Natalie Beacom, library director for the City of New Berlin, told the Committee of the Whole on June 24, 2025, that the library has adopted a three-year strategic plan focused on four priorities: enhancing services, space, community connections and resources.

Beacom said the library’s digital collection includes two platforms, Hoopla and Libby, and that rising pricing for Hoopla—currently structured on a per-license basis—has become unsustainable. She said the library plans to shift purchasing to lower-cost licensing and to “load those funds…into our Libby platform” to reduce holds and expand access to e-books, audiobooks and other media. Beacom said the library’s maker studio draws thousands of visitors per month and that staff want to expand technology in that space.

The director also reported robust summer programming: “We’re over 1,000. We’re close to 1,500 now,” Beacom said when asked about summer sign-ups, calling this the largest summer reading enrollment the library has had. Committee members praised staff; no action was taken on the update, which the director framed as informational and part of routine planning.