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Planning & Evaluation

Introduction

These standards cover long range planning, disaster planning, and evaluating the library's progress in meeting its goals.

Standards

I. Standard A
"The board uses the Montana Public Library Annual Statistical Report to review the library's year-to-year progress and performance."

Libraries are required to file an annual statistical report. These reports can give the library a snapshot of its performance. It is particularly useful to do a trend analysis. Has your library's circulation gone up over the last few years? Are you offering more programs than you used to? The annual statistical report can help you answer these questions and more.

II. Standard B
"The library has a written mission statement."

A library's mission statement External Link explains the library's focus when it comes to serving the community. The best mission statements are developed from a long range planning process that reflects the needs of the community. Your mission statement should not be copied word for word from another library's mission statement. It needs to reflect your community.

III. Standard C
"The library governing authority adopts emergency response plans that ensure the safety of the public and staff as the primary priority."

You never know when disaster might strike. If a fire destroys part of your library, what will you do? You might want to see if your city or county has a disaster plan that includes the library. If they do, then please send that portion to your Statewide Technology Librarian who will review it to see if it meets this requirement. If the city and/or county does not have a disaster plan that includes the library, then you will need to develop your own. Your Statewide Technology Librarian can help you. Please take a look at dplan.org. External Link It can help you develop a disaster plan for your library.