21st Century Library Strategic Plan – Mission Statement

I posed the question – How do you get from where your library is now, to become a 21st Century Library? My simple answer was – develop a strategy. I also offered a model of a strategic plan, and now I will attempt to fill in that model. I say attempt, because a “generic” strategic plan is kind of like a “generic” train wreck. It has so many variables that it is hard to describe in a generic way, and it really requires some particulars to make it meaningful. “The _______ (passenger, tourist, grain, coal, auto carrier, tanker cars, etc.) train was traveling toward _______ (Minneapolis, Kansas City, Durango, New Orleans, etc.) when it collided with a _______ (cow, automobile, avalanche, train, etc.) causing it to _______ (be delayed, kill the cow, derail, demolish two miles of track, burst into flames, etc.).” But, as this demonstrates, we can develop a ‘template’ for a mission statement.

MISSION:
This strategic plan model begins with the mission statement. (While some plan models begin with the Vision before the Mission, I believe the “reason why you exist” comes before the vision. Just my quirky sense of things.) What is the library’s mission in the 21st Century? Is it different from or the same as it has always been? Many say it is the same because it is a “core” mission (whatever that means in 21st Century context), while others claim is has changed to address the changes that have occurred in the 21st Century. ALA’s stated mission is, “To provide leadership for the development, promotion, and improvement of library and information services and the profession of librarianship in order to enhance learning and ensure access to information for all.” Remove the words “To provide leadership for… and the profession of librarianship” and one could have a fairly generic mission statement for their library, in both content and timelessness. It would fit in a 19th or 21st Century library about equally. But would it provide a “relevant” or useful mission statement for your 21st Century library?

According to the ALA Office for Literacy and Outreach Services, “The concept for 21st century literacy reflects an expanded vision of what it means to be literate in a global information society.” So, literacy in the 19th Century was drastically different from literacy in the 21st Century. DUH!! By extension does that mean other 21st Century factors also make a significant difference in creating a 21st Century mission statement? My SWAG is YES!! (That’s ‘scientific wild ass guess’ in case you’re not familiar with the acronym.)

Why does YOUR library exist? Most libraries exist for a more specific purpose than to pursue a generic mission of “Develop, promote, and improve library and information services in order to enhance learning and ensure access to information for all.” Some examples I’ve come across include the following.

“DeKalb County Public Library is a place to grow. The library enlightens and enriches the people of DeKalb County by providing responsive, dynamic services that meet the changing informational needs of a diverse population. Through a trained, service-oriented staff, partnerships, and ready access to both print and electronic resources, the library is committed to superior service that promotes a strong, literate DeKalb community and enhances the quality of life.”
(It’s a bit wordy and includes elements probably best addressed elsewhere in the strategic plan, but it’s OK. It expresses what DCPL wants to do.)

“To inspire and inform the citizens of Halton Hills [Ontario, Canada] by providing convenient and equitable access to high quality library services.”
(Short, succinct and to a point. “Inspire” is not easy to measure, nor is “high quality library services”, but if it works for them, it doesn’t have to be.)

The Los Angeles Public Library didn’t feel the need to emphasize their Mission Statement in their Strategic Plan, so in their Strategic Plan Overview on Page 1 it states; “Specifically, this strategic plan is designed to help the library accomplish its mission of providing free and easy access to information, ideas, books and technology that enrich, educate and empower every individual in our city’s diverse communities.”
(I’m not a fan of having outsiders create my strategic plan, even with input from staff, because it typically lacks seriously committed buy-in from staff, so I have mixed assessment of this plan, maybe because it reads more like a promotional brochure than a PLAN. Input from stakeholders is not a bad thing, but too much input tends to obscure a “library” focus to the “library’s” mission statement in an effort to accommodate everyone.)

Camden County (NJ) Library System has a simple straight forward mission statement. “We meet the learning, recreational and informational needs of our customers, providing an open environment for our community.”
(Specific combined with vague leaves room for interpretation.)

Sonoma County (CA) Library states their mission is; “Organize and provide access to information and universal knowledge, protect intellectual freedom, and promote the value and joy of reading, in order to enrich the lives of the people of our community.”
(Sounds like something copied straight from ALA, since ALA doesn’t realize either that “knowledge” is derived within the individual mind from “information”, but if the conservative traditional approach works for them – great, no matter how surprising that is in CA.)

The Park City (UT) Library’s Mission is to provide: customer service that exceeds expectations, information in a variety of formats that educates, inspires and entertains, [and] a welcoming environment for lifelong learning linking Park City to the world.
(Succinct, specific, inspirational, practical, measurable to some degree, and even an element of visionary. This is a good example, but does it reflect a 21st Century library?)

And then there are libraries like award winning Cleveland Public Library (It received national recognition for its innovation when honored as a “Top Innovator” by the Urban Libraries Council on Saturday, June 26, 2010.) that don’t feel it is necessary to share their mission statement or strategic plan with their public.
(Seriously, let me know if you find it on their website.)

I think you get the idea that there is no “generic” library mission statement. AND, whether the library is public, school, academic or special has a HUGE impact on your statement. However, there are recommended elements of a mission statement that you may want to review before RE-considering your own mission statement for the 21st Century. A mission statement should:
• Provide a general statement of why your library exists.
• Clarify what your library does.
• Capture the essence of what you want your library to achieve.
• Have some measurable component(s).
• Be short and simple enough to remember (just a few minutes to memorize).
• Be an action statement (not passive voice).
• Be a living statement subject to revision as needs require.

OK, this is the part you’ve been dying to find out. Does he have the guts to offer a sample 21st Century Library mission statement? Here goes.

“The Xxxxxx Library will satisfy the 21st Century learning, recreational and literary needs of its information consumers through service that exceeds expectations in physical and virtual environments that promote a literate community and enhance quality of life.”

It wasn’t intended to be a masterpiece for the ages, but it does contain many of the elements that would make it a worthwhile mission statement. It is active voice, it states why my library exists and what it does, it is relatively short and simple, and it provides some measurable components. It includes recognition that we will satisfy “21st Century learning, recreational and literary needs” which has a whole connotation apart from simply providing business as usual library services, and it also makes reference to virtual environments. Satisfying needs through service that exceeds expectations includes a connotation of using 21st Century technology to accomplish that, as well as reference services that satisfy the needs of the 21st Century “information consumers” (formerly ‘patrons’). These connotations and explanation of the mission statement’s full meaning can be included in subsequent sections of the strategic plan through goals and objectives.

It also offers a template for a mission statement that puts it together in a coherent flow.
• Name,
• Will do,
• What,
• How,
• In order to achieve,
• (and, other stuff if you feel the need)

Notice anything? Mission statements do NOT have to be your own original brainchild of divine inspiration, blood, sweat and tears. Many people have said for generations that ‘there are no new ideas’, so why torture yourself trying to re-invent the wheel. ILL is alive and well in sharing mission statements. Please share yours!

More to come…………………
Next up: Vision Statement