Community Needs Response Planning for Public Library Accreditation
Public Library Accreditation
2023 Workshop
recording - May 24, 2023, 2 hours 40 minutes.
NCompass Live: The 2023 Public Library Accreditation Process - webinar
recording - May 10, 2023, 67 minutes.
The Nebraska Public Library Accreditation Guidelines are based on the principle that a good library is a library that is
serving the unique needs of its own community. Therefore, the Accreditation Guidelines require that each library applying
for accreditation have an up-to-date Community Needs Response Plan (previously called the
Strategic Plan) that addresses how the library will serve those needs.
Plans should be emailed to
Christa Porter.
The Community Needs Response Plan must be up-to-date and include the following 7 elements:
- The library's mission statement.
- A community profile.
- An assessment of community needs. A library's first responsibility is to
address the needs of its community.
- An analysis of the library's strengths and resources; and an analysis of
barriers and opportunities for improvement.
- An analysis of what all this means and where the library can contribute to community progress, based on the previous 3 steps.
- Specific goals with measurable objectives or action plans that provide details
including timelines, assignment of
responsibility, etc.
- A plan for evaluation of accomplishment, and a summary of evaluation of previous accomplishments.
Webinars:
Accessing Census Data - Recorded online session and presentation slides
- July 21, 2021 - 1 hour 25 mintues
Community Engagement: Straight Talk - Recorded online session and
presentation slides - 1 hour
Easier Than It Looks: A Simple Approach to Strategic Planning - Recorded
online session and presentation slides - 1 hour
Rising to the Challenge: Using the Aspen Institute Report and Action Guide
for Strategic Planning - Recorded online session and presentation slides
- 1 hour
Examples: Note: The
following examples are pre-2022. The required
content of the Plans was updated in 2022.
Templates and Guides:
Libraries which do not have a plan in place may use the following guide
to create a Community Needs Response Plan.
Community Needs Response Planning Process in
12 Steps
If you have questions about the Accreditation process or Community Needs
Response Planning, please contact
Christa Porter.
Related pages:
- Nebraska Public Library Accreditation
Status - list of all Nebraska Public Libraries, with their accreditation standing & next accreditation year
- Accreditation Program History
- Public Library Survey