The Long Range Plan - Part A: Where to begin?

It has been over 10 years since I attempted to analyze a campus and its library to map out a long range plan.  So the first thing I decided to do was a bit of research.  (I know what you are thinking here, "Wow...a librarian wanting to do research.  How crazy is that?")

I studied lots of strategic plans, 3 year plans, 5 year plans and long range plans of different libraries, both school and public.  I wanted to see what they considered important enough to include in their plans.  After days of searching and reading, I found 5 plans that I liked quite a bit.  I analyzed each of these and simplified them into an outline of sorts so I could compare them and decide what I wanted to do.

Here are my results ... 

Outline one (Leverett Library) included

• ·         Community Description
• ·         Library Description
• ·         Assessment of Needs
• ·         Methodology
• ·          Goals and Objectives
• ·         Action Plan

 Outline two (Danvers Public School) included

• ·         Description of Methodology
• ·         Community Profile
• ·         Mission statement of school
• ·         Mission statement of library
• ·         Current status of the library
• ·         Goals and Objectives

 Outline three (Jefferson-Madison Library) included

• ·         Introduction (of library)
• ·         Library Mission Statement
• ·         Library Goals 
•       Objectives and Strategies (yearly check list)

 Outline four (Boston Public Schools) included

• ·         Long range plan component definitions
• ·         Vision
• ·         Mission
• ·         Profile
• ·         Current Status
• ·         User Needs
• ·         Goals
• ·         Methodology

Outline five (Bourne MS) included

• ·         Methodology & Development
• ·         Community and School Profile
• ·         Mission
• ·         Vision Statement
• ·         Needs Assessment
• ·         Five Year Goals & Objectives

These outlines helped me shape what I finally decided to put in my plan.

SHS Library - Long Range Plan Components

• Description of Methodology
• Vision & Mission statement of the school
• School Profile
• Vision & Mission statement of Library
• Library Profile
• User Needs
• Goals, Objectives & first year action plan

I really liked the simplicity of the Jefferson-Madison Library plan, but after further study, I decided that was too isolated an approach for me.  I want to show how the library is fulfilling the needs of the campus, both for staff and students.  Therefore, I decided to include the school's vision and mission statements as well as the school profile to show how I am trying to align the library with those needs.  Another decision I made was to include only the first year action plan.  I didn't want to plan too far out from the 2018-19 school year.  A lot can happen in one year.  I look at it like lesson plans.  If I plan too far ahead, I end up having to make too many corrections along the way.  I'd rather plan for year 1, and then evaluate that plan to see what was successful and what was not before planning year 2.  That is also why I went with long range plan instead of a 3 or 5 year plan.  That was too limiting for me.  I may decide that 3 years is enough, or maybe 5 years isn't long enough.  I guess only time will tell.

Every day is an adventure!