Fayetteville library assesses community needs

FAYETTEVILLE — Those interested have until the end of the month to take part in a community needs survey that will help shape a new strategic plan for the library.

An online survey is posted to the library’s website, faylib.org. It will stay open until June 30.

The library has contracted with consultant Ivy Group in Charlottesville, Va., on a community assessment effort. The group so far has led six community focus groups, two community needs forums and three staff visioning sessions to evaluate needs and library support, according to information presented to the library’s board on Monday.

The library also has taken part in a benchmark study to see where it stacks up to other libraries across the country, receiving high marks across several categories, Executive Director David Johnson told the board. Feedback from community leaders also will be integrated into the assessment, he said.

The online survey has netted about 650 responses, Johnson said. An internal library staff survey also will remain open until the end of the month, he said.

The goal is have the assessment completed by late July, Johnson said. The library will then be able to come up with an updated strategic plan, he said.

“It’s going to help us get a road map for the future,” Johnson said.

The most recent strategic plan was the library’s master plan released in 2012. The plan said the library needed to double its size and would need millage increase to do it. City voters approved a property tax increase in 2016 to build an expanded library, which opened in January 2021.

“We’re starting the work now to say what are we going to need to do, where do we need to be, as the community grows,” Johnson said.

In other business, Johnson told board members the city is interested in doing more sidewalk and street work south of the library. The city’s contractor associated with construction of the cultural arts corridor downtown, Nabholz, has been using the open acre south of the library to stage their work.

The original plan for the Fay Jones woods portion of the arts corridor was to have street and sidewalk work done on West Avenue extending to South Street. On Friday, city officials contacted library administration, saying the work could extend farther south to Prairie Street. In addition, improvements could be made on South School Avenue to Archibald Yell Boulevard and portions of South Street, Johnson said.

The city asked the library for more time to use the open acre for staging construction work, saying it could take until November, Johnson said.

Johnson told board members he wanted to revisit the agreement with the city to potentially have some improvements made to the library property in exchange for its extended use, such as plumbing for sprinklers or electrical work.