Background: Our Strategic Planning Process (2004)

What should the library do to serve the needs of our community for the next five years in ways that only a public library can?

To answer that question, consultants Sharon and Dan Wiseman led three meetings of the library‘s strategic planning committee in the fall and winter of 2003–2004. Community members on the committee were Sam Banks, Charlene Bremer, David Hamilton, Stephen Lucas, Rocky Maffit, Carolyn Maille-Peterson, Minnie Pearson, and Carol Steinman.

Also participating were teens Shannon Claiborne, Ellen Deal, Alexis Johnson, Sam Mowry, and Megan Scott, plus representatives from the Champaign City Council, the Library Board of Trustees, the Douglass Branch Advisory Committee, the Library Friends and Foundation boards, and City and library staff. Several focus groups also provided input.

After discussing our community‘s needs, the group talked about which were the most important and how the library might help to meet them. The focus was narrowed to the four library service roles defined below. Those roles were condensed into a mission statement and reshaped into the vision statements you see above.

Finally, library staff members created a Five-Year Plan with specific goals and objectives — steps to take to fulfill those service roles through 2009. Each year, that plan is updated, and twice a year we report on our progress. The links above lead you to our latest plan and update.