COSLA Strategy System

Misson

COSLA’s mission is to nurture state library administrative agencies, and lead with a collective voice for the nation’s libraries.

Foundation

Underpinning the COSLA Strategy System is a commitment by the organization and its members to uphold its ethical purpose in alignment with COSLA’s mission.  The COSLA Board embodies this intent by affirming:

COSLA commits to expanding the collective influence of libraries through clear ethical leadership that advances common interests, acts on shared priorities, and achieves beneficial outcomes.

Strategic Intent

The overarching objective of COSLA’s activities is:

COSLA will direct its leadership capabilities and influence toward fostering collaboration and building stronger library networks at every level.

Implementation: Working in alignment with the Guiding Principles, COSLA will advance its strategic intent by  pursuing coordination, cooperation, co-creation, and collaboration with a wide variety of individual and organizational stakeholders who share a commitment to increasing and promoting the value of libraries.

Guiding Principles

The following principles will be used to direct COSLA’s actions.

COSLA will harness and expand the collective influence of libraries

Implementation: COSLA will be a visible leader, creating and sustaining unity of purpose among state library agencies and other stakeholders to solve systemic problems and shape the present and future of libraries.

COSLA will enable collaboration among state library agencies to build capacity and support innovation

Implementation: COSLA will bring together state library agencies to pursue new capacity building, value creation, and other opportunities to act in concert on high-impact innovation priorities that benefit local, state, regional, and national library networks.

COSLA will enrich its decision-making processes with the thoughtful infusion of distinctive stakeholder ideas and insights 

Implementation: COSLA will carefully listen to and reflect upon divergent library stakeholder perspectives, develop a meaningful understanding of common interests and shared priorities, and integrate these insights into its   ongoing decision-making.

COSLA will make its decision-making visible and accessible

Implementation: COSLA will ensure its decision-making processes and outcomes are well articulated and understood by all stakeholders while also exercising necessary care  to protect confidential information.

COSLA will examine decision-making risks through multiple lenses

Implementation: COSLA will consider short-term and long-term risks that could affect the organization and/or library networks from multiple points of view, including financial risk, intangible resources impact, strategy system integrity, short-term stakeholder risks, and long-term successor risks. 

COSLA will make decisions using an integration of evidence and imagination

Implementation: To strengthen its decision-making processes and make good choices, COSLA will ensure it integrates a balance of reliable, forward-looking qualitative and quantitative sources of evidence with the unique contributions provided by human judgment, creativity, and imagination.

Key Priorities and Initiatives

Developing Confidence-Building Measures to Expand Library Network Influence

Critical Outcome: Sustained progress in pursuing coordination, cooperation, co-creation, and collaboration with individual and organizational library network contributors and stakeholders.

Through this initiative, COSLA will use its influence to work with library network stakeholders to design confidence-building measures, i.e., mutually-beneficial agreements or actions that can help dispel misunderstanding, nurture greater solidarity, and create a more trusted context for long-term coordination, cooperation, co-creation, and collaboration.

Shared Learning Questions:

  1. What short-term constraints or positions limit the ability of library network stakeholders to make sustained progress in coordination, cooperation, co-creation, and collaboration?
  2. How can COSLA make a meaningful contribution to bridging differences and enabling progress?
  3. What specific measures would create the most substantial benefit in building confidence between and among library network stakeholders?



Building Foresight Capacity to Advance Library Network New Value Creation

Critical Outcome: Demonstrated impact of foresight capacity-building on new value creation within and across local, state, regional, and national library networks.

Through this initiative, COSLA will support the ability of library network stakeholders to engage in and benefit from the practice of foresight, i.e., an intentional process of learning with the future, to enable more effective decision-making and value creation.

Shared Learning Questions:

  1. Which emerging social, technological, economic, environmental, and political (STEEP) issues require the focused attention of library network stakeholders?
  2. What guidance can COSLA offer to library network stakeholders in exploring those STEEP issues?
  3. What specific capabilities do library network stakeholders need to develop to build a consistent practice of foresight?

 

About COSLA

The Chief Officers of State Library Agencies (COSLA) is an independent organization of the principal library officials responsible for statewide library development in all 50 states, the District of Columbia, and two territories. Its mission is to nurture state library administrative agencies and lead with a collective voice for the nation’s libraries.

Core Values

Chief officers are united through a shared commitment to libraries, recognizing that COSLA’s strength and power lies in the diversity of its members and their experiences. All COSLA interactions are based on the fundamental principle that each member values and respects one another’s commonalities and differences, which fosters a welcoming and collegial organization.

 

COSLA Strategic Plan 2023- 2025

COSLA engaged with TLW Strategy in the development of a 2023-2025 Strategic Plan.

COSLA Strategic Plan 2023 - 2025 - Full Version (PDF)

COSLA Strategic Plan 2023 - 2025 - One Pager (PDF)

 

2019-2021 COSLA Strategic Plan (PDF)