As many of you are aware, YALSA’s current Strategic Plan and its companion document—the Action Plan—run through 2015.
In mid-2014, YALSA’s Board began discussing the need for a new strategic plan, put together a Strategic Planning Taskforce and conducted a membership-wide survey. However, since the publication of the report, “The Future of Library Services for and with Teens: a Call to Action,” called for significant changes in teen services, YALSA’s Board agreed that the traditional approach to strategic planning was no longer a good fit for YALSA and its needs.
The Board felt that it was necessary to take a step back and rethink the organization’s purpose, focus and structure in order to enable YALSA to be well-positioned to help its members adopt the recommendations in the report and transform library services for and with teens. Most importantly, the Board agreed to use the Futures Report as its guide for the strategic planning process. As a part of this, a ‘teens first’ message has been the broad focus throughout this process. All of us are passionate about helping teens succeed in school and prepare for college, careers and life. Keeping this foremost in our minds throughout strategic planning discussions is what we have striven to do.
In the past, YALSA’s Board did not have a call-to-action or vision document of this type from which to base its strategic planning efforts. In this sense, the Board felt it was starting a new round of strategic planning with an advantage over past rounds. However, in late 2014 and early 2015 the strategic planning process stalled while the Board struggled to find a consultant who could help lead YALSA through a new, and nontraditional organizational planning process. So, an RFP was put together in the spring in order to find what YALSA needed. Then, over the summer, YALSA’s leaders reviewed proposals from potential consultants and in August signed a contract with the Whole Mind Strategy Group.
The plan is for the Board have in-depth, generative discussions now through the Board’s meeting at the ALA Midwinter Meeting. A first step was for YALSA’s Executive Committee to meet this past weekend, where the committee did a “scouting expedition”/environmental scan in order to identify what external and internal factors were impacting teen services in libraries.
Next, the Board will get together in January to discuss this scan and develop a vision for how YALSA can make the recommendations in the Futures Report a reality. The goal is to have a new plan in place by the end of February.
This new document will be different from the past strategic plan format in a few key ways. First, it will be a three year plan, not a five year one. Additionally, the plan will have new components including an intended impact statement, a theory of change statement, organizational outcomes, and a learning plan. To learn more about these new components, visit Bridgespan Group’s website. Traditional elements, such as goals and objectives and an action plan will also be included.
I and other YALSA Board members will post updates about the process on the YALSAblog and share news in the weekly YALSA e-News. I am also holding a Member Town Hall via Twitter on November 30th from 7:00 – 8:00pm, Eastern, where I’ll provide an update on the process and answer any questions. Please join in with the #yalsachat hashtag.
If you have any questions for me, please don’t hesitate to get in touch via candice.yalsa [at] gmail.com.
YALSA’s Board is very excited about the possibilities that a new strategic plan will open up for YALSA and its members, and we hope you are, too!
Together we can work to put teens first and ensure that all of the nation’s teens have a chance at a brighter future.
