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Strategic plan

PATHS TOWARDS SERVICES

OF THE FUTURE

The Vision of LCLAlong with the ambitiousness of our branch libraries the LCL's vision »to understand the changes and to pave the paths towards services of the future« shall constitute us as the most innovative Slovenian public library. Through our dedication to development the LCL shall continue to merge its cultural, informational and educational activities with the interests of our users.

Through the 2013-2016 Strategic Plan the LCL's development goals are defined, along with the strategies of their realization, and the methods of permanent improvements of its services.

Social factors that shall influence LCL’s operations

The current economic crisisAgeing of populationMulticultural environmentE-books phenomenonRapid development of IT technology

1SP 2013-2016

Library as a third place LCL is a capital-city library and the largest Slovenian public library. It forms a cultural, informational, educational, social and communicational junction for individuals, groups, cultural institutions and organizations of the local community. To inhabitants of Lju-bljana and its surroundings the LCL constitutes an active third place.

With a network of branch libraries and Mobile Library bus-stops the LCL is the most net-worked cultural institution of Ljubljana, and is accessible from everywhere: from among library shelves, from home, from public transport, from the local coffee-shop, from the work-place, from mobile-phones.

Third place is a term first used by social scientist Ray Oldenburg (The Great Good Place, 1990) to denote informal spaces, where people meet and develop social interactions and friendly ties, place of debates, comfort, affiliation with the local community that encourages gathering instead of isolation, and makes life more colourful.

2 SP 2013-2016

Library’s physical spaceFavorable opening hours.

Books, magazines, music, movies.

Quiet place for studies and creativity.

Cultural and educational events.

Gathering and fun.

Library servicesAll of library services are free of charge.

Librarians recommend and advise.

We cooperate with institutions and individuals in the local community.Library’s virtual space

Wireless internet access from library

premises.

Library’s homepage as the main info-

point for remote access to e-contents.

E-book borrowing.

Digitized contents from local environment.

3SP 2013-2016

Library usersThe LCL is a modern user-oriented library that includes all generations:

grown-ups

active elderlies

elderlies above 80youth

kids

4 SP 2013-2016

Strategic plan 2013-2016

City Reads, Watches, and Listens

Library for All

Remote Access Library

Visible Library

Active Library

Library Plus

5SP 2013-2016

Offer of traditional and new media (e-books) to various target-groups.

Setting up an effective library collection with highest pos-sible share of up to date materials.

Development of branch library collections consistent with local features.

Redesigning library facilities according to the needs and desires of our users.

Offering relevant services to Ljubljana’s inhabitants with an emphasis on encouragement and development of reading culture – especially among children and youth through projects of the Pionirska – the Centre for Youth Literature and Librarianship.

Reinforcement of library’s role as a place of learning and studying. Formulation of educational schemes that en-courage social inclusion, individual learning, intergenera-tional and inter-cultural cooperation.

Development of services that allow Ljubljana’s inhabit-ants to actively engage in construction of the city’s digi-tized memory through projects of the Slovanska Library

City Reads, Watches and ListensThrough diligent purchase and cataloguing of materi-als the LCL shall strive to establish a broad, diverse, and up to date library col-lection for inhabitants of Ljubljana and its surround-ings.

Library for AllLCL will respond to the needs of inhabitants of Ljubljana and its sur-roundings by forming new services in physical and virtual spaces.

6 SP 2013-2016

– the Centre for local studies and special collections for humanities.

Introduction of library services that facilitate indepen-dent use of the library by the application of modern tech-nologies.

Reaffirmation of the Trubar’s House of Literature as the city’s place of book and literature, as well as the place for contemplating current social issues.

Better access to internet in LCL’s libraries for all the inhab-itants of Ljubljana and its surroundings.

Setting up a new home page as the LCL’s main information tool, along with efficient tools for communication with our users: social networks, user participation through personalized content.

Preservation and protection of library materials through digitisation. Establishment of digitized collections from our own materials and creation of digitized “stories” for promotion of local history.

Enhancement of e-learning processes and e-support for educational activities of LCL.

Providing support to our users in accessing and using documents and databases of public authorities: support to e-democracy and to the raising of active citizenship awareness.

Remote Access Library The LCL shall facilitate access to certain e-servi-ces to Ljubljana’s inha-bitants whenever and wherever: borrowing of e-materials, applicable on different types of machi-nes (personal computers, e-book readers, tablets, mobile phones) and re-mote access to electronic database collections. LCL’s own digitized collections shall be included in the e-offer of our library as well as of other systems (Kamra, DLib).

7SP 2013-2016

Visible LibraryThe LCL shall systemati-cally build partnerships and shall cooperate with different subjects of local, regional, national and international environment. By deliberate promotion the LCL shall increase its social visibility and reco-gnition.

Active LibraryIn order to provide effici-ent and quality services to its users, the LCL shall con-tinue to unify its operating processes, increase the flexibility of its employees, and provide a high level of their professionalism by continuing professional development.

Enhancing cooperation with other libraries and especially with cultural and educational institutions in Slovenia and abroad; as well as establishing successful partnerships in common projects.

Cooperation with public libraries of central-Slovenian re-gion.

Active engagement of the LCL in the cultural pulse of Lju-bljana and its surroundings by new forms of promotion – aimed at enhancing the library’s reputation and its public image.

Excellent recognition of our branch libraries as providers of cultural and educational events in local communities.

Reorganization and rationalization of operating proces-ses, and implementation of working-posts flexibility.

Establishment of a family-friendly organization.

Development of social responsibility, environmental awa-reness, and sustainability among our employees.

Upgrading the learning-organization concept through the activities of our Learning Centre and setting up a compre-hensive system of practical professional training, as well as the encouragement of good practices exchange and publishing in the field of public librarianship.

8 SP 2013-2016

Library PlusBy developing services at local, regional, national and international levels the LCL will strive to become a library with the glimpse into the future.

Facilitating access to quality services: renovation and acquisition of additional and new premises of LCL’s bran-ch libraries in the area of the City Community of Ljublja-na, and in the areas of other local communities covered by LCL’s network.

The establishment of competence centres dealing with different fields of public library’s operations in order to improve the flow of knowledge.

Development of LCL’s trademarks and publishing to im-prove public recognition of the library.

The LCL is visible and identifiableThrough its strategic goals of the 2013-2016 timeframe the LCL shall influence the lives of inhabitants of Ljubljana and its surroundings:

• In an ever more virtual reality (e-books, e-services) the LCL shall continue to imple-ment its mission to advise, to direct, to support, and to encourage the inhabitants of Ljubljana and its surroundings in the usage of knowledge and literary expression in everyday life.

• The LCL shall perform its services and organize cultural and educational events for all the inhabitants of Ljubljana and its surroundings.

• The LCL shall serve as an info-point about and to the local community.

• The LCL shall serve as an important player at raising awareness in the local commu-nity about the significance of cultural, natural, and technical heritage.

• With its activities the LCL shall contribute to the identification of Ljubljana as a cre-ative city of knowledge and culture.

Ljubljana City LibraryPATHS TOWARDS SERVICES OF THE FUTUREStrategic plan 2013-2016

Ljubljana City Librarymag. Jelka GazvodaSimona ResmanMatej GazvodaIngrid Verdnik Pal

Ljubljana 2013

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