LIBRARY SEEKS COMMUNITY INPUT
Focus groups will help set new strategic plan for the facility
TELFORD >> “What is the first thing that comes to mind when you hear ‘Indian Valley Public Library?’”
That’s one of the questions being asked of focus groups whose input will help set a new strategic plan for the library.
Other questions include ones about the positive and negative experiences the person has had at the library, what it means to be a “community” library and what the perfect library would look like in 2025.
Some of the focus groups have already been held, with more scheduled, Karen Kispert and Alexander Grande, cochairs of the strategic planning committee said.
“We’re even talking about having a super focus group day,” Kispert said.
The logistics for that still have to be worked out, but would include several 30- to 45-minute focus group sessions throughout the day for anyone who wanted to take part, she said.
An online survey is also planned. It’s expected to be launched in May, Grande said.
“It’s not a long survey,” he said. “Probably won’t take more than 10 to 15 minutes at most.”
Once the survey begins, the library will publicize its link address and people can take the survey online with one of the library’s computers
or on their own computer, Kispert said.
There will also be paper copies, but it is preferred that people take the survey online because compiling the results will be easier and take less time, she said.
The strategic planning committee includes about 18 people from all walks of life, including library staff, representatives from the towns served by the library and Souderton Area School District representatives, Kispert said.
Although the strategic planning efforts started before library Director Linda Beck announced that she was retiring, that makes it a perfect time to
do the new strategic planning for the future, Grande said.
The focus groups and survey help give community input, Kispert said.
“It’s an opportunity to engage a lot of the community in helping the library understand what the community thinks of it as it is and then where it should be going in the future,” she said.
There has been a lot of discussion about the library’s demographics, she said, which include the senior population, families with little children and people for whom English is a second language and who are new to the country and the community.
“All three of those groups are growing in our area,” Kisbert said.
The committee also expects to have a focus group
for people in their 20s, she said.
One of the most challenging parts of the library’s future could be the library building, Grande said.
“It’d be great if we had expansion potential,” he said. “We’re truly landlocked in that respect, so we’re going to have to really get creative in terms of those people that still want to continue to come to the library as the hub of their learning or their pleasure.”
“It’s a physical space and a virtual space,” Kispert said of the library. “In the next five years, like everything in the world, to figure out what that means, it’s a challenge.”
The library tries to be a community hub and has a lot of programs that people take part in, so there will continue to be people who want to physically come to the library, Grande said, but the library is also looking into ways to take itself outside its walls.
“I think what you’re going to see in the plan is how are we going to launch out from the library to meet people in their own space or in their own time and how we can help them,” Grande said.
Another possibility would be for the library to provide training space or actual training for businesses or other organizations, he said.
The strategic plan is being developed for the next five years, but probably will be revisited each year, he said.
A subcommittee has prepared new recommended vision and mission statements for the library. The vision, it says, is “To inspire lifelong learning for all.” The mission is described as “To enrich lives by encouraging curiosity and discovery; to connect people physically and virtually; and, to protect intellectual freedom and privacy.”
The strategic planning process has included discussions with former state Sen. and current Philadelphia Chamber of Commerce President and CEO Rob Wonderling, Kispert and Grande said.
“He used the phrase ‘civic space,’ which resonated with all of us,” Kispert said. “In our committee, we’ve really pondered what that means to be the civic space for the Indian Valley community.”
Wonderling also talked about the book “The Vanishing Neighbor: The Transformation of American Community,” and how that related to the library, Grande said.
“People don’t know their neighbors as they did years ago,” Kispert said, “but we meet our neighbors in these community spaces.”
For instance, there are purely electronic clubs, such as a gaming group, that meets at the library, Grande said.
The committee expects to complete the new strategic plan by the end of this summer, Kispert said.
Incremental work will then begin to carry it out, Grande said.
“What we’ll probably do is develop three to five major thrusts that may be broad in scope,” he said, “and then what we’ll do is we’ll develop some specific strategies underneath one of those thrusts to pursue.”