Support

Policies, Planning and Standards

Policies

Policies are very important to everyone from the library director to patrons.  Every library should have a basic set of policies on file in the event that a patron, Board member or funding authority questions what/why/how your guidelines and rules are.  Thoughtful and planned policies protect library staff and patrons from arbitrary rules and whims.  

Policies are often confused with procedures.  Procedures tell you how something is done at the most basic level; policies set the direction of an action in order to arrive at an desirable outcome.  It is not only important to have a variety of policies on several issues; it is equally important that policies are reviewed, updated and signed annually or biennially.  Who signs the policies can vary for each library.  It may the Board members, a member of the funding authority or a municipal or county official.   

The AALS Professional Collection has several titles on policies.  Probably the best-known title on policies is Herman Totten and Jeanette Larson’s Model Policies for Small and Medium Public Libraries.  Other titles include Creating Policies for Results: From Chaos to Clarity, and The Public Library Manager’s Forms, Policies and Procedures Manual. If you are interested in borrowing any of these titles, and you are a library staff member within AALS, please call the AALS Office at 210/207-2609 for additional information.

For small libraries, the AALS Office has several policy models that you can use as a starting point.  These are circulation, collection development, patron conduct, meeting room, Internet safety and interlibrary loan.  Please call AALS at 210/207-2609 and we will send you copies of the models.  Several policy samples for small libraries in Wisconsin may be viewed here. 

Strategic Planning

Strategic planning, also known as long-range planning, guides a community team through a process of determining what the community will need in the future and what services the library can provide to meet those needs.  Many library planning processes are based on the For Results method of planning that was developed by Sandra Nelson.  The AALS Professional Collection offers the original Planning for Results and the New Planning for Results by Sandra Nelson and June Garcia for check-out.

Many libraries use a facilitator in the planning process.  Normally, the facilitator assists the library in choosing participants throughout the community, guiding the participants through one or more focus group meetings and completing the process with a written plan consisting of a vision, mission statement, goals and objectives.  Please call the AALS Office (210/207-2609) for more information before beginning a planning process.

If you are interested in learning more about the For Results series, the Public Library Association (PLA)  offers an annual intensive training program taught by Sandra Nelson and June Garcia – Results Book Camp. As the Web site states, “Master the Management Skills You Didn’t Learn in Library School”.  Call Kathryn Sturtz at 210/207-2609 for more information.

Standards

The Texas Public Library Standards organize qualitative and quantitative standards for all public libraries in Texas.  As the introduction states, “The purpose of these standards is to promote quality library service to all Texans, to raise the expectations of library clientele, and to provide an authoritative document to which library administrators and supporters may refer when justifying requests for funds.”