Whitsunday Regional Libraries SWOT-ting for Better Services & Facilities
By administrator | 9 October 2017
Whitsunday Regional Libraries are getting serious about our library spaces & services as we plan strategically, to drive them into the 2020s. Last month all library teams converged on the Proserpine SES building to forge a Library Strategic Plan that will take us through to 2022. Prior planning involved all staff swotting up on State Library of Queensland’s current Vision 2017 and Strategic Plan, as well as Council’s Corporate Plan. Mindful of syncing with the current values and vision of the Corporate Plan, we laboured well into the afternoon to identify where and how our libraries fitted under the framework of Governance & Leadership, People, Places, & Prosperity. Confabulating (Google it!) over scrolls of butcher paper, bowls of lollies, and spurred on by our Library Manager Rod Cousins, teams SWOTed ideas, concepts & actions, to produce a visionary future document, that will consolidate our purpose, vision, mission and strategies for the next four years.
As library professionals we value our libraries, what they are currently achieving & what we would like to achieve in the future. Having worked in several public libraries, some of whom were well supported by their parent organisation, others clearly not, the importance of establishing corporate documents demonstrates serious intent; these documents also become valuable advocacy tools. Deb Miles’ timely blog post revealing low support for high performing library services has provided a stimulating adjunct to our Council Newsletters’ Library entry, particularly the Community Lifestyle Service - Performance graph.
About the author: Terry Mills-Edward is the Team Leader of Bowen/Collinsville Libraries. Terry has been in this role for three years, focusing on creating vibrant, and twenty-first century community hubs.
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