April 23, 2003
Present: Luis Calderon, Alan D’Souza, Elizabeth Juarez, John Kenny, Doug King, Judith Lujan, Marcia Popper, Hon. Carol Steiman, Joan Walton, Blaine Waterman, Jensa Woo, Monique Zmuda
SFPL Observers: Susan Hildreth, Paul Underwood, Toni Bernardi, Marcia Schneider , Roberto Estevez, Mary Hudson
Facilitator: Gail McPartland
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San Francisco Library Commission Strategic Planning
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Update on the Planning Process
Since the last Community Planning Committee meeting on Feb. 19, much work has been done on the
plan. Highlights include:
Members also reviewed two strategic planning products to demonstrate how the strategic plan might be used. First, a brochure
titled "San Francisco Public Library System, A Community Vision, Five-Year Plan" a brochure from a previous
planning exercise that is used to promote the library’s commitment to the community. Second, a strategic plan for the
Richmond Branch drafted by Paul Underwood, Deputy City Librarian, which is required as part of the library’s application
for state monies for branch renovations and new buildings. The Richmond plan incorporates several elements from the previous
Planning for Results model, including service needs, goals and objectives. Note the "service needs" are now
referred to as "service responses".
Review Visioning, Needs, Needs the Library Can Address, Preliminary Service Responses. Members reviewed a handout summarizing the outcomes of the Feb. 19 meeting, including a vision of San Francisco for the future, the needs if the vision is to be accomplished, needs the library can address, and the preliminary service responses chosen to assist in reaching the vision. Review and Discussion of the Preliminary Service Responses Members reviewed the 5 chosen preliminary service responses, using tools extracted from the New Planning for Results and feedback from the Staff Focus Groups. Commons – "helps address the need of people to meet and interact with others in their community and to participate in public discourse about community ideas." In the group discussion, members found this problematic as a service choice since meeting space is for the most part a fixed entity in the libraries. Members felt the goal of community meeting space would compete with space for collections. One member suggested "clustering" the commons by designating specific branches to serve multiple neighborhoods in the community. This would alleviate the need for commons space in each branch. Members also voiced concerns that "commons" being achieved through technology such as videoconferencing since it seems to address a specific need and clientele at this time and is not a mainstream technology yet. Specific issues raised by members:
- would bring opportunities to the library
- would bring library to neighborhoods - would it be for large groups or small groups? - Who would have access?
General Information – "helps meet the need for information answers to questions on a broad array of topics related to
work, school, and personal life"
Members discussed the ongoing need for trained, professional library staff to assist in answering a broad array of questions for patrons. Concern was expressed over the amount of time librarians spend troubleshooting computers and training people to use technology versus assisting with actual questions. There was an acknowledgement that information is now technology-driven and that technology will continue to play a dominant role in delivering information. Specific issues raised by members:
- To provide quality control on information
- To assist people when the Internet fails - To help interpret information - To find resource that are in books and other materials besides the Internet
- Prominently display “Ask a question” on the website
- Electronic resources become more valuable as people become more computer savvy - One-on-one interactions as teaching mechanism for evaluating tools - Reinforces need for classes - Tie website to school websites - Can we increase the role in schools?
Government Information – "helps satisfy the need for information about elected officials and governmental agencies that
enables people to participate in the democratic process."
Members acknowledged the strong collection of government information already being collected. Concerns were raised about outreach and marketing of the service so the community would be aware of the valuable resource. Specific issues raised by members:
Information Literacy – "helps address the need for skills related to finding, evaluating, and using information
effectively."
Members acknowledge the growing need for critical thinking skills in people of all ages. There is concern over the library taking an active role in this area since an effective program would require large amounts of staff resources. Members wondered if the library was the better place for solving this issue and considered other venues to address the problem, including local community colleges. Specific issues raised by members:
- Will we diminish collections to provide instruction?
- Can we use volunteers and what would union reaction be?
Lifelong Learning – "helps address the desire for self-directed personal growth and development opportunities."
Members discussing this topic found a need for in this area. They would like to see a library role in preserving general literature, classic works and authors, and poetry. Beyond preserving literature, they see an active library role in introducing people to classic works. Specific issues raised by members:
Addendum from the Staff Focus Group As a follow-on discussion, members heard a staff suggestion that the Community Planning Committee reconsider a service response under "Current Topics and Titles" as a good fit for current reading and a great place to highlight the book collection. The staff response stressed that reading, books and all library collections and services can be a strong element of some or all the final service responses. Selection of the Library Service Responses The New Planning for Results model recommends focusing the strategic plan on three – no more than four – service responses. Based on the in-depth discussion, members are asked to select three service responses the library should focus on in the final plan. Before final selection, members were asked to review the original list of 13 Library Service Responses to determine if any should be reconsidered as the final service responses are selected. Members asked that Current Topics and Titles be added to the final selection process. To determine group consensus, members were asked to vote on their top three choices for the library service responses. Members gave three (3) points to their top choice, two (2) points to their second choice, and one (1) point to their third choice. Outcomes of the informal polling showed the following results:
Members were asked if the informal polling agreed with the consensus of the group. Members acknowledged agreeing with the outcome. Based on the outcome, the Community Planning Committee will recommend the library focus on three service areas: General Information, Lifelong Learning, and Current Topics and Titles in the draft strategic plan. Members were reminded that the outcome will be reviewed with the Library Commission. The Commission may alter or amend the chosen service responses. Members were thanked for participating in the service response selection process and reminded that they will have an opportunity to review the final draft plan at the June 18 meeting. Next Steps
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