The Most Important Podcast Episode About Strategic Planning You’ll Listen to All Year

 

Earlier this year our creative and marketing team sketched out the idea for No Shhh...It's the TRL Podcast as a space to talk about library issues that impact our corner of Southwest Washington and the wider library world. I was asked to co-host, and I agreed because they said nice things about me and I'm very vulnerable to any sort of flattery.

I already had some experience attempting to be funny on the internet on behalf of the library. As a branch librarian I enjoyed doing things like cooking bananas and cheese, opens a new window or lime tuna Jello, opens a new window, and celebrating Poetry Month with a poem about pee (you can find that video on your own). Does openness to being a dork online translate to being a podcast host? Well, let's say it's been a fun challenge working with my co-host, Anna Lisa, to figure out how to have a conversation with our guests that is both substantive and entertaining. It has taken some practice being serious for longer than 10 minutes at stretch because I am a fundamentally unserious person. I have been able to get some jokes in, but most of our episodes have featured weightier topics - intellectual freedom and the fight against censorship, safety and security, and the increasingly 'unquiet' nature of public libraries. The skill set is a bit advanced compared to being a cornball on social media.

 

And, to be honest, we're still pretty green. I wasn't planning to blog about it until we had a dozen or so episodes in the bag. But, they've already put our faces on the home page and now we're on the side of a van, so I guess there's no point in waiting. Plus, this is a great excuse to talk about our most recent episode where we discuss strategic planning, opens a new window. It is probably the most important topic we've covered yet in the sense that it directly impacts everything we do at the library. And if "strategic planning" doesn't sound immediately exciting, I get it. It's definitely not going to be as entertaining as the episode where we traded some of our grossest library stories. But if you haven't listened to the podcast yet or you're not really a podcast enjoyer this is one is still worth your time.

 

To be good stewards of public resources a clear strategic plan is essential. It's how we determine where to focus limited resources, what to pursue and what to set on the back burner. As we work to serve diverse communities with equally diverse needs and interests our Strategic Plan guides our decision making. This year we are taking a fresh look at our priorities for the next five years, 2025-29. As we discuss on the podcast, direct input from community members - your - input - is the most important part of this project. 

Our Community Survey is available now. We are inviting all community members, whether you're a library user or not, to tell us what we're doing well, how we can serve you better and what you'd like to see from your library. Tell your friends, your neighbors, your family members, your favorite barista, your mail carrier, your frenemies...you get the idea. The "public" in public library means you. That's a catchphrase I'm trying to make happen, because it's true. If you want to dig into it, our guests on this episode talk about the hows and whys of strategic planning. But even if you want to skip all that what's important is your voice being included in this work. So tell us what you think, because we want to hear from you! 

 

How's that for getting serious for a few minutes?