As we near the completion of ALA’s strategic planning cycle as outlined in ALA Action 2005, the Association has begun a planning process that will lead to the development of ALA’s next strategic plan. A major goal of this process is to involve as many ALA members as possible in the development of the new plan. This will be accomplished through member, divisional and chapter forums, discussions among elected leaders and other key stakeholders, focus groups, member surveys, discussions at conferences, and many face to face discussions in order to develop the broadest possible consensus on the part of Association members. The first phase of planning involves the following activities:
- Evaluation of our success at achieving the goals and objectives of the ALA Action 2005 plan;
- Conducting a series of focus groups comprised of ALA members, non- members, and other key stakeholders;
- Conducting a statistically valid survey of members and their needs;
- Conducting an extensive environmental scan and key market research;
- Organizing, analyzing and jntegrating information on existing divisional plans, Association business plans, and other relevant plans in order to more fully integrate them into the Association's strategic planning.
The second phase of the process involves:
- A major planning retreat in fall 2004, involving the ALA Executive Board, division leadership, representatives of ALA round tables and committees, and key staff;
- Broad discussion and consensus building at the 2005 Midwinter Meeting;
- Review and refinement of the plan by the Board in spring 2005
- Approval by Council at the 2005 Annual Conference.
Because the annual budget process begins considerably in advance of the beginning of the fiscal year, this plan proposes that the Board designate a sum of money in its proposed 2006 budget for priority activities in support of the new strategic plan. Decisions regarding these priority actions would be made by the Executive Board following approval of the plan by Council, at the beginning of the 2006 fiscal year. This would provide some significant momentum as we simultaneously begin implementation of the new plan and development of our 2007 fiscal year budget.
|
