Unit 8 Technology Planning

During my 5 year tenure as "accidental" Director of the Embudo Valley Library I was responsible for writing 2 technology plans, submitting E-rate applications and utilizing the informaiton services and product discounts of Tech Soup as much as possible. While neither one of my technology plans can compare to the 60 to 80 page plans we looked at in the class, I did intuit, even without having studied the issue much, that a plan such as this should have an active and real life to it within the organization rather than simply meeting a set of requirements on paper. When I was updating the plan this past year it was interesting to see that we had actually achieved all the goals we had set for the library (even though, if truth be told, I hadn't looked back at that plan since writing it,) and despite some funding shortfalls. This was because the goals I set were modest, essential and achievable. The first time I wrote the plan it was essentially a "no brainer" because there were so many basic technology and organizational capacity needs that were not being met. I didn't need to convene a task force to see that there were several minimum expectations of a library that we were not meeting, i.e., we needed to catalog the books and purchase an automated integrated library system for one(!) update the laser printer and fax machine, and add a few more working computer stations! In the process of achieving those minimum goals we also added a dedicated server, WIFI throughout the building and started a website. As the library grows and becomes more sophisticated, the challenge for the future will be to capitalize on this new infrastructure and utilize a more participatory planning process with some enhanced tools (perhaps Tech Atlas), to develop the library's capacity further.

It may be of note that while E-Rate has published its technology plan guidelines, the plan approver for public libraries is always the State Library organization. It is probably best to study any details in the process for achieving State Library certification over and above the E-rate guidelines, though the E-rate guidelines also serve. And while this may vary from state to state, I think most state libraries are eager to approve technology plans. While it may be better for one's organization to have a robust plan; the reality is that time is short. I sometimes think that the library world spends a lot of time funding plans and studies that can become (as Michael Schuyler points out) obsolete even as they are being printed.