Long Term Goals (2004- )

1. Draw in younger members: DC/SLA's recently established Young Professionals group has been exceptionally popular and successful. It has resulted in increased participation and interest of new special librarians and younger members;
2. Directory: The Washington, DC area library directory was published this past year after much effort as a cooperative effort of the local professional librarians organizations.
3. Mentoring: Continuing to be important goal for the Chapter, mentoring is spotlighted in the new 2004 Strategic Plan;
4. Publicize consulting opportunities: Though no longer an issue, the Chapter does have a Consultation Committee which has provided helpful services for organizations in need of guidance;
5. Focus fundraising locally: This shift was made following the Global 2000 conference in Brighton. As noted in the previous plan, few of the members are interested in international projects. 
   With so much change since the previous Strategic Plan, the Committee determined that we would move forward, mining the 217 surveys to the web-based Survey Monkey questionnaire completed by members and their expanded written responses, in addition to our substantial and varied experience and expertise with SLA, the Chapter, and the profession of librarianship.  

2004 Strategic Plan (current)

The Strategic Planning Committee comprising five members: Anne Caputo, Larry Guthrie, Catherine Kitchell, Jean Tatalias, and Joan Gervino, Chair, were pleased to present the attached Strategic Plan to the Chapter Board.  

The first undertaking of the Strategic Planning Committee for 2003/04 was to develop the Mission and Strategies for the Chapter. We then prepared a major membership survey that would explore the various issues and concerns facing the Chapter. The survey was delivered to the membership and analyzed via www.SurveyMonkey.com, a web tool provided by SLA.

Using the quantitative responses and the many written comments provided by survey respondents, the Strategic Planning Committee drafted a Strategic Plan that incorporates both our analysis of the survey results and our experience and understanding of SLA and the Washington, DC Chapter.

DC/SLA Mission
The Washington, DC Chapter of the Special Libraries Association provides valuable professional development programs and resources, facilitates communication and networking among chapter members, and advocates and promotes the profession of special librarianship within the greater Washington, DC area.

Longterm Strategies

• Provide channels for effective communication among members;
• Provide effective Chapter programs that meet member needs;
• Position chapter members to meet future information challenges;
• Encourage member participation in chapter activities;
• Partner with related membership organizations to expand outreach and appeal of our offerings;
• Provide growth and leadership opportunities for Chapter members;
• Contribute to our local and global library community;
• Promote and leverage our parent organization, the Special Libraries Association. 
  Approved by DC-SLA Board

2004 DC/SLA STRATEGIC PLAN, 2004 (September 29, 2003)

The issues addressed in the Strategic Plan are grouped into the following issues: Events, Membership, Mentoring Programs, Promoting the Value of SLA Membership, Community Service, and Financial Considerations.  

EVENTS
 
Diverse Mix of Event Types

The Chapter should continue to include a mix of professional development sessions, networking opportunities, and social events.  All are essential.

Programs should emphasize the following subjects:

• Technology
• Management
• Specific aspects of library services
• Library roles
• Marketing services 

A mix of nontraditional programs/events should be scheduled:

• Web-casts
• Online chats
• Communities of Practice
• Roundtable discussions
• Small Group Interest meetings
• Book club  
• A variety of cost options and meeting times should be offered, e.g. free events or programs that cost very little, brown bag lunches, breakfast meetings, late afternoon coffee or wine and cheese events, pizza and beer, etc. in addition to the more traditional venues. 
  A variety of speakers should be highlighted including some "famous names" but also others who are less well known, but experts within the DC/SLA community. 

Events Marketing

Promote Chapter offerings to a broader audience of information consumers than the chapter membership for greater participation and membership development. 

Partnership Relationships

The Chapter should consider establishing partnership arrangements with other groups and associations as a priority for events and other key initiatives to expand the breadth of services and thus to promote the value of the membership within SLA to a larger community of information professionals that might not be aware of the many benefits available from DC/SLA. 

MEMBERSHIP
 

Membership Development

Call new members to learn what interests them most and ask why they have joined. Find out what they may be looking for that might not be offered and consider whether these new ideas might be useful new service additions for the Chapter.

Consider providing new members with free attendance at some or all Chapter events for their first year, i.e. give them something extra to jump-start their membership. 
Consider establishing a "Volunteer/Leadership Master List" managed by a new or existing committee chair/officer to promote project or committee volunteer/leadership opportunities through a list published on the website and/or Chapter Notes. Available opportunities would be posted in a single place with information about the scope and responsibilities of the position. The goal of this initiative will be to involve more members, some who may not know how or in what way to get involved.  Include opportunities for short-term contributions such as reviews of web sites of interest to the membership. 
Make a commitment to increasing diversity within the leadership group and membership of the Chapter. Develop new ways to reach out to members and potential members that will encourage participation by a diverse cross section of the members and potential members.

Special Interest Groups

DC/SLA has been highly successful with the Young Professionals Group. Offering other such small affinity groups may provide additional interconnections and thus enhance the value of membership within the Chapter.

Examples of such groups would include: law librarians, news librarians, and associations (presently exists as an unaffiliated, loose knit network).  Consider breakout groups in specific geographic locations such as Rockville Pike, Tysons Corner or Roslyn.

 Meeting opportunities could include substantive professional issues and social activities.
 

Networking Opportunities

Networking sessions should include a wide variety of activities, e.g. tours of special libraries and information centers, receptions. 
Set a priority to organize events that expand networking among the Chapter's Young Professionals group, graduate library program students, and new members.  

MENTORING PROGRAMS 
Initiate a buddy program for new members that could include such activities as taking new members to meetings.  
Call new members to ask whether they would be interested in a one-year sponsor, i.e. a "First Year Buddy." 
Establish mentoring relationships between new members and long time members with similar interests.

PROMOTING THE VALUE OF SLA MEMBERSHIP
 
Through Listserv and other announcements, promote SLA services that might have key benefits for Chapter members, e.g. information kits on promoting the value of the library. 
Explore the use of the threaded discussion service - Communities of Practice - offered by SLA.  

ARCHIVES/CHAPTER INFORMATION
 
Continue to build an online/web record of the Chapter's published newsletter and other documents.

Include indexing that would facilitate access to the data.

Consider creating a completely virtual archive of the Chapter that would be accomplished within a set number of years.
 
Update the Chapter history each year as an assignment for the immediate Past President.  Keep an electronic file of this document linked to the chapter website. 

COMMUNITY SERVICE 
Identify one local community service initiative each year that the Chapter would support. 
Set priorities about how to expend our energies and make a difference. 
Via focus groups and surveys determine the top priorities of the membership when undertaking new community service initiatives. 
Promote post retirement opportunities such as literacy volunteering and other community service programs.   

FINANCIAL CONSIDERATIONS 
Develop a 3-5 year financial plan with targets. 
Set a target to maintain the equivalent of at least three years of the SLA Chapter allotment within the treasury. 
Through the use of sponsorship contributions and a specific percentage or dollar amount of the treasury, the Chapter can enhance programs, e.g. honorariums for major speakers, enhanced food events, etc. 
Solicit new funds for scholarships. 
Provide consistent branded value for vendor partners when they sponsor chapter events. 
Since attracting new members and encouraging new member participation is a goal, use financial resources to that end. See note under "Membership Development" suggesting free attendance to some meetings for new members in their first year.

DC/SLA Strategic Planning Process/Comparison with Plan of 2000

The Committee began its process this year by analyzing the previous plan developed in 2000. It had served as an essential and valuable roadmap for the Chapter to enhance services and expand membership benefits.  
In the four years since the 2000 plan was written, there have been extraordinary changes within the Chapter and how it is run. Most of the transformation was due to the insightful recommendations within that plan. 

1. Continue improving Chapter Notes: This objective has been met and exceeded as evidenced by the excellent newsletter produced monthly by the Chapter;
2. Continue printing Chapter Notes: Since this goal was articulated there has been a sea change in libraries and the ubiquitous use of digital materials; more importantly, Chapter Notes has been successfully delivered to members electronically for the past two years;
3. Increase networking opportunities: The Chapter has been offering expanded networking through dramatically increased numbers of substantive meetings and social events, the expanded use of the Chapter listserv, an excellent website, and easy access to membership information via the SLA directory online;
4. Professional development: continues to play a key role in membership retention. The new plan focuses a great deal of attention on the ongoing need for professional development, by presenting the hot topics identified by members, ways of reducing costs, and recommendations for varying the kinds of meetings and venues;
5. Make meetings accessible: A continuing goal for the Chapter must be to vary location, times, and day of the week for events organized for Chapter members;
6. Joint Spring Workshop: Recently the Joint Spring Workshop has been a successful venture among the local Library and Information Management organizations;
7. Serve the Tyson's Corner area: see #5 above;
8. Educate members about the Chapter budget: The cost of events remains an issue for many of our members, but is not a driving force. With the electronic delivery of Chapter Notes and excellent membership numbers, financial concerns about the Chapter's treasury are no longer prevalent;
9. Publicize the Chapter website: Since the development of the 2000 Plan, the website has been enhanced and expanded; usage data show that members access the website frequently, with usage growing expansively. Though it is important to promote the value of the website and all its resources, this is no longer an overriding concern;
10. Publicize the Chapter Internet discussion list: Since 2000 when 23 percent of the membership was not aware of its existence, all members have been added to receive messages on the listserv, with options to receive a digested version, if they choose.