About ALAO Strategic Plan
2010/2011 – 2013/2014
Revised July 17, 2011
Mission Statement
The Academic Library Association of Ohio (ALAO) exists to develop, promote, and improve library and information services in Ohio’s colleges and universities, to advance the interests of academic librarianship and the personnel of academic libraries, and to provide leadership and advocacy for the educational and policy concerns of the academic library community in Ohio. ALAO is a chapter of the Association of College & Research Libraries (ACRL) and generally ascribes to ACRL’s strategic plan Charting Our Future: ACRL Strategic Plan 2020.
Strategic Area: Higher Education and Research
1. Goal Area: Learning
- Strengthen ALAO’s relationships with higher education organizations that are important to faculty and administrators in order to develop and deepen institutional understanding of librarians’ and library staff roles in enhancing teaching and learning.
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Strategic Objectives
- Offer conference and/or workshop sessions on how to effectively communicate to administration and faculty the importance of libraries and their role in the education of current and future Ohio students.
- Continue to support the Ohio Library Support Staff Institute (OLSSI)
2. Goal Area: Scholarship, Research, and Creative Activity
- Enhance ALAO members’ understanding of how scholars work and the systems, tools and technology to support their work. This includes the evolving work of creation, personal organization, aggregation, discovery, preservation, access and exchange of information in all formats, and intellectual property issues involved at all stages.
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Strategic Objectives
- Highlight publications by ALAO members in a section of the ALAO Newsletter coordinated by the Research and Publication Committee.
- Offer programming sponsored by the Research and Publication Committee for those interested in publishing, students and newly hired library personnel.
- Investigate ways to make scholarly/creative content from ALAO programs available in a digital format (i.e. podcasts, posting abstracts or proceedings, etc.)
3. Goal Area: Advocacy
- Increase ALAO’s influence in public policy affecting higher education.
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Strategic Objectives
- Continue support of attendance for Legislative Days both at state and national levels.
- Offer programming at annual conferences and workshops on how to effectively influence policy makers.
- Identify opportunities to connect with other state-wide and regional library organizations.
- Build awareness of ACRL advocacy initiatives
- Encourage participation in ACRL advocacy activities
Strategic Area: The Profession
4. Goal Area: Continuous Learning
- Encourage the professional development of all academic library personnel in Ohio.
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Strategic Objectives
- Identify under-represented constituencies in order to expand programming to reach and involve them.
- Publicize strategically and effectively the availability of the ALAO grants and scholarships
- Make available conference and interest group presentations and proceedings online
5. Goal Area: Leadership
- Enable ALAO members to achieve recognition as leaders and advocates for academic libraries. Also to facilitate recruitment and development for the next generation of academic library leaders.
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Strategic Objectives
- Develop and encourage leadership opportunities for ALAO members both within and outside ALAO.
- Continue ALAO’s efforts to support recruitment of new and diverse talent to academic libraries
- Increase recognition of the value of libraries and library employees by leaders in: higher education, information technology, funding agencies and campus decision making.
- Increase professional development offerings on leadership, such as providing workshop or conference sessions that promote leadership skills.
6. Goal Area: Information Technology
- Encourage academic library employees to be leaders in using information and instructional technologies to create and manage information resources and to deliver library and information services.
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Strategic Objectives
- Build ALAO’s capacity to partner with other technology-oriented higher education organizations to identify standards and best practices for managing digital libraries and digital library services.
- Support members in their exploration of, research on, and implementation of new and emerging information technologies and their application for library services in educational environments.
- Encourage the use of all appropriate forms of communication among Board members, interest groups and the membership at large
Strategic Area: The Association
7. Goal Area: Membership
- Increase ALAO’s membership from under-represented groups. Continue to support recruitment of diverse and outstanding persons to the field of academic library services.
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Strategic Objectives
- Promote membership to organization via web site, conference, workshops and all other appropriate venues.Build and retain core ALAO membership while recruiting from new and diverse communities
- Build and retain core ALAO membership while recruiting from new and diverse communities
- Encourage library directors/deans to promote ALAO membership to all staff members
- Identify under-represented constituencies in order to expand programming to reach and involve them
- Sponsor a membership table at every annual conference
- Create an “exit” survey to determine and address the reasons people choose not to renew their membership
- Build and maintain relationships with Kent State SLIS to encourage student membership in ALAO
8. Goal Area: Organizational Vitality and Effectiveness
- Maintain autonomy, flexibility and viability of ALAO through use of fiscal and human assets as well as through increased and improved use of information technology.
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Strategic Objectives
- Increase the mutual benefits of the ALAO/ACRL relationship
- Review relationship with fiscal agent annually
- Facilitate and promote mentoring relationships and opportunities
- Utilize the capabilities of ALAO web services and promote their use to the membership
- Adopt use of free or discounted web services appropriate to the needs of ALAO
9. Goal Area: Sustainability
- Adopt environmentally sustainable practices in all areas of the association.
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Strategic Objectives
- Encourage presenters to adopt sustainable practices in their conference and workshop sessions
- Adopt use of environmentally friendly products by the organization
- Plan and implement continuing education opportunities regarding sustainability for our members