River Forest Public Library
Board of Trustees
Committee of the Whole
Strategic Planning
January 16, 2007



Call to Order
	President Mark Coe called the Committee of the Whole meeting to order at 8:17 p.m. In attendance were Director Dawn Bussey, Trustees Coe, Cusack, Daly, Fischer, Horstman, Ryan and Soffer, staff members Nancy Kerr and Rebecca Vnuk and visitor Joan O’Connor.

Audience to Visitors, Trustee and Staff Comments
	There were no comments.

Approval of Minutes	
	Mrs. Cusack made a motion to approve the minutes of the February 18, 2006 Committee of the Whole meeting. Mrs. Fischer seconded. A vote was taken. There were all ayes and no nays: the motion carried unanimously.

Old Business
	Holabird & Bird has given updated information regarding pricing for the four schemes presented to the Board. These cost estimates cover expected construction costs  including furniture and finishes comparable to the level of fit and finish in the original building: for Scheme A - $800,000, for Scheme B-$960,000., for Scheme C-
$1.1 M,  and for Scheme D- $1.5 M.

New Business
A. Mrs. Fischer – Review of Strategic Plan
	Mrs. Fischer observed that many of the library’s current initiatives fall beyond those outlined in the “Service Goals” and “Administrative Goals” that comprised the ’03 – ’07 River Forest Public Library Strategic Plan. She gave four examples of areas the library has used resources for that were not explicitly included in the 2003-2007 plan. They are:
1. The facility
2. The website
3. Patrons’ trusted resource, meaning that patrons know what is available to them at the library
4. Outreach with other Village organizations such as District 90, the Park District and the Village of River Forest.




B. Mr. David Seleb-SWOT Analysis
	Mr. Seleb, Director of Consulting and Continuing Education for the MLS, led the Board and meeting attendees through the SWOT (standing for strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats) process. Meeting attendees gave many examples of each of these areas in order to begin to focus the discussion. The additional question was, “Who are the “Stakeholders” in the River Forest Library?  It was agreed that all of the River Forest taxpayers are the stakeholders.
	The ’03-‘07 Strategic Plan followed a format, the same form of which may be used again for the new plan. The next step will be to put together a new plan for the next two to three years.
	Mr. Coe directed Board members to come to the next Committee of the Whole meeting, to be held on Tuesday, January 23, with 3 to 4 goals for the next strategic plan to discuss in order to arrive at consensus about the future direction of the library.

Adjournment
	At 10:12 p.m. Mrs. Cusack moved for adjournment. Mr. Soffer seconded. A vote was taken, all ayes, no nays, the motion carried unanimously.

Respectfully submitted, 
Diane Daly, Secretary