspective, which can be advantageous in the library world.


Examples of library policies and procedures:


1. Iowa City Public Library Strategic Plan 2013 The library gives itself long and short term goals to be completed by 2013. It provides an excellent example of what a plan should look and sound like in a public library system. Their plan is simple and easy to follow.

2. Brampton Public Library's plan is feasible and gives one an excellent example of what a strategic plan should look like.


Other resources:


1.All About Strategic Planning: This webpage defines strategic planning and gives the reader guidelines for developing and implementing one of their own in their library.

Environmental Scan/Community Relations

Introduction
I did not really understand the importance of environmental scans/community relations when I started this assignment. That is why I included lots of different resources, especially from my text books. It was actually really difficult to find information on environmental scanning, so I feel lucky that I was able to find so much on this one topic.

(As for the physical articles, I have each one saved in corresponding folders on my computer. Since this blog is public, I felt that it would be a violation of each author's copyright to share copies of their work without permission. That's why I felt that an annotated bibliography would be the best way to construct a management portfolio.)


Textbook Chapter:

1. Gordon, Rachel Singer. 2005. The Accidental Library Manager. Medford, New Jersey: Information    Today, Inc. 229-257. Specifically pay attention to the section of this chapter entitled "Your Community," page 235-240. It gives the reader some good pointers on how to manage community relations in a proactive manner.

• Chapter 4 is vague but it is also helpful.

2. Stueart, Robert D. and Barbara D. Moran. 2007. Library and Information Center Management, 7th ed. Westport, Connecticut: Libraries Unlimited. 93-117. While this chapter deals with planning, it has an excellent section on gauging the environment of your library on pages 99-107.

Article from prof library literature:

1. Marshall, Nancy J. "Public Relations in Academic Libraries: A Descriptive Analysis." Journal of Academic Librarianship 27, no. 2 (2001): 116-121. Marshall justifies reasons for academic libraries to establish good public relations with their campuses.

Article from prof management literature:

1. Chan, Diana L.H. and Samson C. Soong. "Strategic repositioning in a dynamic environment." Library Management 32, no 1 (2011): 22-36. This article illustrates how an academic library in Hong Kong completed an environmental scan and reorganized itself based on its findings. One can certainly take some pointers from an article like this. This article could be used to help teach library staff about ways to conduct scans and implement changes based on that scan's findings.

2. Albright, Kendra S. "Environmental Scanning: Radar for Success." The Information Management Journal 38, no. 3 (2004): 38-45. Albright defines what environmental scanning means to an organization and why it integral to an organization's strategic plan. She also describes the process which is involved in conducting an environmental scan. This article establishes a basic understanding of environmental scanning and why it is important. It could be used for a basic lesson on environmental scans in the future.

Example of library policies and procedures:

1. The Ephrata Public Library's Public Relations Policy is short, sweet, and easy to understand while giving good examples of how to deal with different groups like the media and how public inquiries are handled: http://www.ephratapubliclibrary.org/public-relations-policy.php

2. Blossburg Memorial Library Community Relations Policy provides a concise outline of this library's policies and procedures in relation to the public. It states its objectives and how it will accomplish such objectives. It is provides a great example of how a library should conduct its business.

Other resources:

1. http://scanblog.blogspot.com/2005/07/environmental-scanning-pt-2.html Even though this blog is now defunct, it provides several interesting and helpful posts on environmental scans in the library world.

2. http://www.olc.org/marketing/4pr.htm This public relations asks the librarian an excellent question: "How do you want the library to be seen in relation to the community?" It gives some excellent tips for building a healthy and long-lasting relationship with your community.