The Middletown Press (Middletown, CT)
New strategic plan eyes bright future
MIDDLETOWN — The Russell Library is making big plans for the future. Now in its 150th year of providing public services to Middletown, the library recently completed a comprehensive strategic planning process that will help to guide services, staffing and infrastructure for years to come.
“Our strategic planning process was intensely community-focused and that was intentional,” Eamonn Wisneski, president of the Russell Library Board of Trustees said in a prepared statement. “Since the purpose of the public library is to serve and strengthen our community, we listened to as many voices from across Middletown as possible during the year-long planning process.”
With professional consultants Maxine Bleiweis and Associates, the library conducted dozens of focus groups, interviews, surveys, and advisory council meetings in order to solicit robust input from community members, the news release said. More than 600 individuals completed surveys.
Middletown Mayor Ben Florsheim, who was interviewed at length during the planning process, agrees libraries are key drivers of prosperity and empowerment, according to the library adminstration. “This plan emphasizes the Russell Library’s strong commitment to serving as a driving force for a successful, thriving community.
“Particularly in times like these, when we face a long and difficult recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic and its economic fallout, we’ll be leaning more than ever on our public library to provide key services, connection, and access to critical resources,” Florsheim asid.
The new mission statement reads “We empower people to grow, connect, strive and thrive.” The title of the strategic plan itself, “FutureReady for Middletown” demonstrates the library’s renewed focus on strengthening and empowering the community and preparing for whatever lies ahead, it said.
“The COVID-19 pandemic has made it abundantly clear to us that while we can’t predict exactly what will happen in the future, we can make ourselves ready to respond to it,” Ramona Burkey, director of the Russell Library, said in the statement.
“Our staff have shown themselves to be incredibly flexible and agile in response to this pandemic. We’ve been actively listening to and engaging with our community more than ever before, and those are skills and practices that will be crucial to our success going forward.”
Staff responded to COVID-19 by offering curbside pickup seven days per week, adding a personalized “book match” services for all ages, and substantially beefing up digital and downloadable collections and services, which can be accessed 24/7 from home with a library card, Burkey said
Later this year, self-checkout machines will offer a convenient lowtouch service option for library patrons, she added. Also, the library recently installed a building-wide air purification system, which enhances health and safety for all visitors and staff by eliminating pathogens such as viruses, bacteria and mold.
To view the plan, visit russelllibrary.org.