Review of NJLA Strategic Plan

NJLA Strategic Plan – Review of Plan in 2009 by Executive Board Planning Committee

Review of NJLA Strategic Plan

Goal 1: NJLA, in partnership with others in the library community, will be an effective voice with funding sources, governing bodies and governmental officials on issues which impact library services.

Objectives:

1.1  Develop a yearly legislative platform that clearly communicates a vision of library services for the residents of New Jersey. (Public Policy Committee.)

Activities:

·  Revisit, revise and reaffirm the NJLA legislative platform each year

Legislative priorities platform adopted by PP in June 2008 and NJLA Exec. Board in Nov. 2008 and forwarded to NJ State Library;

Survey on Valuing State and Regional Services (Public Policy Dec. 08);

Four legislative forums were held in Jan. 09 in each region to get input from library community on legislative & budgetary priorities-250 attended;

Legislative forum meeting was held on June 5, 09, by Public Policy Committee to seek annual input for legislative priorities to go to State Library after adoption by Exec. Bd. – 50 attended.

·  Seek, when appropriate, the introduction of legislation which supports the advancement of library service

Campaign against League of Municipalities resolution reducing 1/3 mil support for dedicated public library funding – 20 Town Councils adopted & 141 Library Boards;

NJLA made two Budget Testimonies at Legislative Budget Hearings on March 24 and 26, 09 (Exec. Director);

Meetings with Governor Corzine’s aides, including:

Efforts made to exempt libraries from the 4% cap law – they continue;

Cap Legislation efforts reported by Exec. Director

Mailed letter to Ed McBride in Oct 2008;

Arranged meeting with Governor’s staff for Eileen Palmer, Marian Bauman of Neptune Twp and I in Feb. 2009;

Eileen Palmer, Carol Nersinger and a trustee from East Brunswick met in May with representatives of the Governor again on this issue.

Legislative Meetings (by Exec. Director)

Meeting with Assemblyman Prieto on A3753 on Feb. 25;

Meeting with Assemblyman Gerry Green, chair of the Assembly Housing and Local Government Committee, on Feb. 17;

Meetings with Senator Buono, Assemblyman Malone, Cryan and Assemblywoman Cruz-Perez on the budget;

Meetings with Assemblyman Coutinho (District 29); Assemblywoman Voss (District 38) and Assemblywoman Pou (District 35) on autism.

Meeting with Assemblyman Chivukula on broadband.

·  Develop and disseminate position papers and fact sheets to further NJLA’s legislative positions and action;

Legislative Priorities were adopted by the Exec. Bd. on Nov. 18, 08;

As a result of Snapshot Day on Feb. 19, 2009, fact sheets and audiovisuals of use of the state’s libraries were done and were sent to media; posted on NJLA Wikis and library webpages statewide and used in Capwiz messages to defeat legislative efforts to change dedicated library funding from 1/3 of a mil to 1/6 of a mil

As a result of recent projected budget cuts from the Governor’s office, NJLA and NJSL have developed budget information sheets showing cuts to library funding over past few years and comparing to lack of increases for 20 years.

·  Use the NJLA webpage as a primary source for information regarding NJLA’s legislative positions and action

Use of WIKIS has enhanced current information. Public Policy has an advocacy calendar and advocacy resources and toolkits; wealth of information on use of libraries from Snapshot Day. Information from forums posted on Public Policy WIKI. (President, PP, Publications Committees)

Legislative section is prominent on redesigned NJLA page and has current legislative issues. (on top banner) President, PP and Webpage Committees.

·  Seek endorsement of NJLA’s legislative positions from other organizations that could assist in advancing this agenda

Worked with NJ League of Municipalities to remove libraries from the 4% cap; (Exec. Director.)

Working with Dept. of Labor and other groups to mutually serve literacy / employment missions; (Exec. Director, President, RLCs, and SL.

Lots of attempts to work with Governor’s Counsel and Republican Party financial committee people – bipartisan efforts (Pat, Tina Keresztury and others.)

Model Resolution opposing 1/6 of a mil was adopted by the Exec. Bd. In Dec. 08; Resolutions adapted from the model resolution were adopted by 145 Library Boards and 20 municipalities (Exec. Director, PP Committee).

1.2  Monitor state and federal legislative activity regarding issues of importance to the library community. (Public Policy Committee, Intellectual Freedom Subcommittee, NJLA Director)

Activities:

·  Use current communication methods to inform the library community when immediate legislative action is needed

CapWiz was used in Feb. and May 2009 to beat back Assembly bill A 3753 & Senate bill S 2775 to cut dedicated municipal library funding from 1/3 of a mil to 1/6 of a mil- Assemblyman Prieto withdrew the bill and worked with NJLA to provide other relief to taxpayers; Senate bill was withdrawn in June 2009 by Senator Stack; (Exec. Director, PP)

Telephone conferencing program bought by NJLA in early 2009 to make committee communication better and quicker;

NJLA and NJSL listen to weekly meetings on progress with federal stimulus funding to see how it can help our legislative priorities and mission; (Exec. Dir., Chair of PP)

·  Develop an action plan to deal with political issues

Plans are being developed to work on a more formal plan by Exec. Director/ President/ Chair of Public Policy Committee in 2009-10.

·  Provide assistance to libraries in developing responses to complex issues

NJLA assisted Belleville, Bloomingdale, Jamesburg, Ocean City and Avalon Libraries with complex issues from firing the board of trustees to working out a mechanism to give back extra funds;

Survey on Non-Resident Cards (Public Policy 2008)

Document produced and distributed: “Guidelines on Equitable Public Library Services” (Public Policy 2008 and adopted by Exec. Bd. in March 09). Exec. Director.

NJLA partners with NJSL to provide timely assistance to libraries on difficult issues;

NJLA and NJSL give programs to trustees (May 9, 09 Trustee Conference) on a variety of issues they will face (law, finance, and working with elected officials) This included updates and advocacy coaching on A3753; S2775 and dedicated funding/ cap law. Exec. Director

NJLA provides a list of working lawyers in subject specialties for Boards of Trustees when they need special expertise

Intellectual Freedom (IF) subcommittee provided workshops on privacy (at least six sessions and conference programs and updated NJLA Privacy Guidelines document.)

IF did program on electronic records at the annual April 2009 conference.

Grayson Barber provides pro bono advice when law enforcement comes to libraries.

Grayson Barber and Exec. Director met with Attorney General’s staff on Internet safety bills (Spring 2009)

NJLA, NJSL, RLCs & DOL provided 4 workshops for librarians on dealing with unemployment – functioning as e-government and business assistance centers; (May- June 2009);

NJLA Pre-Conference by Ref. Section on Business Services in April 2009

1.3  Advocate for increased funding for libraries. (Public Policy Committee, Public Relations Committee.)

Activities:

·  Identify and pursue public/ private partnerships that will result in increased funding for libraries

Work with SL and RLCs on DOL partnership to keep what we have and perhaps gain resources/ recognition in what we have done for a long time.

·  Advocate for an increase in the amount of state funding available to support library service

Due to the current economic climate, NJLA and most other state agencies and publicly funded institutions have had to pursue holding onto resources and trying to minimize reductions in funding. A mighty effort was made to see that a projected 20% decrease in funding for the NJ Library network did not come to pass. Later, an additional 10% decrease did not come to pass (June 09). Efforts to protect funding in current year and for coming years continue.

Use of Capwiz to beat back Assembly and Senate bills to reduce dedicated public library funding from 1/3 of a mil to 1/6 of a mil

Federal Legislation (efforts of Exec. Director)

Went to Washington with Norma Blake and Mick Schiering in April 2009;

Participated in ALA federal legislative Day in Mary 2009;

Participated in numerous ALA phone calls on the stimulus;

Sent legislative alerts to ask Congress to include libraries in the stimulus;

Sent legislative alerts for congress to support higher levels of support to LSTA;

Attend meetings with State Library and Thomas Edison Staff on stimulus;

Attended Governor’s meeting on the stimulus;

Chair of ALA committee on Reauthorization of LSTA;

Prepared documents for US Secretary of Education Arne Duncan’s visit to New Jersey in June 09;

1.4  Train NJLA members to be library advocates. (Public Policy Committee, Professional Development Committee.)

Activities:

·  Design programs and presentations for the library community to use with their elected officials and community organization

·  Continue the practice of hosting an annual lobbying day/ legislative activity

NJLA Preconference on Marketing as a Team Sport and other conference programs;

NJLTA May 9, conference with Stephanie Vance on advocacy to stakeholders & elected officials. (About 180 attended.)

May 11 and 12, 09 was ALA Legislative Day - 25 members attended and visited with all NJ congressional delegations in Washington, D. C.

1.5  Increase understanding of NJLA’s legislative positions through pro-active contacts with elected officials and their staffs. (NJLA Director, Public Policy Committee and Executive Board.)

Administrative Contacts with Corzine Administration (Exec. Director)

Organized meeting with the Department of Labor and Workforce Development on training sessions for librarians;

8 workshops on how to assist people filing for unemployment benefits. Regional library cooperatives and the NJ State Library participated;

Reviewed grant proposal from County Colleges to get a Department of Labor Grant to assist in computer training in libraries. No word yet;

Participated in the grant proposal workshop for a labor grant. Grant deadline is July 2;

Met with government organizations working on assisting people with foreclosure. Hope to replicate the labor model in the future (Exec. Director, President, NJSL & RLCs – June 09.)

Attend Conference on Workforce Development sponsored by Governor’s office on Dec. 3

Attended meetings with Corzine officials on “green technology” organized by Tina Keresztury.

Activities:

·  Maintain a network of members who can discuss library issues with legislators and other key government officials

Exec. Director, President and Chair of Public Policy are working on development of more formal network for 2009-10. This includes working with the State Library to develop a Library Champions program modeled on BCCLS’ program – beginning summer of 2009 – to be accomplished by Sept. 1, 09, as part of next year’s Strategic Plan accomplishments.

Library Legislative Liaisons with Specific Representatives (reported by the Exec. Director)

We have always reached the right legislative offices when an issued has arisen but not with a formal list of people.For example, we got to Hoboken which got to Senator Stack. We got to Robert White who also contacted Secaucus who got to Assemblyman Prieto. We contacted Joe DaRold who went to Assemblyman Green. We went to Chris Maloney at Ocean City who gets to Van Drew.

1.6  Educate new members as to the benefits of continuing membership.

Member Services Committee has made considerable efforts to do this including personal communication, invitations to events at conference, dine arounds at conference, etc.

Vision and Leadership

Goal 2: NJLA will enable members to develop a collective vision for the future direction of libraries in the state and support them in their efforts to attain that vision.

Objectives:

2.1 Promote the staffing of libraries with professional librarians. (Public Policy Committee, Professional Development Committee.)

Activities:

·  Conduct continuing education seminars and training on NJLA’s core competencies for librarians

IT Section held joint program with NJ Library for the Blind and Handicapped on Virtual Communication and Assistive Technologies;

IT Section organized conference programs on such topics as video, Twitter; the future customer; Google Analytics and held most of the IT section virtually;

Prof. Development Committee saw a demonstration in March 09 of using a webinar software tool to create CE programs to reach a broader audience (given by Scherelene Schatz who is using it for JerseyCat.) Exploration of this tool is underway.

·  Cultivate a student chapter at Rutgers School of Communication, Information and Library Studies (new name)

Membership Committee met with Rutgers student chapter. A March 6, 09 Rutgers Careers day was attended where NJLA members screened resumes and gave pointers to Rutgers student members (President);

Visit to Rowan University Library program to cultivate membership in NJLA (January 2009)-VP met with six students;

29 graduates of the NJ Emerging Leaders program were visited twice by NJLA Vice-President in spring 2009. They were invited them to join committees and to become active in NJLA through advocacy- see planned initiatives section for 2009-10;

President to work with Membership and / or Professional Development Committees to mentor and to keep track of these EL graduates and cultivate them for NJLA participation.

·  Work with trustees, administrators and commissioners to affirm the value of the professional library degree (MLS, MLIS)

Trustee Institute programs on May 9, 09, keynote seminar on advocacy with elected officials and stakeholders; 180 attended

Marketing programs for Trustees on May 9, 09;

Use of Capwicz with NJLTA to affirm dedicated library funding- trustees were key to 3500 messages that were sent to beat back A2775 of Assemblyman Prieto;

Work with trustees and local officials to get libraries outside of the 4% cap; exploration of library funding as dedicated- ongoing;

PAC annual recommended minimum for starting salaries for librarians and support staff for 2008 was approved by Executive Board; (annual recommendation is made.)

2.2 Provide representation and give input to the development and implementation of ongoing initiatives in cooperation with the State Library, the regional library cooperatives, Rutgers SCILS, VALE, NJASL, NJLTA, NJALA, the Council on NJ College and University Deans, University Librarians, and directors, the library community and other appropriate groups. (NJLA Director, President, Committee Chairs.)

Activities:

·  Attend major meetings, programs and events of these bodies

President and Exec. Director attend and report back monthly. Committee heads report at least annually.

·  Provide updates on NJLA activities to these groups