Introduction
This essay presents a discussion about the development of strategies to address strategic issues within the Clayton County Library System. It also explains how the five-part process can be applied to a specific strategic issue within the library.
A Brief Description of Clayton County Library System
Clayton County Library System is one of the most prominent public libraries that have been established to serve the people of Georgia County (Clayton County Library System, n.d). The main library has six branches. Given the six branches, the library reaches out to many diverse community members with its different informational services (Clayton County Library System, n.d).
The Strategic Issues of Clayton County Library System
A strategic issue can be defined as something major, internal or external, that may either limit or expand the alternatives available to an organization to deal with certain challenges (Katz, 2013; Marco, 2011). Since issues are often strategic, they must be long-term in nature (Barraket, 2008). In this regard, one of the strategic issues of the library is the lack of financial strength (Kemp, 2009; Coleman, 2008). It is strategic because the achievements of the organizational goals are based on the availability of adequate finances.
The other strategic issue is the lack of effective advocacy to market the library’s services to relevant parties (Kemp, 2009). This issue is strategic because it is the only approach that can be used to inform different parties about the services and needs of the library.
The Application of the Five-Part Process to the Strategic Issues
The five-part approach to the process of strategy development involves the answering of five specific questions, which relate to elements like practical alternatives, dreams, or visions that may be used to deal with a strategic issue; the questions also relate to barriers to the realization of the mentioned elements, the major proposals that may be used to achieve the elements, the major actions to be taken to implement the proposals, and the major steps that must be taken to implement the proposals (Bryson, 2011; Laureate Education Inc., 2013).
In the case of the strategic issues, the first step is to identify the practical alternatives that the library may pursue to deal with the issues (Bryson, 2011; Renz, 2010). The result of this case is that the library may consider alternatives like community fund-raising, support from businesses and companies in the form of donations, and undertaking effective advocacy to sensitize various people and organizations about the library’s services and needs.
The second step is to single out the barriers to the realization of the alternatives in terms of securing sufficient financial strengths to accomplish the goals of the library (Bryson, 2011; Renz, 2010). The result of this process includes the lack of advocacy personnel to enlighten various relevant parties on the importance of supporting the library financially.
The third step involves the specific proposals that the library may pursue to achieve the alternatives (Bryson, 2011; Renz, 2010). Therefore, the proposals may include the recruitment of competent advocacy and resource mobilization personnel, an action that also deals with the strategic issue of advocacy.
The fourth step is about the major actions that the library must take to execute the proposals, in which case the library officials may approach the board of directors to seek its authority to implement the proposals (Bryson, 2011; Renz, 2010).
The last step is about the specific step that the library must take to implement the major proposals, and the identification of the persons who are to be responsible for the process (Bryson, 2011; Renz, 2010). The result of this process is that the library may embark on recruiting advocacy and resource mobilization personnel; after the recruitment, the personnel may each be given specific responsibilities to perform to enlist the support of community members and various companies.
The Most Helpful Process Guideline
The most helpful process guide is the question about the practical alternatives. This is because, after the identification of the alternatives, the remaining process guidelines come under consideration. Importantly, the other process guidelines may not be helpful before the first one is undertaken, in which case the first process guideline is the most helpful (Therivel, 2013).
Conclusion
The strategic issues of the Clayton County Library System include the lack of financial strength and effective advocacy. This is because the library, being a public institution, relies on the support of the government authorities (Kemp, 2009; Coleman, 2008).
References
Barraket, J. (2008). Strategic Issues for the Not-for-profit Sector. Sydney, Australia: UNSW Press.
Bryson, J. M. (2011). Strategic Planning for Public and Nonprofit Organizations: A Guide to Strengthening and Sustaining Organizational Achievement. Winchester, Hampshire: John Wiley & Sons.
Clayton County Library System. (n.d). Web.
Coleman, B. (2008). Keeping the Faith: The Public Library’s Commitment to Adult Education. Ann Arbor, MI: ProQuest.
Katz, L. S. (2013). Strategic Marketing in Library and Information Science. New York, NY: Routledge.
Kemp, K. (2009). Historic Clayton County: The Sesquicentennial History. San Antonio, TX: HPN Books.
Laureate Education Inc. (Producer). (2013). Strategic Planning: Future Vision and Implementation [DVD]. Baltimore, MD: Laureate Education, Inc.
Marco, G. (2011). The American Public Library Handbook. New York, NY: ABC-CLIO.
Renz, D. (2010). The Jossey-Bass Handbook of Nonprofit Leadership and Management. Winchester, Hampshire: John Wiley & Sons.
Therivel, R. (2013). Strategic Environmental Assessment in Action. New York, NY: Routledge.