Strategic Plan

Here’s the latest update on activities that support SCLSNJ’s Strategic Plan:

Where’s the final strategic plan document?

The framework we’ve used to build our current strategic plan is unlike traditional planning processes. More traditional processes usually have a final document as their culmination, with lists of goals and objectives to be achieved over a three- to five-year period of time. We are using the Dynamic Planning Model which includes a mechanism for looping back around regularly to decide if we have made progress on our strategic priorities, to see whether or not what we’re doing is actually meeting the needs of the community, and to reexamine those needs as Somerset County changes and grows. This planning model allows us to be flexible as we try different approaches and respond to changing conditions.

Instead of a final document, we will be providing a concise update three times per year on our activities around our Strategic Priorities and Core Services.

• For our Strategic Priorities, we will detail programs, services and initiatives we have worked on over the preceding several months that specifically support those priorities, and provide information about upcoming plans and actions and the impact we intend for them to have.
• Our Core Services represent the things we do on an ongoing basis, so recent activities in these areas are just a part of normal SCLSNJ business. In our updates, we will provide some highlights and examples of core service activity from the preceding few months.

Here’s the latest update on activities that support SCLSNJ’s Strategic Plan:

Where’s the final strategic plan document?

The framework we’ve used to build our current strategic plan is unlike traditional planning processes. More traditional processes usually have a final document as their culmination, with lists of goals and objectives to be achieved over a three- to five-year period of time. We are using the Dynamic Planning Model which includes a mechanism for looping back around regularly to decide if we have made progress on our strategic priorities, to see whether or not what we’re doing is actually meeting the needs of the community, and to reexamine those needs as Somerset County changes and grows. This planning model allows us to be flexible as we try different approaches and respond to changing conditions.

Instead of a final document, we will be providing a concise quarterly update on our activities around our Strategic Priorities and Core Services.

• For our Strategic Priorities, we will detail programs, services and initiatives we have worked on over the preceding several months that specifically support those priorities, and provide information about upcoming plans and actions and the impact we intend for them to have.
• Our Core Services represent the things we do on an ongoing basis, so recent activities in these areas are just a part of normal SCLSNJ business. In our updates, we will provide some highlights and examples of core service activity from the preceding few months.

This framework outlines the Strategic Priorities and Core Services that SCLSNJ will be focused on for the next 3-5 years.

How were these items chosen?

Each of the priorities and services is based on the community data we have gathered over the last four months. Based on our analysis, these items:

• Have value to members of the community
• Address a community need
• Have an intended impact

Who decides?

The Strategic Plan Steering Committee, made up of staff from across the library system, have been looking at the data, developing drafts, and gathering feedback. Ultimately, the Somerset County Library Commission approves the framework as our strategic road map for moving forward.

What happens next?

Library staff will define the impact we wish to have in each strategic priority area over the next one to three years, and then develop specific initiatives, actions and assessment methods to help us achieve our desired impact.

How can I keep track of what you’re doing?

We will continue to update this site with additional planning documents and our quarterly progress updates to the Library Commission.

In conjunction with our strategic planning process, a small work team developed and deployed an anonymous Staff Survey in late June 2018. This survey was made up of 16 open-ended questions, many of which provided opportunities for staff members to comment on SCLSNJ as a workplace and as an employer. The Staff Survey Abridged Data Report focuses on the four questions that specifically addressed staff opinions about library services and community needs, as this data had the most value in creating our Strategic Plan Framework. (The work team continues to analyze the rest of the data for internal use.)