Each graduate of the Master of Library and Information Science program is able to apply the fundamental principles of planning, management, marketing, and advocacy.
Public librarians, although they consider themselves (and are usually) part of the public sector and thus protected (at least job security-wise) from economic downturns, are not cut off from the wider community and are subject to the whims of stakeholders in the library. Strategic planning is vital for the library because of changes in the wider environment, whether the changes are demographic, organizational, financial or technological, and helps the library, as an organization formulate and articulate its purpose and how it plans to address changes in the internal (organizational) and external (community) environment it is situated in. I feel it is important for all professional librarians, and members of library staff to be included in the meetings around the formulations of planning documents, so that conditions “on the ground” are known. Stakeholders in the library, including library boards, donors, and governmental bodies to which the library is subordinate, and last but not least, the taxpaying public, may not see the need to increase, or even maintain current levels of funding for a library. The library director needs to be able to advocate forcefully for the library as an institution. According to Hand (2015), advocacy “is speaking out in support of a cause in which you believe” (p. 24). The library needs to show what services it is currently providing for community members, and what it can provide for community members. When those speaking up in advocacy “are stakeholders who benefit from the library’s programs . . . rather than librarians” the effect of those statements has a bigger effect on the funding agencies, government, or donors (p. 24). . It is also important for the library to provide outreach (read, marketing) activities to groups within the community, as a way of connecting with demographic groups in the community, community organizations, and potential donors. Outreach is important because, even though the library might “[provide] some pretty amazing events, classes, and services for the community, people often [are] not aware of them” (Carrigan, 2015, p. 27). For my first piece of evidence, I am incorporating part one of a group assignment I completed for INFO 204. The assignment required my group to formulate a mission statement, an environmental scan and a SWOT analysis. I wrote the threat portion of the SWOT analysis, and completed the literature review portion of the mission, vision, and values statements, which discussed the history of this tool. The assignment revolved around a real library, for which I removed all information relating to institutional affiliations as required per policy for the ePortfolio. A brief summary of the history of mission, vision, and values statements was included, as was a brief discussion of best practices for the construction of mission statements. A brief environmental scan and a SWOT analysis were incorporated. For the second piece of evidence, I will incorporate part two of the assignment, which takes the information from the mission statement, SWOT Analysis, and environmental scan, and makes targeted recommendations to improve the library discussed in part one.
I have completed hypothetical strategic plans as part of my class work, and reviewed mission statements for several public libraries in the locale within which I live. However, because of my lack of actual work experience in a library (and especially at the director level at which strategic planning is formulated), I have not been privileged to complete an actual strategic plan, and have not advocated formally for library services. However, I have helped make observations which were incorporated into a SWOT analysis. However, I have been an observer to the development of strategic plans by library directors. This is a process which is done (at least in my community) by library directors and reviewed and approved by a library board. The mission of libraries also need to be periodically reviewed by the board. Strategic plans are presented by the library director to the supervisory board every five years or so at many of the local libraries I have visited. Additionally, I have sat in (as a member of the public) on meetings of an actual library board in which revisions to the mission statement for the library that board supervised were made, and at which a library director was present. I have learned that these plans require several meetings and public input to come to fruition as a final draft document. Community members express their concerns and these concerns are (sometimes) incorporated into the final document. Creating strategic plans, mission statements, and SWOT analyses are basic skills to aid in the planning process, and they are documents that I will work with or formulate as part of my career as an LIS professional.
References
Carrigan, D. P. (2015). Organizational capacity and the public library. Public Libraries, 54(3), 24-30.
Fisher, P. H., Pride, M. M., & Miller, E. G. (2005). Blueprint for your library marketing plan : A guide to help you survive and thrive. Chicago, IL, USA: ALA Editions. Retrieved from http://www.ebrary.com
Hand, D. (2015). You don’t have to time not to advocate. Library Media Connection, 33(5), 24-26.
MacKellar, P. H. (2008). Accidental librarian. Medford, NJ, USA: Information Today, Inc.. Retrieved from http://www.ebrary.com