Small Library Strategic Planning Cohort
A strategic plan helps libraries make big decisions, from how to wisely use their budgets to make the maximum difference in their communities, to having a clear pathway to achieving goals. And, every library and every community should be able to afford a plan. We offer a cohort learning and hands-on strategic planning opportunity that helps libraries in small communities (6,000 people or fewer) learn about their community’s needs and aspirations, and use them to craft strategic directions for the next 3-5 years. To date, 38 communities in Wisconsin have participated in the cohort. Interested in learning more? Contact Laura Damon-Moore at laura@wils.org, download this informational flyer or see below for details, or read about the outcomes from the 24-25 cohort.
When
- The cohort is offered yearly as long as at least five libraries participate.
- Cohort activities run from October through July.
- To confirm your participation in the cohort, register online or email Laura at laura@wils.org by or before August 31st.
- Libraries will be notified on September 1st whether the cohort will be offered, and if not, we will share strategic planning alternatives that are available.
Who
Public libraries with a municipal population of around 6,000 or less.
What
This cohort uses a model of education, training, coaching, and support, resulting in a strategic plan for the library and the opportunity for all participants to learn about community-driven strategic planning.
WiLS includes public library systems to support member libraries participating in the cohort. In the past, partnering systems provided support and resources to help with the planning process, offered CE contact hours for participating directors, and some systems provided funding to help cover the cost of participating in the cohort.
How much
The cost to participate in the cohort is $1,995 per library. For an additional $945, WiLS can administer a community survey for any participating library. The survey WiLS provides is a standard, base strategic planning survey. Surveys are invoiced separately and need to be confirmed by mid-December.
Library participation information
A participating library will form a team of 4-5 people, with the director as the team’s project leader and point person. Each team should have a known backup point person in the event of a director’s departure during the cohort.
Directors will receive professional development with the following learning outcomes:
- Strategic plan development
- Data gathering and assessment
- Community mapping and engagement
- Project management
Participation does not require travel. All cohort meetings are held virtually, or libraries may host a hybrid meeting (in person and dialed in via Zoom).
A meeting schedule will be shared before the cohort kickoff. The full cohort typically meets virtually on Thursdays between 1:00 and 3:00 p.m. Library directors are asked to attend each meeting to help keep their team’s progress on track.
Planning team roles and commitment
The planning team is typically 4-5 people: the library director plus a combination of library staff, library board, volunteers/Friends, and community members
The library director serves as the point person/team coordinator:
- Required to attend all cohort meetings
- Organizes team tasks and meetings locally
- Primary contact for WiLS
- Shepherds all phases of the overall planning process locally with support from WiLS
- Directors can expect to spend ~40 hours on the cohort activities
Other team members:
- Attend meetings when possible (meetings are recorded and videos shared)
- Help share and communicate about surveys, community conversations, and other aspects of strategic planning
- Contribute their thoughts/ideas about the community and library from their perspective
- Assist with data analysis, theming, and drafting the strategic plan framework
- Approximate team hours for the cohort (October – July):
- 5-6 hours of asynchronous/independent work
- ~8 hours of full cohort meetings
- 3-6 hours of team meetings
General timeline and process
August: Libraries confirm participation
September: WiLS confirms cohort is happening, libraries return paperwork, and share planning team contact information with WiLS
October: Virtual director meet and greets with WiLS
November: Cohort-wide virtual strategic planning kickoff meeting
November – December: Recorded data training followed by a virtual meeting to share ideas about data gathering, answer questions, and determine data plans
December: Libraries confirm WiLS-administered community surveys
December – March: Libraries (and WiLS) work on data and information gathering
March: Virtual meeting to discuss data themes
April – May: Virtual meeting to discuss plan development and writing process, and to start drafting strategic goals
May – July: Plan writing
July: Capstone virtual event, libraries present their plan framework (strategic goals and measurable objectives) and we discuss plan activation and assessment
WiLS-administered survey details
If your team opts to have WiLS handle the planning survey, you get:
- A branded survey set up for your library in SurveyMonkey using WiLS’ account and WiLS’ base community survey question set. We do not add or make significant wording changes to the questions, but each library will go through and request changes to the answer options based on your library’s services/offerings.
- Links for sharing the online survey publicly (one for social media, one for everywhere else).
- A printable branded survey that mirrors the online version. Staff need to enter hard copies received via a staff manual entry link.
- A QR code that can be printed or shared that links people to the online survey.
- WiLS’ data analyst will use the survey results to make a “highlights” slide deck with branded charts and visuals that you can use in strategic planning and to communicate with stakeholders whenever.
- WiLS also shares your raw survey data in an Excel spreadsheet for your use.
The library is responsible for:
- Communicating promptly any changes/edits needed to the working draft of the survey (bulk of work on survey prep will happen in Dec – Jan).
- Providing logo or library color scheme on time.
- Promoting the survey and directing people to the online version or the hard copies.
- Collecting hard copies and entering them using the staff manual entry link by the deadline (exact date TBD).