Strategic Planning as a Catalyst for Change in the 1990s

If research libraries are to have desirable futures, they will have to create them. Strategic planning can assist library administrators in assessing their environments, identifying alternative futures, and creating change in their organizations. It can also serve as a vehicle to empower library staff and to increase the library's external visibility. Two recently appointed research library directors of ARL libraries discuss the importance of strategic planning and offer several examples of ways to engage library staff, university faculty, administrators, and students in the planning process. The expected outcomes of such a group process will be library plans which are relevant to the institution, which relate decisions to resources and opportunities, and which increase visibility for the library on campus and in the community.