“The best way to predict your future is to create it.”
—Peter Drucker, Management Consultant, Educator, and Author

The ability to focus is challenging due to so many factors; the environment, personal and professional needs, and other life distractions are just a few things that disrupt and pull our attention away. Have any of these things happened to you? You walk into a room to do something but you forget why you are there in the first place. Or, you open your email to search for something, get distracted and end up answering other emails. These situations have happened to me and it highlighted my inability to focus. After reading, Peak Mind: Find Your Focus, Own Your Attention, Invest 12 Minutes a Day by Amish P. Jha, PhD, I learned how to harness the full power of my attention to meet the demands of work, personal life, and service. I essentially strengthened my ability to focus. The ability to focus allowed me to be efficient in daily tasks I undertook and allowed me to get bigger projects launched and accomplished. 

The ability to focus is just as important to an association such as AASL. This is where a strategic plan comes in. As an association member, you might be wondering what a strategic plan is and how it relates to the ability to focus. A strategic plan serves as a roadmap for an organization, guiding its direction and decision-making processes. For AASL, the creation of a three-year strategic plan is more than just an exercise in goal-setting—it’s a vital framework that clarifies our path forward as a member-driven association. A strategic plan is designed to set overall goals for the association and develop actionable strategies to achieve them. It reflects the core direction for AASL and ensures that every initiative aligns with our long-term vision of Every school librarian is a leader; every learner has a school librarian.

But why is a strategic plan needed and what value does a strategic plan bring? One of the primary benefits of a strategic plan is its role in prioritizing initiatives. In any organization, especially one as dynamic as ours, there are often more ideas and projects than there are resources or time to execute them all. A strategic plan helps us focus on the most impactful activities, ensuring that our efforts and resources are concentrated where they will yield the greatest benefits. A well-crafted strategic plan doesn’t just guide decision-making; it also fosters a sense of unity and purpose. This collective dedication drives our association forward, creating a stronger, more cohesive community for our AASL members.

The work of our latest strategic plan began last fall in Tampa, Florida at a board retreat before the start of the AASL National Conference under the leadership of Courtney Pentland, Immediate Past President. The creation of the strategic plan for AASL involved a comprehensive SWOT analysis, which examined Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats. Additionally, insights from the Board of Directors were solicited to inform our planning process. Input was gathered through a survey conducted earlier this year, which included feedback from both members and non-members. The work continued at monthly board meetings, in evening work sessions and on a few weekends, finalizing our ultimate focus at ALA Annual in San Diego, California this past July. 

All of this work has culminated in the unveiling of a new AASL Strategic Plan for 2024-2027. The strategic plan incorporates our existing AASL Mission and Vision, and is also inclusive of our five core values. The new plan centers Engagement as the key focus area. AASL recognizes engagement as a critical action to advance our member association and sees engagement happening at local, state, and national levels. We expanded the concept of engagement to include three major areas of focus: Meaningful Engagement, Leadership Engagement, Purposeful Engagement. These areas of engagement will guide our efforts in creating an agile association, ready to meet the needs of its members and the school librarian profession.

Our strategic plan also provides a structured approach to achieving our association’s goals via an operational plan, helping us prioritize initiatives, inspire our members, and focus our efforts on meaningful ways to harness the human capital within our association – YOU – which is the foundation of our success. As we move forward in the next three years, this plan will serve as our guide, ensuring that AASL’s actions are deliberate, impactful, and aligned with our vision of empowering school librarians to be confident leaders.

We’d love to hear your thoughts!  Let us know in the comments what area of focus you are most excited about or share ideas you may have that connect with the different areas of focus. Also, stay tuned to see how AASL charts a course as we incorporate our strategic plan in the future work we do on behalf of members and chapters.