The three priorities in the library’s current strategic plan are:
- Community-Centered Services
- Excellence Through Diversity Equity & Inclusion
- People-First Workplace Culture
All three priorities are rooted in the principle of equitable access for all, a basic tenet of public library service in the United States. While we at DBRL have long prided ourselves on serving everyone in the community we also know that, as humans, we can always do better. The challenges of modern society can sometimes make it difficult to welcome those among us who are different from us in some way, either in how they look, act or speak. We must work to remind ourselves that in order to live up to our vision and mission we sometimes need to pause and assess our progress.
Thus, our plan this year is to work with a firm to examine our policies and hiring practices, help uncover our internal biases and other roadblocks to being as open and welcoming to everyone in our community as possible. This work will help us ensure that our words support our actions, and vice versa. We truly want our staff to reflect the faces of the communities we serve and want all of our community members to believe that we are positioned to meet their needs with library service for everyone.
DBRL strives to be at the heart of the community, a trusted resource and partner known for excellence, creativity and open, equitable access, connecting every person to opportunities for a lifetime of discovery, learning and joy. We look forward to what we can learn about ourselves, our services and our opportunities in order to remain welcoming to all.
Margaret M. Conroy, Executive Director of the Daniel Boone Regional Library