Press Release – Negaunee Public Library’s Strategic Plan

 

The Negaunee City Council adopted the Negaunee Public Library’s strategic plan, effective through 2021, at the council meeting Thursday, Dec. 13. The strategic plan, which is the library’s first, makes recommendations regarding library staffing, funding, facility, and programming.

The strategic plan comes from several months of effort by the library’s strategic planning committee and advisory board. A community survey was conducted online and by paper last summer, and several focus discussion groups were held.

Some of the key deliverables outlined in the plan include:

Improving staff wages and benefits so they are commensurate with similar positions within the city and comparable to similar-sized libraries;

Increasing attendance on Saturdays and offer Saturday hours year-round;

Insuring that the library has adequate funding;

Expanding or reconfiguring space to better meet the community’s library needs;

Partnering with other agencies and organizations to provide programming;

Expanding Friends of the Negaunee Public Library’s book sales; and

Expanding programming for teens, as the city has no youth programs outside school.

The library and its supporters have already begun implementing these goals. For example, the Friends of the Negaunee Public Library are pursuing grant opportunities to fund Saturday hours during the summer, and they also held a small but profitable book and vinyl records sale. The library is also pursuing programming ideas to bring more teens into the library.

City Manger Nate Heffron commends all the hard work the library staff and board put into this plan. “We took a hard look at the services that we are providing and measured their effectiveness based direct community input. Our goal is to improve upon our successes and prepare for the next generation of library users,” Heffron said.

A copy of this document can be viewed online Library Strategic Plan, or at the Negaunee Public Library.

For more information, contact Jessica Holman, library director, at (906) 475-7700 ext. 18, via email at jdholman@uproc.lib.mi.us, or in person at the library. (See attachment)

Prepared by Jessica Holman.