Carson City Library hosts strategic planning workshops

Community members are invited to free workshops for guiding the Carson City Library’s five-year strategic plan, with the first workshop Feb. 16 from 9:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., which includes morning refreshments and lunch.

The first workshop’s purpose is to complete a comprehensive environmental assessment of the library’s external and internal environment. Participants will do a variety of facilitated small group exercises. The workshop will be held in the Ormsby Room at the Carson City Sheriff’s Office.

The library is also offering a survey as it plans for the next five years. Anyone can take the survey online here: http://bit.ly/carsonlibrarysurvey.

“A library’s strategic plan is most effective when it connects directly to the needs of the community,” said Diane Baker, business manager and interim director for the Carson City Library. “Our process to develop the library’s next plan is digging deep into the community — and we’re asking individuals to tell us what they think. With each survey response, with each observation related in a workshop, the plan becomes focused on what will inspire, guide our decisions and improve the city’s future.”

The effort is in partnership with the University of Nevada, Reno. Subsequent workshops will be March 2, 9:30 a.m.-4:30 p.m., and March 16, 10 a.m.-2 p.m. (this workshop will happen in the Carson City Community Center’s Ponderosa Room).

Individuals interested are encouraged to RSVP two days ahead of each workshop. To RSVP or for more information, contact Dr. Frederick Steinmann with the University Center for Economic Development (UCED), (775) 784-1655 or fred@unr.edu.

The new strategic plan will include a set of core values, a mission and vision statement, a set of goals and objectives, and an implementation plan.

The public is encouraged to be part of any or all of the workshops and take the survey. Each workshop has a purpose including reviewing previous workshop results, more exercises, a comprehensive evaluation of the library’s current strategic plan and creation of a final strategic plan.

“When we develop strategic plans for public entities, it’s sometimes challenging to separate the community from the organization,” Steinmann said. “As opposed to a private sector firm that is more concerned about market share and fending off rivals in the marketplace, a public entity, like the Carson City Library, is more concerned with servicing community needs and wants than it is in strategically positioning itself in a marketplace.”

Steinmann said the multiple workshop approach is part of a larger strategic planning curriculum UCED has developed over the last several years for public sector organizations. Each individual workshop is designed to garner public feedback and build different elements of the strategic plan in a structured format.

“Attuning the library’s programs and services with community needs can only be achieved with community input,” Steinmann said.