Strategic Planning

My teen services team is currently developing a new strategic plan to direct the next several years of service. In an attempt to keep our strategic plan feasible we've decided on four seemingly simple goals. When I first started this position 5 years ago, we created the first ever teen services strategic plan for this district and unfortunately were mandated by the higher-ups to design our plan as a mirror to the library's plan. The plan became a behemoth that was quickly set aside and referred to only in reports and presentations. This time, with a little more experience and a better understanding of what the teen services team is capable of accomplishing we have created the beginnings of a plan that includes only four goals and, more importantly, focuses directly on our teen patrons.

* Teens feel safe, respected and accepted
* Teens are literate
* Teens are engaged in the community
* Teens are aware of their future options

These four goals encompass the vast variety of support we want to give our teen patrons while making our library an anchor in providing community services. While we still have a long way to go to complete this plan (with proper outcome and process objectives, strategies and measurements, blah, blah, blah), I have high hopes that this new plan will be one that my team can work toward on a daily basis and one with which we can measure our accomplishments and successes. Ideally, in five years, this community will be full of engaged, literate, safe and respected teens who are hopeful and ready to take on the world.