Citations: The Newsletter of the New Mexico State University Library

              CITATIONS
(A)
The Newsletter of the New Mexico State University Library Vol. 11, No. 2   April 1996
Choosing Our Future:
Library's Planning Retreat
Western Women
Collection
by Cheryl Wilson
chwilson@lib. nmsu
NMSU Library's strategic planning process consists of several phases
and functions. Five separate committees have been established and each
is undertaking various parts of the process. On March 27th and 28th, a
planning retreat organized by the Values Scanning/Mission Formulation
Committee was held at the Holy Cross Retreat Center to scan the values
of Library employees and our community and to begin reformulating the
Library's mission statement.
The retreat was modeled after the "Future Search Conference"
concept in which a large group of internal organizational members and
external '"stakeholders" meet to share and synthesize their vision of the
future, evaluate the past, and devise strategies for directing the organization towards the future. This process is different from the meetings and
committees an organization usually utilizes for planning and decision
making in that it is focused on examining the whole system rather than
solving problems within discrete areas.
The conference was attended by half (40) of the Library's
employees and an equal number of external participants. Among the latter
were NMSU faculty, students, staff, community members, vendors and
other information providers. These participants contributed their unique
views of the Library and our future.
A framework of five questions evoked observations on the
history, values, ideals, constraints and opportunities that effect us. After
discussing relevant trends and values, we identified who the organization
should serve, what products and services we should provide and how this
should be accomplished. These were the basic elements of a draft mission
statement. We then brainstormed specific actions for bridging the gap
between the present and the future we envisioned.
Library staff noted with enthusiasm how much they had learned
about themselves. After the conference several library participants met
informally to share observations about the process. "1 never thought
about the Library that way," one participant commented. "We learned
things about ourselves that weren't always good but we needed to know.
We also learned what things we're doing right."
Since then, the results of the conference have been synthesized
into mission and values statements and passed on to the next committee.
This "strategic business modeling" committee is now using the results to
establish the formal "lines of business" in which NMSU Library engages.
(Continued on page 6.)
A Western Women Collection, comprising more than 300 titles, was recently
added to Special Collections. The books,
both fiction, and non-fiction, focus on the
lives, accomplishments, and experiences
of women whose contributions continue to
influence the history and development of
the West. While the core collection was
purchased from La Galleria de Los
Artesanos, a bookstore in Las Vegas, New
Mexico, books are continuing to be added
to the collection.
To search OLE for books in the
collection type t/western women. The
books may be used in the Special Collections Research Room from Monday through
Friday, 9:00 a.m. until 12:00 noon and
from 1:00 p.m. until 5:00 p.m. Special
Collections is located on the 2nd floor east
in Branson Hall.
Noteworthy Library Faculty A
NMSU/VACJ Libraries Begin
for NMSV Researchers
FORO VI /Transborder Lib