MBLC’s Strategic Planning Process is Underway
January 05, 2017
Celeste Bruno
Communication Specialist
1-800-952-7403 x208
celeste.bruno@state.ma.us
The Massachusetts Board of Library Commissioners (MBLC) is pleased to announce that its strategic planning process is underway. “Since our inception 125 years ago, the MBLC’s core work has centered on ensuring that all Massachusetts residents have equal access to library resources and services, but there has been a profound shift in the way people get and use information and in how they use libraries. The strategic plan will give us, the library community, and the residents we serve a pathway to the future of sharing information and resources and connecting with each other and our communities,” said MBLC Director Dianne Carty.
Fundamental to the process are the following:
- Strengthen: how the MBLC can best support and strengthen Massachusetts’ statewide system of libraries and library resources
- Engage: how the MBLC can engage and support all library constituencies (librarians, library staff, Trustees, Friends, and patrons)
- Maximize Funding and Resources:how to maximize the positive impact of public and private funding and other resources available to libraries
- Increase Awareness:how the MBLC can increase public awareness of the full range of resources available to communities through their libraries
- Innovate: how to develop programs and partnerships that will most effectively position libraries as an essential 21st Century information resource to communities throughout the Commonwealth
The MBLC has engaged independent consultant Alan Brickman of Brickman Nonprofit Solutions to facilitate a participatory and data-driven process to create a strategic plan. In November, Mr. Brickman held interviews with stakeholders from Automated Library Networks, the Massachusetts Library System, Boston Public Library, Perkins Talking Book Library, and the Massachusetts Center for the Book.
Extensive outreach, interviews, review and data gathering will continue through January 2017. A full-day retreat of a diverse group of partners and stakeholders to review the data, deliberate and resolve selected core issues regarding MBLC’s future is scheduled for January 25, 2017. The final draft of the strategic plan will be presented to Commissioners at the June, 2017 Board Meeting.
About MBLC
The Board of Library Commissioners (mass.gov/mblc) is the agency of state government with the statutory authority and responsibility to organize, develop, coordinate and improve library services throughout the Commonwealth. The Board advises municipalities and library trustees on the operation and maintenance of public libraries, including construction and renovation. It administers state and federal grant programs for libraries and promotes cooperation among all types of libraries through regional library systems and automated resource sharing. It also works to ensure that all residents of the Commonwealth, regardless of their geographic location, social or economic status, age, level of physical or intellectual ability or cultural background, have access to essential new electronic information technologies and significant electronic databases.