52 Fresh Blog Ideas for a Full Year of Content

The idea of starting a blog can be intimidating. Some people fear that writing just takes too much time, that there’s no guarantee that anyone will even read the posts, and that coming up with new ideas on a regular basis is a job in and of itself. It doesn’t have to be this hard.…

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Online Resources Every Library Should Consult

As any library director or system administrator will tell you, keeping a public library running entails a bewildering number of day-to-day responsibilities. With so much to do, and so little time left over for “big picture thinking,” it’s quite common to lose sight of what is going on in Libraryworld beyond your own service area.…

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Trends Shaping Today’s Libraries (Part 4)

(Read our Part 1 of our Library Trends Series!) (Read our Part 2 of our Library Trends Series!) (Read our Part 3 of our Library Trends Series!) ——— Whether you are conducting strategic planning, embarking on a capital campaign, or on the hunt for a new library executive with credentials perfectly suited to the role,…

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We’ll be at PLA, Let’s Chat!

If you’re attending PLA this month, make sure to let us know! Library Strategies Director, Stu Wilson, and Principal Consultant, Peter Pearson, will be attending this year’s conference in Philadelphia. Both Stu and Peter would love to chat with you and talk about how Library Strategies can help you advance your library or support organization.…

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Supervising & Motivating an Intergenerational Library Workforce

A popular managerial maxim holds that “managing things is easy – managing people is the challenge” (Evans & Alire). This may be more true now than ever before. Recent demographic shifts have created an unprecedented situation, wherein members of four different generations are working side by side, in large numbers, in workplaces across the country.…

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What Makes a Good Friends Group?

Over the years since Library Strategies was created, we’ve worked with dozens of Friends groups across the country. Some were led by board members who’d been serving as volunteers for as many as thirty years and were praying for a way out, but were too committed to just leave. Other Friends groups have a kick-butt…

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Three Things Every New Library Director Should Consider

1) Library-Community Relationship? How does the library fit into the community—and can it fit better? Forget about the budget and the facility for a moment. Consider instead what the foremost issues are facing the community, then inventory what other organizations are addressing those issues, and, finally, assess how the library might partner with those organizations…

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Trends Shaping Today’s Libraries (Part 3)

(Read our Part 1 of our Library Trends Series!) (Read our Part 2 of our Library Trends Series!) ——— Anyone who frequents libraries knows that physical collections are not static – items are added, and others weeded, all the time. Less obvious, but no less important, is the fact that library service is also slowly…

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Following-up On Your Grant Proposal

“Congratulations, you have been awarded a grant!” This is wonderful news and well worth celebrating, but don’t forget to: Call and say “thank you.” This should be done by your fundraising volunteer who assisted with the process, or by you or your organization chair or president—preferably on the same day you receive notification. Write a…

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Webinar Series: The Importance of Planning

This free webinar series “The Importance of Planning” shows you just how important it is for Libraries and support organizations to prepare for their future. The series includes Library Strategies’ unique and innovative Rapid Results Planning® strategic planning process. The three-part series is produced by Library Strategies and hosted by consultants Sue Hall and Stu…

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