This February, we heard from nearly 700 people across Boone and Callaway Counties who either attended one of our Community Conversations or filled out our online survey. Thank you so much for taking your valuable time to share your thoughts about what you wish for your community and your library.
We’ve reviewed everyone’s comments and are beginning to draft our next strategic plan based on that information. Some of the major themes that came across were:
- To you, the library is at the center of the community, a partner and a resource for the common good.
- You value the quality of life in your community and the library as a way for you to connect with others.
- You appreciate the lifelong learning opportunities and equitable access to information and ideas provided by the library.
- You value diversity and are concerned by local issues of poverty, employment, social justice and equity of opportunities.
- You see the library as a fun, cool, inclusive, welcoming and safe place.
- You want us to bring more library services out to you.
- You value the library for access to books, reading and promoting a literate community.
- You look to the library to connect everyone to technology.
- You recognize our region is growing and changing and that the library will also need to grow and change to meet those needs.
We hope to have a final plan done by the middle of this summer, and we will be sharing it with you.
Thanks again for your participation.
– Melissa Carr