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Library Strategies believes it is important to listen to the wisdom of our colleagues in the community, as much as relying on the strengths of our own experiences when it comes to doing the work. In the fall of 2022, The Duluth Public Library Foundation worked on a new strategic plan with Library Strategies. During…

A vital part of the role of both Friends Groups and Foundations is fundraising and advocacy for their library. However, fundraising for the Foundation or Friends group can be just different enough that it requires its own mindset and its own set of skills and intentions. This is why Library Strategies offers a dynamic range…

Library Strategies’ IMLS-funded partnership with the Montana State Library is proceeding into Phase Three – conducting strategic planning processes for four to six libraries in the five participating states. This means it’s an excellent time to look back at the results we are beginning to see for our partner libraries. Framing the Future: First Phases…

In this third edition of our series about challenges facing the library, we’re going to walk right up to the elephant in the room and talk intellectual freedom and, specifically, how the library board interacts with this bedrock library concept. Ideally, the library board is comprised of citizens who are passionate about their community and…

Libraries and their support organizations face a variety of challenges every day, it seems. For the past few years we have, appropriately, had a lot of focus on the challenge of providing services during a pandemic while keeping our staff, volunteers, and patrons safe. In working with many libraries around the country, and in our…

We’re in another one of those “the world is a lot” times, or maybe we never left. Regardless, your friends at Library Strategies are here thinking about the ways in which challenging times are affecting libraries. We have used this space before to discuss the ways in which understanding your multi-faceted community can advance the…

Along with recent, reinvigorated interest from libraries hoping to update their strategic plans, Library Strategies hears from many Friends groups and Library Foundations looking to verify that they are aligned to best support their public library. Friends and Foundations have distinct roles, characteristics, and expectations in their communities. Both types of organizations engage the community…

In the years of the pandemic and continued racial reckoning, we’ve noticed that grantors have become more specific in what they are looking for from organizations seeking funding. I asked my Friends of the Saint Paul Public Library colleague, Institutional Relations Manager Julia Ruther, to share some observations.  Julia and I have worked together on…

One key principle of a good strategic planning process (and frankly, many other processes) is to listen before you speak. At Library Strategies, we like to embed multiple ways to listen during every project. For example, we always include an anonymous staff survey, in addition to holding focus groups with library staff. The focus groups…

At the beginning of December, Library Strategies offered a free webinar on foundation board governance best practices. It was the first of three foundation-specific webinars we are offering, taking advantage of the excellent relationship between The Friends of the Saint Paul Public Library and their Board of Trustees.   Approximately 100 people registered for the event…