Strategic Plan 2017-2020

STRATEGIC PLAN
2017 – 2020:
SETTING THE COURSE

BIXBY MEMORIAL FREE LIBRARY

Adopted by the Bixby Library Board of Trustees
February 13, 2017

Revised December 11, 2017

If you don’t know where you are going, you’ll end up
someplace else.

Yogi Berra

As public libraries strive to remain relevant in their communities, it is clear that there is no one right answer or prescribed future for all libraries. Each library needs to set its own true course.

In January 2016, Bixby Library’s board of trustees decided to develop a new strategic plan that would set a clear course of action to transform the library and better equip it to serve the needs of the five-town residents. We wanted to create a plan that put our customers at the heart of all we do.

A Strategic Planning Committee was created and began meeting to write a new mission, vision, goals and objectives for Bixby Library. The committee gathered information from various sources including a residents survey in June, 2016; demographic data; information from the area schools; and from a focus group of select board members.

As part of our research, we also looked at the strategic plans of other public libraries and want to acknowledge the Charles County, Maryland Public Library in particular for its impact on our own plan. Their words guided us. We also want to recognize the initial guidance we received from management consultant Paula Cope of Cope & Associates.

For seven months the committee met regularly to envision the Bixby’s future and determine how to position the library to be even more forward-thinking and responsive to our community. The goal was to create a plan that created excitement, fulfilled community needs and increased support from the people in our five towns.

The committee discussions were lively and ambitious. We didn’t always agree, but in the end we had a document that was based on careful thinking. We had the conviction that if Bixby Library accomplished the eleven objectives in this plan, we would be in a better position to achieve financial sustainability and to serve residents in new and exciting ways in the 21st century.

With all plans, there always has to be room to adapt or revise in the years ahead. Bixby Library may want to respond to unanticipated opportunities that serve the library’s mission.

With each of the eleven objectives, there are specific ways that success will be measured. We want to be accountable to the people of the five towns and demonstrate the profound value of Bixby Library.

My gratitude goes to the trustees who served with me on the Strategic Planning Committee: Gail Blasius, Chris Bradford and Ed Place and to our library director Jane Spencer for their unflagging commitment, good will and determination to create this plan.

Paula Moore
Chair, Strategic Planning Committee
February 2017

BIXBY LIBRARY MISSION, VISION, GOALS & OBJECTIVES

OUR MISSION

Bixby Memorial Free Library provides opportunities for its five-town community
to engage, discover and learn.

OUR VISION

To create a valued and thriving library that sparks delight in the community.

OUR GOALS AND OBJECTIVES

  • Goal 1

    Position the library as a valuable community asset by ensuring awareness of services, developing supportive partnerships and obtaining sufficient funding sources.

    Objectives:

    1. Develop and implement a marketing plan
    2. Develop strategic partnerships.
    3. Create and implement a funding plan that aligns with the strategic plan
       
  • Goal 2

    Deliver library services, programs and collections that are data or customer driven.

    Objectives:

    1. Evaluate programs to determine customer satisfaction and cost/time effectiveness.
    2. Implement a calendar of programs that respond to customers’ requests and needs.
    3. Evaluate library hours to see if they meet customer needs and adjust if needed.
    4. Evaluate electronic resources and make recommendations in order to provide appropriate technology to ensure quality of service.
    5. Gather information about the community’s preferences and interests in library services and programs.
    6. Promote and provide instruction for digital literacy.
       
  • Goal 3

    Utilize library space to respond to customer needs and opportunities.

    Objectives:

    1. Conduct a “5 S” assessment of the building/ Clean house.
    2. Create and implement a near-term plan for library space.
    3. Produce a comprehensive plan and a timeline for the future utilization of all building space.