Public library planning: a routine practice?
| Pages | 237-247 |
| DOI | https://doi.org/10.1108/LM-12-2016-0101 |
| Published date | 13 June 2017 |
| Date | 13 June 2017 |
| Author | Ana R. Pacios |
| Subject Matter | Library & information science,Librarianship/library management,HR in libraries,Library strategy,Library promotion |
Public library planning:
a routine practice?
Ana R. Pacios
Library and Information Science and Documentation Department,
Universidad Carlos III de Madrid, Getafe, Spain
Abstract
Purpose –The purpose of this paper is to study whether organisations, in this case libraries, continue to plan
after having done so at least once, and whether they conduct planning on a routine basis.
Design/methodology/approach –The websites of 71 libraries, that in 2006 had a strategic or long-term
plan, were analysed to determine whether in 2016 they had a new plan in place. Where there was none or
where the name of the plan had changed, e-mails were sent to the head librarian to ascertain the reasons.
Findings –A total of 71.83 per cent of the libraries in the sample had a new plan underway in October 2016,
i.e., ten years later. A significant rise ( +8.03 per cent) in the number of three-year plans was observed relative
to 2006, perhaps because the crisis and resulting uncertainty have induced libraries to narrow their
decision-making windows. A preference for the term “strategic plan”: over “long-range plan”was also
detected in 2016.
Originality/value –The study provides empirical evidence of the existence of routine planning.
The continuity of plans in a series of libraries shows that in practice planning is a systematic, continuous and
iterative activity, as contended in planning theory.
Keywords Strategic plan, Public library, Planning, Routine, Organizational strategy, Long-range plan
Paper type Research paper
1. Introduction
Ever since the advent of long-range planning in the 1960s, planning has been generally
accepted to be necessary for organisations to meet their objectives. Strategic planning,
which prevailed in the 1980s, further reinforced the advantages of planning for any
organisation. Planning has been adopted ever since as the way to pilot organisations
towards the future and mitigate the unexpected effects of technological, demographic,
economic and political change. It has been shown to be a technique for anticipating
an organisation’s desired results and determining the action required to reach its
intended destination.
Nonetheless, planning has not always been viewed as a suitable technique in very
complex and uncertain settings. It has not been recommended under certain circumstances:
when organisations are confronted with very pressing problems or when no key leaders are
at hand to carry the process forward (Vernis et al., 1998, p. 89). According to Sallán Leyes’s
(2001, pp. 333-338) PhD thesis, many empirical studies have shown that strategic planning
only contributes to organisational success in the presence of certain internal or external
conditions specific to the organisation at issue. Other authors contend that strategic
planning contributes to success only in certain organisations, characterised by a series of
contingent variables. One example of such reasoning is to be found in a paper by Brews and
Hunt (1999, pp. 347-348) who, after establishing a relationship between planning and
performance, drew two conclusions: strategic planning raises organisational effectiveness in
stable environments, with no significant relationship observed in unstable settings;
and planning yields greater benefits as the organisation gains experience with its use.
Fernández and Trullenque (2010, pp. 19-44), however, deem that in changeable or turbulent
environments, the likelihood of failure is clearly higher where no plan is in place.
Strategic planning enables organisations to define their goals, but not necessarily how to
attain them. At the same time, however, no matter how detailed a list of means, if no ultimate
Library Management
Vol. 38 No. 4/5, 2017
pp. 237-247
© Emerald PublishingLimited
0143-5124
DOI 10.1108/LM-12-2016-0101
Received 21 December 2016
Revised 10 February 2017
Accepted 13 February 2017
The current issue and full text archive of this journal is available on Emerald Insight at:
www.emeraldinsight.com/0143-5124.htm
237
Public library
planning
To continue reading
Request your trial