Strategic Planning for Results

The Old Testament of library planning

Do you want to write a strategic plan or plan of service for your public library?  You can't go wrong starting with Sandra Nelson's book Strategic Planning for Results (shortened to SP4R by me and absolutely no one else on the planet.)

We use this as our default planning methodology in Alberta public libraries for the following reasons:

• It is written by librarians for libraries and it fits the public library situation.
• It emphasizes services:  
• There are lots of important things a library can include in a strategic plan (governance, succession, infrastructure, etc. etc.) but nothing is more important than service choices.  It isn't obvious what libraries do anymore (if it ever was).  Will your library be a wonderland for young children?  A drop-in center for at-risk populations?  A creation space for artists and techies?  A research facility?  All of these and many more are options.  But unfortunately, you can't do everything!
• SP4R is all about choosing services.  In fact it includes a pretty good description of all the services that a public library is likely to offer (more on that later.)
• It focuses on the community:
• So if the library has to choose what services to offer, how should it decide?  It should consult with the community.  Services must respond to community need.  That research library that Joe Librarian desperately wants to run might not be what Four Corners, Alberta really needs.
• SP4R lets the community decide what service the library will offer.  More precisely, the community identifies local needs and library services that meet those local needs are selected.
• It includes a good process:
• It ain't easy talking to the public.  There are a lot of them, for one thing.  How do you survey the community and allow them to guide the library's plans?
• SP4R includes robust and simple techniques for consulting the community.  It is based on public meetings and it includes lots of directions for how to facilitate those meetings and use the results.
• SP4R also instructs you how to take the meeting results and use them to write a plan including goals and objectives.