Mission
Through dedicated personal service, we connect our diverse community to resources that educate, enrich and inspire.
Purpose
Public Commons
The Library offers a welcoming space and varied activities in which all members of the public can connect with and learn from one another.
Current Collections
The Library selects and maintains materials and offers services and activities that allow all community members to engage with and remain up-to-date on current popular, social, and technological trends.
Lifelong Learning
The Library provides a variety of technologies, materials, services, and learning opportunities to help support and encourage all community members in the ongoing pursuit of knowledge and skills for personal or professional development.
Access
The Library serves the individual needs of community members – regardless of age, background, income, persuasion, or ability – by providing widest possible access to resources and experiences that educate, enrich and inspire.
Community Connection
The Library serves as a point of service and connection for other institutions and government agencies within the District in order to ensure that community members’ needs are identified and met to their fullest without unnecessary duplication of services or materials.
Goals and Objectives
The Library establishes long range plans, goals and objectives to meet District library needs. Within its mission and purpose, the Library develops specific services which help meet the needs of the community. Goals are adopted by the Board with staff and community participation.
2023-2026 Strategic Plan
Background
The Covid-19 pandemic impacted Library service and the Library’s engagement with the community it serves in myriad ways. The past six years have borne witness to several historic shifts in how we live, work, and interact with each other.
During 2022, the Library engaged numerous stakeholder groups, including the Board of Trustees, Library staff, community organizations, and more than 1,700 community members to provide input that informed the goals and strategies included in this strategic plan.
Grounded by the Library’s commitment to provide equitable access to our community, our goals and strategies respond to this engagement in a way that both leverages the Library’s current successes and responds to identified opportunities.
This plan will move the Library forward purposefully, as data and extensive feedback inform the following goals and targeted strategies in pursuit of our mission.
OUTCOME
The Library identifies, meaningfully engages with, and develops service offerings tailored to different audiences throughout the district, especially underrepresented communities.
STRATEGIES
- Strengthen collaborative opportunities with local daycares and centers for early childhood education, including in-person visits and field trips.
- Re-energize partnerships with schools and community organizations, especially to increase engagement with teens.
- Work with diverse community groups throughout the district to identify ways the Library can support their needs.
- Identify the most effective and sustainable outreach vehicle(s) to further serve our community needs.
OUTCOME
The Library invests in spaces and opportunities that attract new and existing users, make them feel welcome, and meet their evolved work and social needs.
STRATEGIES
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- Develop and implement a Library is Human 2.0 customer service plan that builds upon the foundational work completed during the last strategic plan.
- Reimagine the Cook Park Library children’s department to expand the potential level of engagement and interaction, particularly among early learners.
- Optimize space at Cook Park Library to provide more independent, private work spaces to support remote workers and students.
- Continue to recruit diverse candidates for the library staff.
- Explore new opportunities to support social interaction and conversation at all age levels.
- Manage library collections, Library of Things materials, and digital equipment responsively to community need, demographic change, and relevance.
- Incorporate more flexible options for patron service points.
OUTCOME
The Library centers its technology resources, programs, and services in the equitable opportunity for all district residents to access technology that supports their work, interests, and education.
STRATEGIES
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- Advance the Library’s efforts to demonstrate and educate users about select technologies, e-resources, and creative tools through a high level of service.
- Align technology offerings with the needs of remote workers and students.
- Develop strategies to reach underrepresented populations within the community through technology services.
- Incorporate renewable energy initiatives and clean technologies in future building repairs and replacements.
OUTCOME
Community members have a strong understanding of what the Library offers, its role within the district community, and the benefits it holds for individual users.
STRATEGIES
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- Make Library communications and information available in languages used by large portions of the community, beginning with Spanish.
- Increase targeted communications with local school communities.
- Identify and pursue community outreach opportunities to market the Library’s services and resources to increase engagement with new audiences.
- Enhance internal communication strategies that reach across departments and resist isolated operations.