Posts by Wendy Werdin

We’re in another one of those “the world is a lot” times, or maybe we never left. Regardless, your friends at Library Strategies are here thinking about the ways in which challenging times are affecting libraries. We have used this space before to discuss the ways in which understanding your multi-faceted community can advance the…

Along with recent, reinvigorated interest from libraries hoping to update their strategic plans, Library Strategies hears from many Friends groups and Library Foundations looking to verify that they are aligned to best support their public library. Friends and Foundations have distinct roles, characteristics, and expectations in their communities. Both types of organizations engage the community…

In the years of the pandemic and continued racial reckoning, we’ve noticed that grantors have become more specific in what they are looking for from organizations seeking funding. I asked my Friends of the Saint Paul Public Library colleague, Institutional Relations Manager Julia Ruther, to share some observations.  Julia and I have worked together on…

One key principle of a good strategic planning process (and frankly, many other processes) is to listen before you speak. At Library Strategies, we like to embed multiple ways to listen during every project. For example, we always include an anonymous staff survey, in addition to holding focus groups with library staff. The focus groups…

At the beginning of December, Library Strategies offered a free webinar on foundation board governance best practices. It was the first of three foundation-specific webinars we are offering, taking advantage of the excellent relationship between The Friends of the Saint Paul Public Library and their Board of Trustees.   Approximately 100 people registered for the event…

We’ve seen increased interest in feasibility studies and capital campaigns in the last few months. Given funding opportunities like the American Rescue Plan and the infrastructure bill, we thought we’d take a moment to dig into this meaty topic. Says Library Strategies consultant, David Katz, “Even people who ‘get’ capital campaigns may not ‘get’ the public-private nature…

Our consultants will be the first to tell you that each library and library support organization brings unique needs, experiences, and expectations to the discussion when they contact us about Library Strategies’ services. The good news is our consultants are just as individual about their approaches to the process, and each of them brings a…