Chemung County Library District Strategic Planning Process Final Report January March 2008 Prepared by Patricia L Owens and Mary Sieminski Senior Consultants RPA Inc Date April

							Chemung County Library District
Strategic Planning Process

Final Report
January - March 2008

Prepared by: Patricia L. Owens and Mary Sieminski, Senior Consultants, RPA Inc.
Date:        April 4, 2008

Background
The Chemung County Library District issued a Request for Proposal with a response date
of September 20, 2007. The intent of the proposal was to invite qualified consultants to
submit proposals to facilitate the creation of a five-year plan (2008-2012) for the
Chemung County Library District.

RPA Inc was selected on October 31, 2007 to facilitate the plan. Senior Consultants
Patricia L. Owens and Mary L. Sieminski were assigned to the project.

Methodology
Library Director Jim Sleeth provided consultants with extensive background documents
on November 14, 2007. The background material included previous long-range plans,
annual reports, surveys, demographic data, and pertinent financial and statistical data.
Consultants reviewed all background information prior to the first site visit.

The initial site visit occurred on Thursday, January 24, 2008. Consultants visited the
following libraries:
   •   West Elmira
   •   Big Flats
   •   Horseheads
   •   Steele Memorial

The Library Fact Sheets and Strengths and Weaknesses documents provided by Library
Director Jim Sleeth were used as a basis for the staff discussions. The initial site visit
with the Chemung County Library District (CCLD) Planning Committee was also held
on January 24, 2008.
The second site visit consisted of two days of focus groups facilitated by Patricia
Owens on Thursday, January 30, and Friday, January 31, 2008. Six focus groups were
held at various locations within the Chemung County Library District.
   Thursday, January 30, 2008
      • Staff focus group
      • Horseheads focus group
      • Southport focus group
     Friday, January 31, 2008
       • Chemung County Library District Planning Committee
       • Big Flats focus group
       • West Elmira focus group

The third onsite meeting was a Town Hall Meeting held on Thursday, February 7,
2008. This was a well-attended meeting with over 60 participants and excellent media
coverage. Consultants presented a power point on Strategic Planning followed by an open
discussion regarding future needs of the CCLD. The support for the CCLD was evident.

The fourth onsite meeting with the CCLD Planning Committee was held on
Thursday, February 21, 2008. Patricia L. Owens presented an initial listing of target areas
to be incorporated into the strategic plan and facilitated a discussion that resulted in the
selection of the top five strategic initiatives to be incorporated into the strategic plan. The
CCLD mission statement was also reviewed for potential changes. There was consensus
the mission statement required no changes.

The fifth onsite meeting with the CCLD Planning Committee was held on Thursday,
February 28, 2008. Library Director Jim Sleeth presented a PowerPoint presentation of
the five DRAFT strategic initiatives, along with action plans. The group discussed the
initiatives and action plan and determined the priority order of the action plan.

The sixth onsite meeting with the CCLD Planning Committee was held on Thursday,
March 6, 2008, with the CCLD Planning Committee. Jim Sleeth presented the revised
PowerPoint second draft of the strategic plan. Minor changes were made in the language.
The group then focused their attention on the seventh onsite meeting scheduled for
Thursday, March 27, 2008, the forum to present the strategic plan to local government
officials and the media.

The seventh onsite meeting to present the final plan to local government officials, the
media, and the public was held on March 27, 2008. Board Chair Allen C. (Denny) Smith
introduced Planning Committee Chair, Kimberly Richards, who presented the plan.
Over 50 members of the public, representatives of local government, library staff, Board
members, and the media attended. Overall the audience was appreciative of the plan and
planning process itself. Concerns, as expected, revolved around possible tax increases to
fund the plan.




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Consultant Remarks
The process used to facilitate the strategic planning process was excellent. The success is
due in large part to the pre-planning. The Chemung County Library District Planning
Committee functioned very well as evidenced by both attendance and participation.

Community support for the relatively newly formed Library District was demonstrated
via focus group and Town Hall input.

Five ad hoc committees, each chaired by a CCLD Board of Trustees member, will
facilitate the implementation of the Strategic Plan. Committee members may be staff,
Board members, Friends, or members of the general public, and they will be responsible
for identifying timelines and assigning responsibilities for each of the action steps under
the strategy that they are responsible for.

Both Consultants will remain available to the CCLD Library Director and Committee
Chairs as a resource as their work progresses.

One of the biggest challenges is the lack of administrative staff for the CCLD. In
addition, forthcoming senior staff retirements will result in a need to re-examine staffing
patterns. Overall staff positions that were lost a number of years ago have not been re-
placed.

The CCLD has had good success with approval of budgets since the Library District was
formed. However, the District is not perceived as a unified district by the staff or the
general public.

The Strategic Plan will serve as an excellent tool to address this issue.

Finally, we thank the CCLD Director, Planning Committee members, and library staff for
the opportunity to participate in this critical planning step for the CCLD. We appreciate
the professional courtesy and hospitality shown to us and look forward to any further
assistance we can provide.


Please Note: All Consultant reports are posted on the CCLD website.




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