Strategic Planning Forum: What has the Core Committee been doing? March 11 & 12, 2009

Our first steps January 2009: The Core Committee defines its role in the Strategic Planning process, and drafts the following statement of purpose:

“Strategic planning is future planning by an organization for the next 12 to 24 months. Through dialogue with stakeholders and consultation of relevant literature, this committee will identify and provide outlines of how the Libraries will move towards broad initiative areas that establish a unique and valuable position within the university, the region, and the world. Finally, we will make recommendations for the ongoing assessment of progress towards these broad initiatives.”

The real work begins February 2009: – Kathryn Deiss performs general environmental scan and SWOT analysis exercise with the Core Committee Group – Reminder: SWOT analysis is a review of the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats that influence an organization

SWOT Results: the short lists Strengths -technological and other expertise that’s leveragable -large space / prime location on campus -unique collections -highly educated and skilled staff -new administration

Weaknesses -silos / duplication of effort -fear of failing / losing face -inconsistent customer service -lack of a clear, singular vision -we don’t market ourselves -stuck in a rut / cling to outdated models

Opportunities -distance education / outreach -people looking for free / affordable “stuff” -new governor / new president -people being consumers of information -teaching with technology -interdisciplinary nature of academe

Threats -Google= simple, one-stop “shopping” -increased user expectations -erosion of state funding -competition for students -increasing cost of higher education -social shift toward instant gratification

SWOT results (cont’d) Mapping opportunities to strengths identifies points of power for your organization. Your strategic plan centers around them.

Themes After mapping opportunities to strengths, three themes emerged: *Drive toward more effectively using / harnessing technology (collections, leveragability, expertise) *User-centered focus (collections, services) *Library as experience (unique collections, identity / image, "branding" & marketing, issues around space)

Next steps… The Core Group will gather feedback from all units within the library (interviews, focus groups, mini-SWOT analyses) We will conduct surveys and focus groups with students, faculty, and other stakeholders on campus and in the larger external community

Next steps (cont’d) New and additional themes that emerge from these exercises will be examined and incorporated into the strategic plan

Communication Submit your questions, comments, and ideas: -via -to preserve anonymity, use Ask-A-Librarian with made-up identifying information -talk with any member of the Core Committee

Communication (cont’d) Strategic Planning Task Force link on the library’s internal webpage Additional forums like this one Periodic library-wide s

What are your questions?