Strategic planning libraries

Strategic planning is a future set of action. It is applicable to all the industries; academics irrespective of small and big organisations. Libraries strategic planning main objective is to share the library strategic plan Connecting People + Ideas with the community. The library strategic plan offers an excellent sketch of the library activities for the coming five years and represents the thoughts of the strategic Planning Committee and members. The Library strategic plan is a bold document which describes the library Library's future direction. However, library plans developed with the matching objectives of concerned university planning team.

The alignment of library goals with university objectives gives strong foundation for the future course of action. The library strategic planning committee established to be bold and creative, to think big, and to develop goals and initiatives. The strategic planning committee starts the planning process by gathering data from internal and external sources and addresses the various issues like patron expectations for information access, the relevance of collections, the configuration and use of space to make the Library as an ideal workplace.

The major challenges identifies in this process are:

Research scholars expectations for picture perfect access to information

Organization of collections, services, and facilities for interdisciplinary research

Resources and services to support undergraduate research

Coordination of campus-wide library services

Recruitment, retention, and training of staff

To frame a sound library strategic plan, library strategic planning committee established the above challenges and four major goals with specific strategies:

Goal 1: Provide flexible, functional, inviting, safe, technology-equipped library space throughout the Perkins Library System.

Goal 2: Develop digital technology to provide convenient, clear access to scholarship in all formats.

Goal 3: Coordinate and integrate library resources and services to maximize support for interdisciplinary initiatives, teaching and research.

Goal 4: Develop and maintain policies and programs that support the recruitment, high performance, and retention of a well-qualified, motivated and diverse workforce.

The library strategic planning committee was assigned to perform the below assignments:

To design a library planning process to take the insights of the entire Library staff and the university's faculty, students, and administrators.

To review the concerned university and school reports to be available at any time.

To determine the growth towards the identified goals and critical analysis of the gaps and exclusions.

To evaluate the internal and external environmental factors which affect all the libraries and also perform SWOT (strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats) analysis.

Identification of loop holes, importance of planning, where synergies may be found in relationship to the university's libraries.

Framework of five year library strategic plan to describe the strategies, and resources needed to fulfill these goals.

Recommend procedures for evaluating the Library's progress toward its goals.

The Library was also well represented on numerous campus-wide planning committees, including those focusing on instructional technology, the arts, the undergraduate experience, and academic and research support in order to gain a broader understanding of and perspective on University plans, priorities and directions.

Next Article

Banner Ads