• Choose one person with strong writing skills to write the draft plan. This will speed the draft along and allow your library to get busy on the plan's implementation.
• Don't worry about having every last detail in the first draft. The important thing is to keep the momentum of the planning process going strong.
• Remember to get plenty of feedback on the written draft of your plan. Nelson asserts that the main purpose of the basic plan is to solicit endorsement and approval from the library board so that implementation can begin. Distribute your plan widely to your board, your planning committee, and the library staff.

So what will your plan look like? Nelson describes the plan as an official record of the planning process. This record should be clear (easy to read and understand), concise (short and to the point), credible (accurate and believable), logical, and persuasive. Nelson suggests that your library plan contain the following elements:

• Title page
• Table of contents
• Executive summary - written in clear and concise language that an "outsider" can understand.
• Introduction - You may want to use this section to describe your planning process.
• Community needs section - The community profile you built will work well here.
• Mission statement.
• Goals and objectives.
• Selected activities - Use this section to highlight new and interesting services.

This last step of "monitoring implementation" is crucial. Action steps are monitored at set intervals. The entire plan should be reviewed and evaluated * on an annual basis. In other words, what worked, what didn't, what got done and what never got started? Use the information you gain from evaluating your progress to retune or to create a new objective. Maybe you need more information about your community or a specific group or maybe your community has changed since you started working toward your goals. If so, it is time to update your community profile. "Remember," says Nelson, "it takes far less energy to continue a successful planning effort than it does to start one the first time."