The Brighton District Library has completed an updated strategic plan to help guide staff and the board in the coming years.

The theme of the plan for 2019-2022 is “Connect, Grow, Discover…Together”, which adopted by the library board at the end of May. The plan is the result of five months of dialogue with community members, library staff, Friends of the Library and the Board of Trustees. Community feedback was received via an online survey and the response was said to be far beyond expectations and helped meaningfully guide the plan to set goals and initiatives for the next three years. The plan will serve as a guide for the consideration and implementation of new programming, resources, technology, services and building enhancements.

Library Director Cindy Mack tells WHMI it’s a three-year plan but also very fluid and adaptable plan so they plan to re-evaluate it and value community feedback. She says technology and electronic resources are really important to people so they are continuing to grow that collection – noting 25% of circulation is now electronic resources. Mack says people want both electronic and print resources, so they want to make sure collections are diverse. However, they have to consider what funds are available and make sure they’re allocated correctly so they’re meeting the demands and expectations of those who love books in print and those who want it electronically. Mack says the plan also reaffirmed that the community values children and youth services. She says they’ll be starting a major renovation project later this month that is patron-oriented and the strategic plan process helped gather feedback and finalize some of those decisions. She says the plan outlines a lot of different goals but it’s primarily centered on how to make the best library possible for the community while providing the best print and electronic resources along with programming. Mack noted the plan really helped evaluate what they’re doing right, what could be done better and what other goals to work on to engage the community as needs are becoming more diverse.

Among other highlights in the plan was that respondents felt it was important the library continue to provide educational and lifelong learning opportunities, as well as access to technology to all patrons. Additionally, patrons also expressed a desire to see expanded collections, including access to more e-materials and physical materials. A need for improvements to the library facility was also emphasized. The complete strategic plan may be viewed through the provided link. (JM)