My great apologies for the large gap in my writing. I could offer many excuses, but instead, please accept this new post, which is the basis for much of my philosophy for championing the need for every library to have their own strategic plan.
Strategic plans are often thought of as belonging to the large, urban, departmentalized libraries of the city. You may be saying "My library is me, my one part time assistant and 5 volunteers. I have 4 board members, one of whom is my father-in-law. My customers pay their fines in fresh eggs and loaves of bread. Why would my library need a strategic plan? " I say, you need one the most.
A strategic plan allows you to put down on paper what you and your board may feel you know in your hearts - the answer to this question - "What does this community need its library to be, to do and to have?"
And if you think if a strategic plan as something big, and overwhelming and needing a committee of 273 to write and inact, think again. The basics of a plan are a list of the priorities of that library, and the steps for how you are going to serve your community through those priorities.
But here is the kicker for small libraries - a plan will allow you to make those hard choices when money is tight (like now) and when you have to consolidate services, and choose what you will and will not do. It will also keep you focused on the Best Ideas for your library, when all around us are really good ideas.
No library, large or small, can do everything. The smaller your library budget, the more difficult your choices, the more necessary your plan. Being small does not excuse you from having a plan; conversly, it requires you to plan even more throughly than your larger library counterparts.
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