The Planning Process: Putting it all together

Every business or institution has an organizational structure.  The public library is no exception.  The public library’s organizational structure is comprised of four parts:

• its board of Trustees
• its management staff    
• its support staff
• its relationship with city government

In addition, a library’s organizational structure is influenced by other community businesses, by other library agencies (local / county library associations, the Library Service Area, the State Library, etc.) And last-but certainly not least-the library is influenced by its customer base.  All these layers of organizational structure come into play when the library engages in the planning process.

Learning Objectives:

• To understand the elements of a long-range plan
• To know how to incorporate completing the plan with day-to-day library work

• To understand the applicable standards, as listed in In Service To Iowa

1. Standard 16 (p. 10)