Introduction

The focus of this chapter will be on strategic planning and the policies that influence organizations. The majority of libraries form part of larger organizations, whether they are schools, public library networks, colleges, or companies and corporations. The librarian must understand where the service fits into the larger organizational objectives, and how policies that are developed both internally and externally will impact on service delivery. Crucially, librarians must also be open to influencing policy, both as individuals and as part of a profession.

Therefore on completion of this chapter readers should be familiar with:

The strategic planning process

While all the core management topics discussed above are vital to note, strategic planning is a crucial advanced step in your understanding of management skills. Strategic planning is about ensuring not merely that the library service is managed in the present, but that the library manager is forward-thinking and attempts to plan months and years into the future. As Johnson suggests, ‘Strategic planning is essential to guarantee a future library service for clients’ (Johnson, 1994, 7).

Formulating a mission

The aims and objectives of an organization are often encapsulated in a mission statement. Mission statements are documents that attempt to clearly state these aims and objectives for users, staff and other stakeholders. It is common to find mission statements displayed prominently within an organization: for instance, many libraries have statements displayed at entrances, and increasingly they are also appearing on library websites.

Some web-accessible examples of library mission statements from different sectors are listed below:

As can be seen from these examples, library mission statements need not be long documents, and indeed summarizing the aims and objectives of the library in a short but meaningful and inspiring way can work well. If you look closely at each of the mission statements cited, they use very specific keywords to get over the role of each of the institutions.