Current Priorities and Future Directions: A Content Analysis of Active Strategic Planning Goals of Public Libraries in the United States

by Shields, Alison M.

A strategic plan articulates an organization’s strategy for coping with future change. This study is a content analysis of the goals in 100 active strategic plans from public libraries in the United States. The results show that priorities in the present and in the near future of the public libraries are, in order of importance: providing the services and resources that meet patron needs, infrastructure maintenance and improvement, outreach to community groups and individuals, encouraging lifelong learning and recreation for all ages, becoming an information lifeline for the community, and meeting the needs of underserved populations. Chi-square analysis was also performed to identify associations between the prevalence of a given goal type and community demographic variables. The results provide insight into these libraries’ priorities for serving patrons now and in the near future.