Conference on Academic Library Management 2026

Creating a library strategic plan is a complex and time-consuming process that, at its worst, can feel like a performative song and dance for university administration. Library staff struggle to see their work in the strategic plan, the jargon involved can feel corporate and impersonal. Even with inclusively designed plans, it is often too easy to revert back to “the usual” operations after creating a new plan, and to take the plan out of a (virtual) drawer and dust it off only when it’s time for annual reporting.

In 2021, library administration at the William H. Hannon Library at Loyola Marymount University undertook an inclusive, collaborative approach to our next five-year strategic planning cycle, engaging with library staff and campus partners to refine goals, objectives, and actions. This presentation will introduce our planning process, but the main focus of the presentation will be the engagement that we designed to keep the plan alive and active at all levels of library operations throughout the year, and lessons we learned along the way. Regular check-ins with interdepartmental stakeholders increase shared understanding and accountability for the plan. These also allow us to adjust the plan as needed as priorities and opportunities evolve, in addition to meeting (even exceeding) expectations for university reporting. The conversational check-ins, scheduled three times per year, give everyone space to discuss questions (what are KPIs, even?), compare notes, and ask questions in a less high-stakes environment than plan creation or annual report periods.