Introduction
No matter your endeavor, success hinges on a well-defined plan or strategy. As an accounting instructor, I’ve learned that the class can easily veer off course without a carefully executed lesson plan. This leads to poor classroom management and minimal learning. I’ve experienced this firsthand, and it underscores the importance of laying a solid foundation for success. Rosenblum conveys that a “solid, consensus-based strategic plan can mean the difference between a thriving well-funded system in a culturally resurgent community on the one hand and deteriorating branches out of step with the information needs of their patrons on the other” (Hirsch, 2018, p. 256). She highlights how strategic planning needs to be at the forefront so information users can see the relevancy of information organizations in this modern age.
According to TechTarget, “strategic planning is a process in which an organization’s leaders define their vision for the future and identify their organization’s goals and objectives. The process includes establishing the sequence in which those goals should be realized so the organization can reach its stated vision” (Bigelow & Pratt, 2024). Furthermore, Rosenblum states that “strategic planning is an essential element of organizational management” (Hirsch, 2018, p.256). From this, projects and services can be created that have a lasting impact on the organization and communities they serve. Dubrin, as noted by Searcy (2018), says “management is ‘the process of using organizational resources to achieve organizational objectives through planning, organizing, and staffing, leading and controlling’” (p. 2). Project management proves to be critical because it lowers the risks of failure. When assuming the role of a project manager, it is crucial to exhibit tenacity, collaboration, and ethical behavior (p. 12-13). From there, the team around the manager can work together to lay out a picture analyze risk, and develop solutions for a successful community.
Another strategic factor to consider is communication, especially for marketing and outreach services. Alman stresses that “being an effective communicator entails an understanding of the factors that impact communication and possessing the strategies to deal effectively in many situations” (Hirsch, 2018, p. 374). But to get to marketing, we must understand our community and communicate well. Moreover, Alman emphasizes the importance of effective speaking, writing, and active listening skills (p. 376). Recognizing nonverbal cues is a must especially when physical factors let you down.
Alman goes on to state that marketing and outreach activities are directed at a variety of stakeholders, such as staff, administrators, legislators, collaborators, media outlets, and funding agencies (Hirsch, 2018, p. 383). Marketing plans again go back to the overall strategic plan of the information organization. It is important to convey that each employer and employee plays a vital role in giving the organization a positive image. They will attract the consumer by the way they appear, behave, and promote the organization. Some of the musts Alman highlights prove to be a marketing plan, communication plan and branding strategy, and evaluations and assessments (p. 384).
Advocacy involves obtaining the necessary funding to continue to prosper within a community. According to Sweeney as noted by Hirsch 2018, libraries receive funding from the local, state, and federal levels (p. 388). Furthermore, according to Sweeney, funding is all driven politically. There needs to be seen a need from the public for libraries to keep being funded. It is interesting to see that support for libraries has diminished dramatically in recent years (p. 390). Apparently, the diminished support, however, is driven by the tax issue. Library personnel need to form relationships with community members. Support is out there for libraries, but there is no consistent method of tracking supporters. Sweeney also conveys that “someone is not a library supporter unless the library can identify them and communicate with them” (p. 393). Communication is key to any relationship. Once relationships are established with patrons and community members, the right type of pressure can be used to apply the political gurus.
Evidence
My first artifact to prove my mastery in competency D comes from INFO 204. It is found in part 3Links to an external site. of the library I created. It focused on marketing, outreach, and advocacy. I discussed value. People want to know that the information they are obtaining can be used for their benefit or the benefit of others. We have to find ways to sell ourselves through marketing to achieve that value. If products and services demonstrate worth to patrons within the library, the information professional knows where to target. We have to create relationships with our patrons. Marketing is an important concept to any business because we have to be proactively engage our audience in some unique way to attract those individuals to the products we offer. In other words, we must let them know they are obtaining value. With the Covington Alzheimer’s and Dementia Library (CAADL) having access to online communities for dementia, we gain a sense of what our patrons are in need of. We must do the research ourselves into the different origins of individuals to see how they cope or deal with different situations and the lifestyles they are accustomed to.
I also explored the use of content marketing as a strategy to attract diverse groups to the library. It is all about telling stories but not in the form of the books we have on-site or online. To break it down further into the content marketing world, I said we use email marketing strategies targeted to certain patrons. I am not saying certain patrons are left out. Based on patrons’ trends, the information we are given upon signing up for our services, and how they use the library we can begin to see the preferred way they use resources. In other words, we just do not send out newsletters or generic emails with events or other information on it to all of our patrons. Particular emails are sent out that contain a value for one set of patrons while a whole different subject matter may be sent out to another set of patrons. All contain stories that they can relate to from history, librarians, or other patrons.
My second artifact comes from section 3Links to an external site. of a project where I was the researcher from INFO 204. My team conducted a SWOT analysis for our Starter Library. This would be a strategic project to see where improvement could be made to our organization. We looked into our strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats. We found that our strengths included our staff being passionate, helpful, and welcoming. We had a historical and compelling physical location which included large adaptable spaces. We had an extensive collection of physical and digital resources. We discovered we had a strong and diverse community due to our San Fransico location and we had in-person and virtual classes open to the community. Weaknesses we found included a lack of technology extensions. Because of the multitudes of the live collection of our sourdough starters, we needed an off-site storage facility to accommodate those not being displayed. We needed to come up with ideas on how to tackle any health issues due to environmental exposure to flour particles/dust. We needed to devise a plan to separate our live starter collection from our text collection. We needed to combat the cost of real estate and find ways to maintain temperature-controlled collections. We needed to find ways to advocate for funding and obtain public support for fundraising activities.
Opportunities to consider included a partnership with Puratos Sourdough Library, local bakeries, and food vendors. We had support from city officials and the food industry to keep our library going. Collaboration would take place with different organizations to provide food to unhoused persons. ‘Our library would be able to advocate creating starters as a scientific hobby that can benefit everyone and work with travel agencies and bloggers to promote this unique library as a tourist destination. And finally, we looked at potential threats to the library. We highlighted the potential shortage of sourdough starter supply with the surge of interest that could potentially erupt. We recognized that our clients’ needs could diminish with the use of the starters. With city budget cuts, we would really have to revamp advocating for funding. We also recognized the fact that readily available artisanal bread and pastry from local vendors might diminish the need for a do-it-yourself hobby.
My final piece of evidence came from INFO 282. It was my term paper that discussed project deliverables, project risks, and the closing of a projectLinks to an external site.. I emphasized the importance of effective project planning. I discussed how well-planned projects facilitate easy sharing among all stakeholders. I shared my experience of developing a system to monitor the number of books students checked out from our school library in preparation for its renovation. I was responsible for tracking the usage of hard-copy books to determine whether students preferred borrowing physical books or were more inclined to use online resources, databases, or digital copies of books. My principal needed to know if it was worth keeping the books or not. I kept the logs on a spreadsheet. With further research, I learned our some of our brother and sister schools were heading towards a more online format style of media centers. Books were not being checked out often enough. Through the evidence I provided, the administrators decided to keep a handful of books and the project proved to be a success.
Conclusion
On the smaller end of the spectrum, elements like project planning, management, marketing, and advocacy are always applicable within the classroom. I continually strive to find innovative ways to engage students by making my classes more intriguing through meticulous planning and strategic approaches. Should I advance to an administrative role in the future, I plan to leverage this competency with my colleagues to continually develop new ideas and tasks that will further propel our school forward. I believe books on leadership, management, and especially SWOT analysis would serve me well for continuous education in the future.
References
Bigelow, S. J., & Pratt, M. K. (2024, March 19). What is strategic planning? TechTarget.
https://www.techtarget.com/searchcio/definition/strategic-planning
DuBrin, A. J. (2018). Essentials of management (11th ed.). Cengage Learning.
Project management. (n.d.). In Wikipedia. Retrieved February 9, 2026, from
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Project_management
Rosenblum, B. (2018). Strategic planning. In S. D. Hirsch (Ed.), [Title of course textbook] (p. 256). [Publisher].
Alman, R. (2018). Communication, marketing, and outreach. In S. D. Hirsch (Ed.), [Title of course textbook] (pp. 374–384). [Publisher].
