CLEVELAND PUBLIC LIBRARY

 

STRATEGIC PLAN

 

 

A BLUEPRINT FOR THE FUTURE

OF

“THE PEOPLE’S UNIVERSITY”

 

 

 

 

 

 

Researched and Prepared by the

Cleveland Public Library Board of Trustees

for the

Citizens of Cleveland

 

December 2002

 

Return to www.cpl.org

 

 

 

TABLE OF CONTENTS

 

 

Preface                                                             1

 

Environmental Scan Process                             2

 

Environmental Scan Results                             3

 

SWOT Analysis                                                7

 

The Strategic Plan                                            11

 

Summary of Proposed

Service Enhancement                                       18             


 

Return to www.cpl.org

 

 

STRATEGIC PLANNING FOR

 CLEVELAND PUBLIC LIBRARY

 

PREFACE

 

The Board of Trustees of Cleveland Public Library (CPL) approved a planning process to research the future of CPL based on what is known, or anticipated, to impact urban library collections, services, and patrons’ needs.  

 

Guiding the Future

 

The Board, Director and Administrators of CPL have consistently adopted a multi-year planning approach to ensure the continuous growth and improvement of services to the community.  The 1995-99 plan, “Building on Excellence,” laid the groundwork for the plan that is being proposed today.  That plan was regularly updated as to new strategic directions on a rolling three-year calendar.  In February 2001, the Board, Director and Administrators held a retreat to confirm, celebrate and renew the strategic directions for 2001-2003.  At that time it was agreed that a process ensuring more neighborhood outreach would be important to address in the next strategic plan for 2004 and beyond.  In the spirit of inclusion and outreach, the following strategic planning process was undertaken.

 

The Strategic Planning Process

 

All strategic planning processes include fundamental steps of good governance and vision.  These steps include: 

 

o        Conducting an environmental scan

o        Determining the organization’s strengths and weaknesses

o        Identifying obstacles or barriers to success

o        Maximizing opportunities

o        Researching best practices

o        Understanding trends for urban library development

o        Analyzing the information gathered

o        Setting a direction for the future

o        Acquiring the resources necessary to achieve the future

o        Preparing the organization for change

 

Each of these planning process steps was carefully undertaken and is documented here.  It took up to twelve months to implement and fulfill each activity in the process so that the Strategic Plan (page 11) could come to life and become the guiding document for the library’s future and for the future of the Citizens of Cleveland.

 

Return to www.cpl.org

ENVIRONMENTAL SCAN PROCESS

 

The planning process included a thorough environmental scan using numerous resources and input channels.  Table One shows the extensive outreach that was undertaken to ensure a legitimate and comprehensive environmental scan. A summary of the channels for the environmental scan is listed below.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

TABLE ONE – ENVIRONMENTAL SCAN CHANNELS

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 
 

 

 

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ENVIRONMENTAL SCAN RESULTS

 

 

The environmental scan provided the Board of Trustees and Staff a wealth of information about the physical, technical, social, and service nature of CPL. The richness of the feedback is exceptional, providing CPL with insights as to public perception, public need, and the future role of the library system.

 

Summary of Results from Community:

 

Overall the library system has an exceptionally high rating within the city.  Using the survey data alone, the results show that the library plays a key role in the patron’s neighborhood experience.  Some of the key survey results[3] are shown in Table Two.

 

TABLE TWO – SURVEY RESULTS

 

Use Library from one to four times per week

56%

Satisfaction with branch library used

95%

Rating of service of library as very important

81%

 

The focus group participants[4] shared similar positive views of the library as both a service center and an educational center in their lives and in their families’ lives.  The purpose of focus groups is to solicit feedback that will be helpful to change.  While comments were favorable, the critical feedback is equally important.  Most of the critical feedback referenced the physical space or the technical resources that the library user experiences.  Some of the important messages from the focus groups referenced:

 

o       Crowded and/or noisy facilities

o       Insufficient personal computers to serve the number of users

o       Difficult access to and limited parking at some branches

 

 

The youth focus groups offered a similar view on the facilities and personal computers and also suggested more youth services geared to entice and retain youth interest in education, literacy and communication.

 

The Town Hall Meetings[5] reinforced the comments from the survey and the focus groups.  They placed even more emphasis on:

 

o        The collection (management and diversity)

o        Training on computers

o        Hours of operation

 

The Leadership Advisory Panel considered the information from the community and added some feedback with regard to better marketing and community relations as well as understanding the changing nature of the neighborhoods and the neighborhood users of the library. 

 

Summary of Results from Library-based Scan:

 

The staff of the Cleveland Public Library is truly its organizational strength.  They are committed to the library and value its contribution to the community.  The staff believed that more outreach is needed to the community it serves.  The staff anticipated the need for more personal computers and periphery that allow library users more time and more flexibility on the system.  The staff understood the limits to computer usage without proper training and also identified the need for increased training and services on basic and advanced computer/Internet usage.

 

The staff articulated the need to upgrade youth services and develop a more service and programmatic approach to youth visitors rather than a monitoring and control approach.  The staff also identified the need for on-going development of services of interest to older adults.

 

The staff understood the advancements that technology can make on the operations side of the library.  While staff saw the opportunity and need for more automation support internally, this need was not perceived by the community.  In fact, one member of the community articulated that he would not trade the personal service of staff for more automation.

 

The most comprehensive input from the library-based environmental scan came from the firm, Providence Associates.  Providence Associates conducted a comprehensive library review on behalf of Cleveland Public Library.  Its primary focus was the neighborhood branches.  Its role was to advise the Board and the Director of CPL on how to move the organization forward, serving the community, and continuing to lead in urban library trends.  References to Providence Associates’ report may be made throughout but a summary of the key elements of the report follows in Table Three.

 

TABLE THREE – PROVIDENCE ASSOCIATE FINDINGS[6]

 

Physical/Spatial Issues

Plan for and undertake a major capital improvement plan, touching all of the branch libraries.

Service Issues

Develop a full service youth library initiative including improvements in collection, programs and services.

Access

Increase library user access by extending library hours and increasing number of days open to public.

Technology

Undertake an aggressive schedule of upgrading personal computers for library users.

 

Operations

Reorganize the structure of the organization to improve efficiency and services to the community.

Productivity

Revamp library staff space and workstations to allow for increased efficiency.

 

 

Summary of Results from Research-based Scan:

 

The demographic study, conducted by Cleveland State University, indicated a trend of decreasing population in the Cleveland neighborhoods.  The Providence report acknowledged that a shrinking trend might cause administration to reconsider its size and number of branches.  However, equally strong considerations were given to two significant statistics:  1) Cleveland has a higher than average youth population and 2) a younger than average adult population compared to the peer libraries and national urban studies.  Consequently, the recommendations took into account the age of the library users as much or more than the slight shrinkage in overall population.  Similarly, the security consultant addressed the threat and risk to neighborhood residents comparing Cleveland statistics to national statistics.  The security consultant addressed safety and security around the exterior of a branch and within the library.  No significant safety threats were identified.  Consistent with all other feedback, the security consultant also identified an observable change in the environment when the after school youth arrived. This change seemed to create the perception of an unsafe or an insecure facility due to the increase in traffic and noise. 

 

The feedback from the environmental scan was carefully studied and analyzed.  However, the scan would be incomplete if it ignored general city, state and national conditions.  The research and scan were undertaken right after:

 

1.      A national threat to the country was experienced on September 11, 2001.

2.      A change in city and council administration occurred in January 2002.

3.      A reduction in state funding occurred in 2002, affecting 2003 budget planning.

 

The opportunity for the Cleveland Public Library to grow is hindered only by the sense of uncertainty for the future.  In discussing the organization’s strategic plan, the Administrators took into account the external environment including those elements beyond its control.

 

Return to www.cpl.org

 

 

SWOT ANALYSIS

 

 

The information gathered from the environmental scan allows CPL to study its organization, facilities and delivery system objectively and critically.  From this scan the Administrators can then determine which strengths to maximize, which weaknesses to address and how to manage the barriers to success and the opportunities available.  This analysis is called the Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats or SWOT analysis.  From this analysis will result the best possible strategic plan.

 

Strengths of Cleveland Public Library

 

The general consensus is that the library benefits from well-respected and well-known strengths as shown in Table Four.

 

TABLE FOUR - STRENGTHS OF CPL

 

  • Strong community support and appreciation

 

  • Diverse staff with expertise in many fields
  • Infrastructure to support advancement in technology and services

 

  • Exceptional collection and commitment to collection acquisition
  • Track record of innovation
  • Clean, safe facilities

 

  • CLEVNET

 

Weaknesses Within The System

 

The intent in identifying weaknesses in a system is twofold: 1) to ensure that any weakness that is an obstacle to success is addressed in the planning process and 2) to foster the spirit of continuous improvement organization-wide.  The weaknesses of CPL fall into two basic categories.  One category includes items relating to the delivery of service to the community.  The other category relates to typical issues for any large, complex organization such as infrastructure, visibility, tradition and resources. 

 

If the Administrative team were to break these areas down into more detail, then the analysis in Table Five represents their areas of concern.  There is similarity between the Administrators’ list and the community feedback.

 

TABLE FIVE – WEAKNESSES IN THE SYSTEM

 

SERVICE DELIVERY

 

ORGANIZATIONAL

  • Marketing and promotion

 

  • Communications systemwide
  • Equipment and services for library users

 

  • Integrated HR system for recruiting, training, developing and staffing

 

  • Youth services program
  • Outdated, crowded facilities with poor access/parking

 

  • Integrated, prioritized programming plan

 

  • Hours of operation

o        Partnership/sponsorship management

 

o        Coordinated implementation & execution of plans

 

 

 

Opportunities For CPL Planning

 

The environmental scan clearly indicated that there were many opportunities for the future of Cleveland Public Library.  The difficulty is in selecting those opportunities that will make a difference in terms of impact and global reach to the entire community.  Opportunities are built with the use of existing or new resources.  The challenge, then, is how to re-allocate resources or find new ones.  With this realization at the forefront of decision-making, there are opportunities that the Administrators recommend pursuing and there are opportunities that the Administrators suggest be delayed for a future planning process.

 

The opportunities that the Administrators recommend be considered in the strategic plan may be categorized as shown in Table Six on the following page.  The opportunities identified are the basis for the themes and strategies shown in the strategic plan.

 

TABLE SIX – OPPORTUNITIES FOR PLANNING

 

CATEGORY

 

EXAMPLES

  • Community Outreach

 

  • Identification and marketing to non-users
  • Focus on underserved communities
  • Take a role in neighborhood community leadership
  • Outreach to homebound

 

  • Needs of Library Users

 

  • Increase in library hours
  • Increase in equipment and software
  • New programs/services
  • More Internet and web-based services
  • Increase emphasis on some specialty collections
  • Narrow the digital divide

 

 

  • City Demographics
  • Develop full service youth program including
    • Staffing
    • Expansion Of collection
    • Expansion Of services

 

 

  • The Economy

 

 

o         Free services

o         Improve literacy

o         Help with job readiness

o         Assistance to students

o         Assistance to businesses/entrepreneurs

o    Fund development

 

 

 

Areas Of Concern For CPL Planning

 

The opportunities that allow the organization to thrive need to be balanced with the areas of concern to the CPL organization and its constituency.   A realistic approach to the areas of concern will help the organization respond in a positive, constructive manner.  Needless to say for each opportunity there is a countering threat.  For example, the economy may increase impoverished areas in city neighborhoods. The stated needs of library users may exceed the ability of the library to respond in as timely a manner given the realities of funding and training. 

 

 

In addition, to counter-balance concerns against opportunities, there remain the additional concerns that are built into the proposed plan as shown in Table Seven.

 

TABLE SEVEN – AREAS REQUIRING ON-GOING REVIEW

 

  • Continuing rapid change/growth in technology tools
  • Responding as A community player not THE community player for all youth services