Long Range Plan 2003 - 2007 : Long-Range Plans
| Appendix C. Long-Range Plans | ||
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Table of Contents
COMPONENTS: Although several formal planning approaches are available to libraries, no specific method is required. Regional library system consultants are available to guide and support libraries in implementing a planning process. For the purposes of this Long Range Plan, all libraries, automated networks, and formally organized cooperating groups are required to complete a multi-year (3 to 5 years) plan. At minimum, the plan must include:
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a mission statement;
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an assessment of user needs;
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multi year goals and objectives;
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an action plan for at least the first year of the multi-year goals and objectives that includes activities, with specific timeframes and/or other means for measuring progress, for achieving objectives;
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a brief description of the planning methodology;
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approval of the governing board;
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annually, by December 1st of each year, an update of the action plan for the following state fiscal year (July to June).
REVISIONS: To maintain eligibility libraries and other organizations must keep their long-range plans up to date. Under this long-range plan all such entities will have two years after the expiration year of existing plans to complete a new planning process and file a new plan.
DUE DATES: New plans must be submitted to the MBLC for review no later than October 1. Annual Action Plans must be submitted no later than December 1.
COOPERATING GROUPS: Any formally organized cooperating group must develop a cooperative plan.
SCHOOL LIBRARIES: School libraries may utilize the School Library Media Center Long-Range Planning Guide. Plans may be submitted by an individual school library or by a district, however, an individual school is not entitled to apply for a grant on its own unless it has filed its own plan.
REGIONAL LIBRARY SYSTEMS: The plan of service and annual program and budget will serve as the planning document.
STATEWIDE PROGRAMS: This Long-Range Plan, to be reviewed annually by SACL with input from regional administrators, network administrators, individual librarians, and other formal and informal advisory groups, meets the planning requirement for statewide programs.
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mission statement. a concise declaration of the purpose of an organization, specifying the fundamental reason for its existence and identifying its major service roles and the major user groups at which they are directed.
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assessment of user needs. a description of the needs of the community the library serves; includes a gathering of information based on an analysis of the population, results of surveys, and a description of the library's existing services in relation to the community's needs and/or those in other similar libraries; addresses the library's need for technology; and takes into consideration other plans developed at the state, regional, and local levels. Under the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), effective January 1992, every public library regardless of staff size was to have completed a review of its facility for architectural accessibility and compliance with the ADA. The needs assessment component of the library's long-range plan should include this subject and identify barriers, outline corrective action, and include a mechanism to involve community members to discuss the process of making the library and its services fully accessible to all patrons.
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multi-year goals and objectives. goals are broad statements describing desirable end results toward which the library will work over the long term, encompassing a vision of what services should be available; a goal is not measurable and may never be fully reached but will probably not change over a three to five year period; together with objectives, goals define a course of action for meeting the needs of a community. Objectives are specific, short range statements of results to be achieved to implement a goal; they define how it will be done, who will do it, and when and under what conditions; objectives are measurable, include time frames and may or may not change over a three to five year period depending upon progress made.
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action plan with specific timeframes and/or other measurements for achieving objectives. the means used to accomplish an objective including specific tasks that will be done in a given year to achieve that objective; activities should include specific timelines and/or other measure for determining when the activities will take place and how the objective will be accomplished.
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brief description of planning methodology. identification of a specific planning process, such as the PLA process or MBLC school library planning process, and any modifications to it; or, if a library has not used a particular process, a description of what was done, who participated, to what extent, how and what data was gathered, and during what period the plan was developed.
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approval of governing board. assurance that the library's trustees for a public library; principal, superintendent or school committee as appropriate for a school or district; dean, provost or president for an academic library; or other governing unit as appropriate has reviewed the contents of the plan and voted to accept it.
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annual updates of action plans. by December 1 of each year, the action plan should be reviewed and revised to reflect activities that will take place in the next fiscal year to achieve the long-range plan's goals and objectives.
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| Appendix B. Eligibility Requirements for Participation as a Member of a Regional Library System |  |
Appendix D. Acronyms, Abbreviations and Definitions |