Library seeking community input for new strategic plan

Newton Public Library will be undergoing a new strategic plan over the next five years, and its board of trustees wants to know the public’s thoughts about library services, needs and community priorities. Both users and non-users of the library are encouraged to provide feedback in a paper or online survey.

According to a recent press release from the Newton library, the survey is open until Aug. 16. Paper copies are available at the library’s service desks, and the online survey is available from the library’s Facebook page or by scanning the QR code from the paper copies. The survey takes less than 10 minutes to finish.

All responses to the survey are anonymous.

By implementing a strategic plan, the library’s board of trustees can determine how to best focus funding efforts, goals and programs, and also address the needs of individual patrons and the overall community. Newton Library Director Nicole Terry said the strategic plan helps the library maintain accreditations.

“We are due to renew our accreditation this February,” Terry said to Newton News. “And with our previous strategic plan expiring, it is time to create a new one. Through accreditation from the State Library of Iowa we receive Nerich funding that we use for programming, craft supplies, board games, etc.”

All of which go towards improving services for patrons, which is a stipulation of that funding source. Accreditation also reimburses some of the inter-library loan postage and allows the library to be part of the Open Access Program, which lets any Iowa resident whose city funds a library to check out books in Newton.

Newton has been accredited at a Tier 3 level through the state for as long as Terry has been the library director. This means that Newton Public Library meets the highest level of standards for public libraries in Iowa. Terry said the most recent strategic plan was created in fall 2018.

The plan was effective from January 2019 to January 2024.

“We held open houses and invited members of the community to visit and discuss what they would like to see in their community and in their library,” she said. “From those discussions the staff created the strategic plan in an attempt to fulfill some of those needs and wants discussed.”

Four areas of focus were identified in the past strategic plan:

• Satisfy curiosity: Lifelong learning

• Visit a comfortable place: Physical and virtual spaces

• Create young readers: Early childhood literacy

• Know your community: Community resources and services

Each of these strategies were assigned goals. Terry said unfortunately the library cannot fulfill all of the community needs “but we try our best with what we have.” The COVID-19 pandemic, budget cuts and changing community needs meant the Newton Public Library did not meet all of the goals from the previous plan.

“We are hoping to get new insight from our community members through an open survey to create a new strategic plan that will direct the staff for the next five years,” Terry said. “We will review the surveys, listen to the community and list the common needs/wants presented.”

Library board members will take into account the library’s budget constraints and staff constraints and from there focus the staff’s attention on a few key objectives presented by the community, Terry added. Staff do not want to stretch themselves too thin while trying to add on new services or programs.

Developing a new strategic plan will also give staff an overarching goal to work towards. For example, if the community says it wants more staff out in the community and visiting retirement homes or more large print resources, then staff will adapt to those changes and adjust the budget to acquire those resources.

For those who want to do more than just fill out a survey, the library board is taking applications for a community-minded individual to fill a library trustee seat.

Library trustees are charged with hiring and evaluating the library director, approving and monitoring the budget, developing policies, planning for the library’s future and advocating for the library’s advancements. Trustees must be registered voters living within Newton city limits.