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Dissertation Information for Annabel Kuykendall Stephens

NAME:
- Annabel Kuykendall Stephens

DEGREE:
- Ph.D.

DISCIPLINE:
- Library and Information Science

SCHOOL:
- Columbia University (USA) (1988)

ADVISORS:
- Redmond Kathleen Molz

COMMITTEE MEMBERS:
- Ellis Mount

MPACT Status: Fully Complete

Title: "A Planning Process for Public Libraries": Its use in three selected libraries

Abstract: This study examined the use made of a A Planning Process for Public Libraries by three medium-sized public library systems in the southeastern United States during 1981-1984. Focusing on the systems' past planning experiences and purposes for undergoing the Process, their adaptation of the Process to fit local planning needs, the activities and contributions of the members of the Planning Committees, the involvement of other staff and community members, and the immediate recommendations that resulted, the study attempted to assess the usefulness of the Process as a device for strategic or comprehensive planning in these particular library systems.

Three diverse methods were used to gather data on the systems' planning experiences: (1) field observation, (2) document analysis, and (3) the use of interviews and a questionnaire. The data were collected in three phases: phase one was conducted prior to the systems' first Planning Committee meetings; phase two during the systems' planning periods; and phase three after the Planning Committees' final meetings. Detailed narrative accounts describing both the library systems and their communities and the activities and decisions of the systems' pre-planning and planning periods were included along with an extensive analysis of each system's experience with the Planning Process. Illustrative quotations from the interviews and from the transcriptions of Planning Committee meetings were included in both the descriptive and analytical sections of the study.

The three systems varied considerably in their preparation for the Process, in the information provided to and used by the planners, in their selection of a mission and goals and objectives, and in their development of strategies and plans for implementation and evaluation. Substantive variations were also observed in their involvement of staff and community members, in the leadership provided to the planners, and, consequently, in the benefits accruing from their use of the Planning Process. As a result of the study, tentative conclusions were reached which may serve as hypotheses for future research, and a checklist was developed to assist librarians in their employment of the Planning Process.

MPACT Scores for Annabel Kuykendall Stephens

A = 5
C = 6
A+C = 11
T = 5
G = 1
W = 5
TD = 5
TA = 0
calculated 2008-05-28 20:35:35

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