Hurstville Library & Information Services Strategic Plan 2006 – / / / / /10

Hurstville Library Ideas, imagination & community St George’s Dragon Reads!

Stakeholders Residents, workers, visitors (actual & remote) Users & potential users Councillors, executive & senior staff, Council staff Library staff & volunteers Community groups Educational institutions Businesses State Library State & federal politicians Suppliers Regional & consortia partners Professional associations Funding bodies & sponsors Current & potential competitors

Key Assumptions Ongoing need to reinvent ourselves as our role changes Increasing community diversity & expectations of our service Literacy will remain critical

Catalysts for Change: Stakeholders  Increasing & changing diversity of community needs & expectations  Demographic change (increasing CALD, youth peak 2009, greying population)  Expectations of more convenient, personalised service, 24/7 access, multilingual access for all language groups  Enabling & providing ‘virtual’ social connections, community living space & cultural venue  Need to strategically position the Library in political context (local, state, federal)

Catalysts for Change: Stakeholders continued  Regional role & pressure for regional cooperation, strong partnerships &/or amalgamation  Council’s strategic direction, MasterPlan, policies & financial resources  Increasing need for political support in a time of change

Catalysts for Change: Staff  Impact on staff skill sets now & into future from changing expectations, role & technologies  Skill mix changes – library qualifications vs comparable qualifications vs experience  Changing mix of employees vs contractors  Greying of workforce, loss of corporate knowledge  Increasing focus on succession planning & professional development  Ongoing change management, business process review

Catalysts for Change: Resources  Continuing rapid technological changes – impact on role, services, & staff, plus upgraded capacity requirements  Resources & funding – local, state, federal, macro economic environment, global trends  Expectation of more with less, pressure to value the service in $ terms  Increased emphasis on non-Council funding, partnerships & consortia  Increasing costs to maintain & renew infrastructure

Catalysts for Change: Resources continued  Cost shifting to local government in context of no-growth budgets  Pressures for sustainability – social, environmental, economic & cultural

Strategic Focus Themes 1. The Library as a destination – engagement 2. Vision & innovation 3. Dynamic, responsive & relevant services 4. Long-term sustainability – resources, politics & risk

Strategic Focus Themes 1. The Library as a destination – engagement u Promote & increase the Library’s community of users, including virtual users u Provide flexible & appropriate facilities u Enhance & promote the Library’s program of activities, cultural events & exhibitions u Marketing

Strategic Focus Themes 2. Vision & innovation u Innovation – best practice & beyond u Technological leadership

Strategic Focus Themes 3. Dynamic, responsive & relevant services u Understanding our community u Enhanced online services u Improving customer service u Improving collections

Strategic Focus Themes 4. Long-term sustainability – resources, politics & risk u Staff excellence - the Library is an employer of choice u Maximise opportunities for revenue-raising & value-adding to services u Investigate strategic alliances for financial support & enhanced service delivery u Manage risk

Strategies & Outcomes, Actions & Targets

The Library as a Destination Engagement Strategy & Outcomes ActionsSuccess Measures Promote & increase the Library’s community of users  Increased profile as a relevant & valued community resource amongst a range of user groups  Strong & effective partnerships  Increased utilisation of rooms & spaces  Effective community engagement strategies in place  Frontline staff with skills to facilitate inclusive policies & practices  Investigate new ways to engage with community  Investigate increased community group access & use  Review policies to emphasise inclusiveness  Build business & community partnerships  Increased usage  Customer retention rate  All policies reflect inclusivity

The Library as a Destination Engagement Strategy & Outcomes ActionsSuccess Measures Enhance & promote the library’s program of activities, cultural events & exhibitions  Place of community education, lifelong learning & enjoyment for all  Strong & effective partnerships  Contribute to annual cultural program across Council  Build events program eg one- off speakers (Law Week etc), author visits  Liaise with stakeholders to develop community identity & local heritage collections & resources  Cooperatively develop relevant programs with key identified target groups (children, CALD, youth, older clients etc)  Satisfaction / climate surveys  Participation rates

The Library as a Destination Engagement Strategy & Outcomes ActionsSuccess Measures Marketing  Users & non-users knowledgeable & supportive  Develop logo & tagline  Develop & implement marketing strategy  Satisfaction / climate surveys  Perceived value for money

The Library as a Destination Engagement Strategy & Outcomes ActionsSuccess Measures Providing flexible & appropriate facilities  User-friendly, accessible, convenient facilities which meet relevant standards  Popular community focal point, promoting community connections  Investigate feasibility & options for upgrade of Central & Branch & flexible service delivery options  Improve safety & security for library patrons & staff  Contribute to CBD MasterPlan Civic Precinct development  Satisfaction / climate surveys  Compliance with relevant standards  Compliance with People Places guidelines  Utilisation rates

Leadership Vision & Innovation Strategy & Outcomes ActionsSuccess Measures Innovation – best practice & beyond  Flexible options for service delivery established to meet identified market need  New trends, technologies, services form part of planning cycle  Establish issues- based ‘Think Tank’ meetings to plan new business strategies to meet identified customer needs  Develop culture of proactive networking & literature scanning  Develop culture of information sharing  Best practice services & service delivery

Leadership Vision & Innovation Strategy & Outcomes ActionsSuccess Measures Technological leadership  Technology as enabler for service delivery & process efficiencies  Leader in relevant, innovative library technology services  Develop and implement Technology Strategic Plan  Satisfaction / climate surveys  Utilisation rates

Dynamic, Responsive & Relevant Services Strategy & Outcomes ActionsSuccess Measures Understanding our community  Ongoing, effective community consultations where the outcomes are integrated across the organisation  Appropriate analysis of community need  Research & consult with community, users & non-users to identify needs & expectations  Develop targeted community engagement strategy for input into decisions about collections, resources & services  Focus group evaluations  Internal support  Partner support  Needs analyses reflect local / regional / global trends

Dynamic, Responsive & Relevant Services Strategy & Outcomes ActionsSuccess Measures Improving customer service  Outstanding customer service, high level of customer satisfaction  Acknowledged Best Practice across diverse range of relevant & equitable services, facilities & resources  Build organisational culture that supports a customer focus & responsiveness to change  Investigate opening hours & options for increased out-of- hours servicing  Satisfaction / climate surveys  Utilisation rates  Awards & peer acknowledgement

Dynamic, Responsive & Relevant Services Strategy & Outcomes ActionsSuccess Measures Improving collections  Meeting informational & recreational resource demands  Provider of up-to- date, accurate & timely community information  Focal point for local history, cultural & heritage resources  Review Collection Development Policy after consideration of community & customer research  Improve targeting of collections & services through community input  Enhance the community language collection & services  Promote & increase access to resources, especially new resources  Satisfaction / climate surveys  Focus groups  Utilisation rates

Dynamic, Responsive & Relevant Services Strategy & Outcomes ActionsSuccess Measures Enhanced online access  Technologically advanced  Improved remote access & connection to global resources  Develop & implement Technology Strategic Plan  Implement new library management system  Enhance portal & remote access  Empower patrons, eg computer self- booking system  Satisfaction / climate surveys  Utilisation rates  Service reliability

Long-Term Sustainability Strategy & Outcomes ActionsSuccess Measures Library is an employer of choice  Sufficient professional, trained staff with technical expertise  HR values high quality customer service  Support staff to achieve excellence  Maximise staff potential through culture of continuous improvement, learning & development  Empower Library Management Team & all staff  Develop staff succession plan  Cultural satisfaction survey (staff)

Long-Term Sustainability Strategy & Outcomes ActionsSuccess Measures Maximise opportunities for revenue-raising & value-adding to services  Increasing financial independence / contribution to the organisation  Appropriate mix of outsourcing & in-house provision of services (for cost-effectiveness)  Operationally efficient  Investigate revenue- raising opportunities such as contracting services  Investigate forming businesses within the library structure  Identify needs of different target groups  Identify holistic costs of fees & charges, services  % funding external to organisation  Lower costs / increased resources  Outsourcing / insourcing decisions support strategic direction  Meet or exceed internal standards

Long-Term Sustainability Strategy & Outcomes ActionsSuccess Measures Investigate strategic alliances for financial support & enhanced service delivery  Political support at local, state & federal levels  Financial support enabling provision of equitable access to services & programs  Identify areas of need & key partners, enhancing provision of relevant services at appropriate locations  Encourage partnerships – stay open to opportunity  Identify needs of different target groups  Secure funding base  Political recognition of value  Champions within the community

Long-Term Sustainability Strategy & Outcomes ActionsSuccess Measures Manage risk  Safe service – physical & emotional wellbeing of staff & patrons  Intellectual risk managed  Comply with & proactively lead in OH&S & risk management requirements by regular audit & review  Promote safety to all: safe for employees and public  Hazards identified & control measures in place  Meet or exceed internal standards

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