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Mission and Vision Statement-Melissa Garn

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Mission and Vision Statement-Melissa Garn

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The readings and videos from this week helped me to better understand the difference between a Mission and a Vision statement by breaking it down into an easy-to-understand explanation, namely that a Mission Statement focuses on an organization’s work right now and who it is for, while a Vision Statement focuses on future goals as a result of an organization’s work.

Second, I understand much better the heavy lifting that a Mission Statement must do in just a few words.  The Intro to Mission Statements worksheet helped quite a bit by breaking it down into a formula to be put together, but I still found myself struggling to be concise enough, to keep my Mission Statement to less than 14 words.  The article, “50 Example Nonprofit Mission Statements”also helped a lot in visualizing what an effective Mission Statement looked like.

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I have not had much experience with creating mission and vision statements. Every school I have worked at over the years has had them. Some schools really tried to live by them, while at others it seemed to be just a compliance thing to have one. My big takeaway from this was learning how the mission is about the now and the vision is future focused. I did not realize that until it was spelled out to me. Having a mission and vision for the library is so important because it is letting others know why we're here (especially when many schools don't have this space).

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mission & vision statement - jennaca zaccaria

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mission & vision statement - jennaca zaccaria

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normally I dread visiting mission and vision statements. I always have a hard time differentiating between the two and packed full of buzz words that people, including myself, typically ignore them. When working on coming up with my own, the worksheet and the examples from the Top Non Profits site was rather helpful for me.

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I thought the Linking for Learning page offered interesting guidance in creating meaningful mission and vision statements. As a believer in missions (and visions) mostly because I believe that everyone involved gets a sense of shared purpose and supports meeting organization goals.

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Mission and Vision Statements - Susie Pyrz

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Mission and Vision Statements - Susie Pyrz

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Mission and vision statements are something that I've usually ignored before. I know companies put them out, and I've had them hanging up in my own classroom before as was required, but a lot of times they just seemed a little generic or if it was a long paragraph, just something that was there that I didn't really bother with. Something you read before an interview so you could talk about it, but then quickly forgot. I think that is a good reason to keep them concise and to not fill it with buzzwords. I also never really thought about the difference between a Mission and Vision statement before, so that was interesting to read about. The worksheet was helpful in trying to come up with my own statements.

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Mission and Vision Statements - Kathleen Mitchell

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Mission and Vision Statements - Kathleen Mitchell

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Key Ideas:

- Statements should be short and concise, but still have enough information to excite stakeholders/patrons.

- Its writer(s) needs to be informed of the patrons that will be interacting with the services provided, as well as their anticipated, future needs.

What I learned:

- I really resonate with the statements that are quite short. I found that I kept getting distracted with reading longer paragraphs, especially if both the mission and vision statements were longer.

- At first, I was a bit confused at the difference between the mission and the vision statements, but I think by reading through the examples, I was able to distinguish the difference (now vs a future goal).

- I especially liked the worksheet to help work through and brainstorm. I felt that it made me think a lot about how to make my statements more concise and specific.

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Mission and Vision Statements - Emily Herczeg

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Mission and Vision Statements - Emily Herczeg

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Mission and Vision statements are something I have been aware of for a while, but never could quite grasp the concepts. Of course I understand that these are two seperate concepts that often go together, but I cant help but confuse the two especially when creating my own. Although the definitions found in the readings for this week have been very helpful in distinguishing the nuance differences. Like how a vision statement is a short phrase describing the future you are working towards while a mission statement is describes what is being done currently and who benefits. I found that the guidelines provided offered a variety of formulas to create mission statements and im very excited to pick and choose which one will work best for me.

Key take aways

Statements don't require and are preffered without buzz words.

A school library has many different objectives/goals and a statement needs to be vague but specific enough to reflect all that the library does

The way for a school library to be impactful relies on their ability to provide space, information, safety, instruction, and technology

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Mission and Vision Statements - Vanessa Crisostomo

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Mission and Vision Statements - Vanessa Crisostomo

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Mission and vision statements are something that I am very familiar with. My school has been working on revising our mission and vision statements, where they have been asking all community members for input. That being said, I have never been the one solely responsible for creating these documents. I really enjoyed some of the resources we were provided with this week, such as the worksheet for how to construct a mission and vision statement. Having the examples to draw upon was also really nice, and I'm looking forward to implementing them.

Key Ideas:

Mission statements focus on providing an overview of what is already happening and what it looks like

Vision statements are grounded in where we want to go and what we hope to achieve

A good mission and vision statement is succinct and user-centered

IFLA school library guidelines state that mission and vision statements should be reflective of the ALA rights and responsibilities, as well as considering additional guidelines that would be library-specific

Librarianship, when done well, always considers the users' needs first

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Mission & Vision Statement Reflections- Amanda Hiles

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Mission & Vision Statement Reflections- Amanda Hiles

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The first thing that struck me about the Linking for Learning and the AASL's Empowering Learners statements was the emphasis placed on the school librarian and their role in carrying out the mission of these organizations. This is natural in many ways considering the source of these statements, but it did make me think about the school libraries that exist at the edges of programming, with only part time librarians or paraprofessionals and how to balance empowering learners in those spaces while also advocating for more robust programming overall.

I also noticed that despite a lot of our other material for this topic stressing brevity and succinct, clear wording, both of these statements felt a little verbose. For me it was helpful to chop of the starting sentences and use those at the quick goal. This let me better view the subsequent material as an outline of how to fulfill the mission in brief terms. I know I have the tendency to become flowery with my prose, so this is a good reminder that actual missions don't need to be the 8 word catch phrases we read, but there is still a balancing factor necessary.

Other Key Ideas:

-There is a significant importance placed on collaboration and providing active space and opportunity for such

-Space seems deliberately left to make room for technological changes while still promising integration and guidance

-School library statements need to understand the school library serves a varied range of interests (staff, administrative, community) while also have a student focus

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KEY IDEAS and WHAT I LEARNED- Emily Wolken

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KEY IDEAS and WHAT I LEARNED- Emily Wolken

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I have never had experience with writing either mission or vision statements. I didn’t even know what they were, so everything this week was a new concept to me. Both were very difficult to create. I changed mine by 1 or 2 words so many times. Both are powerful and positive messages that are unique to you and/ or the company and reflect the values shared by all stakeholders. They are people centered and represent your current values and commitments.

I appreciate the shorter ones. When statements are a paragraph, it is hard to focus on the take away and harder to remember what it said. The longer ones I found myself reading over and over again. I get why they are instructed to not have big words or specific jargon. I do wonder how often the statements are updated or edited. I imagine over time, things and management changes. Also how often ALL stakeholders are involved in the creation and implementation. I looked up the statements from my school-Acero Schools. The mission, vision and values are clear & concise.

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Key Ideas of School Library Mission & Vision Statements

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Key Ideas of School Library Mission & Vision Statements

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Key Ideas

-mission and vision statements are simple. They are just statements, they aren't long paragraphs or pages.

-mission statement is about what you are doing while a vision statement is goals and what you're working towards

-mission statements are generally more specific than a vision statement

What I Learned

-the mission and vision statements for school libraries are student centered.

-the statements are to be empowering

-the statements should be adaptable to fit the needs of the school library and the students

-I really liked the linked handouts for this week, including the worksheet

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Key Ideas/Overlap

There are many key ideas that overlap in these two examples of mission/vision statements.

Focus on students’ intellectual and personal growth (critical thinking, love of reading, lifelong learning)

Collaboration with teachers and school community

Emphasis on information literacy and technology

Importance of access to diverse resources

School librarians as instructional leaders and advocates within the school

Preparing students for the future (adapting to changing educational and tech needs)

I learned that the primary focus of a library should be the students. This seems obvious but it means to focus on not just providing materials but also promoting growth and responsibility. These mission statements also promote how librarians are not just book pushers. They are educators and an extension of the classroom learning. As librarians, we also need to be forward thinkers and utilize new innovations, ideas, technology, and ideas in education.

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--Victoria Biel

The key take aways in these readings and post is familiarity and competency in creating mission statements. Mission statement, Vision Statement and Strategic plan often are used together, however they are not used interchangeably.

All of these serve a purpose towards guidance and decision making by providing a common ground of why and a base line of expectations. They ultimately tell others who you are as an organization and why you should matter to them.

I have a lot of experience with this subject. Being an entrepreneur with a marketing background and past work experience as a professional consultant, and retreat facilitator, strategic planning, visioning and creating mission statements are definitely in my area of expertise.

I really enjoyed the create your own mission and vision statement worksheets. These are well organized, attractive to look at and handy. I also appreciated the lists of non for profit mission statements. Learning from the examples of others is an excellent strategy.

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Key Ideas

One takeaway from the materials this week is a question that can be answered in two ways: “Is it the library or librarian that is most important?” (Tennant, 2014). By answering this question, strong mission and vision statements can be created. I also learned the difference between the two statements which (even though I’ve been in education forever) I’ve never thought about. A mission statement is a succinct statement that describes why the organization or program exists. Whereas a vision statement describes a long-term desired change. I can now understand the importance of both. It is necessary for libraries to continue providing the best materials, education, spaces, and development in all areas, so a vision statement is necessary to continue to work towards a greater good.

What I Learned

The overlap of both statements from Linking from Learning, show a way that each is measurable. Providing data is necessary to see if the current mission is working and if the vision needs to be refined at all. Further, both seem to value the importance of lifelong learning for all and continued professional development for librarians.

The mission statement is a little more specific because it directly and concisely states the purpose of the library. However, the vision statement is more general; it includes more stakeholders and more general terms for what the library hopes to accomplish. The AASL statements focus on strong leadership and education, as well as up-to-date services in multiple areas including technology.

I also noticed that one of the statements includes the importance of meeting goals at local, state, and national levels which is also crucial to a successful program (and yet another idea that I didn’t think about prior to this activity!).

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Key Ideas

Linking for Learning evaluates Illinois school libraries and provides tools that support school librarians. While Empowering Learners supports staff and students in correctly using information and creating ideas. Both mission statements really discuss the importance of the school librarian to the culture of the school and the student’s learning. Reading through both of those vision statements it really makes you realize how much the school librarian does for schools and the many different facets that they are a part of not only for the student, but the staff.

What I learned about Mission & Vision Statements

Mission statements should be a simple and succinct sentence that includes what you do, how you do it and who you are doing it for. It was really interesting reading the 50 excellent nonprofit mission statements and seeing how simple they are. I know I would get bogged down in wanting to tell you all the little details but it really can be done in a simple sentence.

While a mission statement is about what you are already doing, a vision statement is about what you are working towards. Vision statements are realistic goals that you and your organization are working towards fulfilling. I think before looking through all these examples I would have had a hard time telling you the difference between a mission or vision statement. I am feeling more confident in my ability to start creating a mission and vision statement.

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What I Learned About School Library Mission & Vision Statements 

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What I Learned About School Library Mission & Vision Statements 

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I learned that school library mission and vision statements are:

-Comprehensive: They cover a wide range of educational goals.

-Student-Centered & Empowering: The primary focus is on student empowerment, enabling them to become independent, discerning, and responsible users of information.

-Adaptable: They acknowledge the dynamic nature of information, technology, and educational needs, stressing the importance of being current and anticipating future changes.

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Both Linking for Learning and Empowering Learners emphasize empowering students to be effective users of ideas and information and fostering lifelong learning. The active, leadership, and instructional role of the school librarian is prominent in both sources as well. They also both explicitly state the importance of collaboration.