Harnett County Public Library's Long Range Plan -- Introduction

601 North Main Street, Lillington, North Carolina, 27546
Phone: (910) 893-3446 / Fax: (910) 893-3001

Long Range Plan for the Harnett County Public Library, 2003-2007

Executive Summary
» Introduction
Community Needs
Library Service Priorities
Vision Statement
Mission Statement
Goals and Objectives:

Current Titles and Topics
Lifelong Learning
Information Literacy
General Information
Formal Learning Support

Motivation for Planning

In July 2002, the Harnett County Library received a federally-funded LSTA (Library Services and Technology Act) grant to develop a strategic plan for its library system by implementing the planning process outlined in the Public Library Association’s publication, The New Planning for Results.

The Harnett County Public Library was motivated to plan by the fact that the library had not engaged in a planning process since 1989. The most recent planning document had been helpful but was seen as badly out of date. The rapid changes in Harnett County (according to the 2000 census, Harnett was the 8th fastest growing county in the state) and the need for the library to respond to the changing needs to its community made a new plan necessary.

The Planning Process

The Harnett County Public Library chose to use the planning process outlined in The New Planning for Results. This planning process was developed by the Public Library Association of the American Library Association to encourage public libraries to define their services in light of the needs of the individual communities being served. The New Planning for Results was specifically written for small and medium sized public libraries and emphasizes a streamlined, community-based approach to planning.

The planning process outlined in The New Planning for Results is based on the assumption that excellence must be defined locally and that excellence results when library services match user needs, interests, and priorities. Consequently, The New Planning for Results process asks key community stakeholders to identify a vision for the community served by the library. This vision is intended to help library planners determine how the library can make a contribution toward achieving the community vision.

Participants

The key community stakeholders for the Harnett County Public Library’s planning process formed the Planning Committee:

Kelly Bain (Lillington), a library school student
Cameron Barr, (Broadway), a magistrate and a member of the Rotary Club
Cathey Clifton (Buies Creek), member of the Harnett County Library staff
Jo Ennis (Buies Creek), a day care owner
Martha Ann Goff (Dunn), a retired school librarian and a member of the Dunn Library Board
Bill Goodnight (Lillington), a minister
Debbie Jackson (Western Harnett), a homeschooler
Addie McLean (Bunnlevel), Director of the Harnett County Job Center
Rosa Maria Matthews (Buies Creek), a member of the Latino community:
Steve Plummer (Lillington), a banker
Marie Salmon, a Library Board member
Jane Schumann (Buies Creek), an employee of the Harnett County school system
Clenton Smith, Town Manager of Coats
Terri Stephenson (Coats), a branch librarian
Paula Stewart (Angier), Director, Harnett County’s MIS Department

The staff of the Harnett County Public Library was also involved in the planning process

The Harnett County Public Library’s planning process was facilitated by Dr. Robert Burgin, a library consultant with 27 years of experience in library education, library consulting, and library administration.