About

About the San Antonio Public Library

Mission & Values

The San Antonio Public Library changes lives through the transformative power of information, imagination, and ideas.

User Guides & Policies of the Library Board of Trustees

IT Road Map

San Antonio Public Library IT Road Map: A Technology Plan for Realizing the Library’s Strategic Priorities

The IT Roadmap is a three to five year technology plan that improves library services and the customer experience. The IT Roadmap focuses on three prime areas: Customer Experience, Community Engagement and Talent Modernization. The Roadmap includes a portfolio of technology projects the Library will pursue over the next several years. The attached IT Roadmap report is a compilation of the findings, recommendations and other key outputs from the project, which was led by a team from the San Antonio Public Library, The City of San Antonio’s Information Technology Services Department and Gartner Consulting. The purpose of this report is to provide readers with an understanding of the data, analysis and decision making that produced the Roadmap.

Overview
Updates
Work Groups
Documents

Overview

Update: The San Antonio Public Library has begun development of a comprehensive, strategic vision that will guide the library system into 2020 and beyond. Details of this plan and the community based decision making that is leveraged in designing this plan will be shared throughout the process.

The Plan was last updated in 2015 and served as a dynamic tool in making key decisions. It was designed to position the Library as a responsive and relevant public service organization that is essential to the success of the community.

The San Antonio Public Library plays a critical role in the quality of life and continued growth of San Antonio. As the City’s educational arm, the library system is directly tied to our collective goals of business recruitment and economic development; community and neighborhood revitalization; and literacy and educational achievement. The San Antonio Public Library understands its important role and desires to be a relevant service organization by anticipating the future and adapting accordingly so the Library can continue to be a responsive service organization.

Update - Process

The process to update the Strategic Plan encompassed the following:

Develop a committee to review and update the Mission, Vision, Values and Areas of Strategic Focus in the 2011-2016 Strategic Plan
Online survey questions with staff as part of Organizational Health Survey,
Online survey questions with Board of Trustees, Foundation Board, and Friends of the San Antonio Public Library Board
Patron survey
Creation of work groups to update the strategic priorities for each area of strategic focus

The three areas of Strategic Focus are:

Support Educational and Learning Opportunities
Support Workforce and Economic Prosperity
Foster Community Connections

Work Groups

Forty staff members from throughout the organization made a commitment to actively participate in the work groups. Work group participants met multiple times during 2015 to update strategies and action plans to address their designated area of focus.

Strategic Plan 2016-2018

Strategic Plan Overview (PDF) • Strategic Plan Overview en Español (PDF)
Strategic Plan Presentation (PDF)
Strategic Plan (PDF)

Strategic Plan 2016-2018 Appendices

Library Organizational Chart (PDF)
Facilities Study (PDF)

Overview
Process
Committee
Task Force
Work Groups
Documents

Overview

The San Antonio Public Library developed a strategic plan to provide a cohesive vision and direction for library services in our community.

A consulting team led by KGBTexas and The Ivy Group, which has consulted for more than 50 library systems across North America, drew on best practices and innovations from high-achieving libraries around the country and a thorough market analysis of the Library’s service areas to guide the strategic planning process. The resulting plan recommended strategic initiatives to enhance customer service, increase operational efficiencies and maintain relevance through adaptation of emerging technologies.

Adopted

September 15, 2011
Library Board-approved Strategic Plan to be presented to City Council for endorsement.

Official Launch

On February 14th, 2011, the San Antonio Public Library officially launched the Strategic Planning Process at the "Love Your Library" press conference. Mayor Julián Castro, Bexar County Judge Nelson Wolff, Tom Frost, Leadership Advisory Committee Honorary Chair, Jean Brady, Library Board Chair, participated in the launch.

Love Your Library Press Conference

Process

The strategic planning process encompassed the following:

A comprehensive market analysis of trends and best practices, baseline demographics, tapestry lifestyle analysis, baseline performance measures, and benchmarking research findings
Online surveys with staff, senior management team, Foundation Board, and Friends members.
Leadership interviews with the Board Chair, Foundation Board Chair and Friends President
Facilities assessment
Creation of six Work Groups, Library Task Force and Leadership Advisory Committee
Public Forum
Vetting of plan via the intranet/internet
Vetting of plan via 20 one-on-one interviews

The six Work Group areas of strategic focus, resulting from the surveys and comprehensive market analysis were:

Support Educational and Learning Opportunities
Support Workforce and Economic Development
Foster Community Connections
Increase Public Awareness
Improve Organizational Health
Delineate Roles of Board of Trustees and Library Support Groups (Friends and Foundation)

Leadership Advisory Committee

The task of the Leadership Advisory Committee was to guide, support, and assist those working on creating the Library Strategic Plan. Leaders from finance, education, technology, government, the media, health care, non-profit service, and business offered their insights and perspectives on the needs of the community and how the Library meets those needs now and into the future.

The six-month strategic planning process was advised by community leaders invited to serve on the Leadership Advisory Committee. The Leadership Advisory Committee was chaired by Tom Frost and included the following members.

Members

Andy Benavides, Supporting Multiple Art Resources Together (SMART)
Kevin Bergner, USAA
Jean Brady, San Antonio Public Library Board of Trustees
Alex Briseno, San Antonio Water System / St. Mary's University
Sam Dawson, Pape-Dawson Engineers, Inc./ Greater San Antonio Chamber of Commerce
Cathy Dean, Alamo Area Library System
Dr. Robert Durón, San Antonio Independent School District
Nancy Gandara, Friends of the San Antonio Public Library
Mike Molak, Plains Capital / San Antonio Public Library Foundation
John "Chico" Newman, John and Florence Newman Foundation
Howard Peak, ATT
Katie Reed, North Side Independent School District
Dr. Harriet Romo, University of Texas at San Antonio
Tom Stephenson, San Antonio Express-News
Keith Swinney, Baptist Health System
Eddie Aldrete, IBC Bank / San Antonio Hispanic Chamber of Commerce

Comments

The task of the Library Task Force was to confirm goals, project parameters and time lines with milestones. Also, the Library Task Force helped identify internal and external sources of information and made recommendations to the Work Group action plans. Members of the Library Task Force consisted of the management team.

Work Groups

Sixty staff members from throughout the organization made a commitment to actively participate in the Work Groups. Work group participants met multiple times during early 2011 to formulate goals and strategies to address their designated area of focus.

During the week of April 18, 2011, Work Group participants presented goals and strategies addressing their designated area of focus to the Library Task Force.