Library director outlines 2025 priorities: collections, programming and facility fixes

The Brown Deer library director presented the library’s 2025 priorities and three‑to‑five‑year goals during the June 2 Board of Trustees meeting, asking trustees to note near‑term needs for popular family passes, expanded weekday room bookings, and minor facility work to prevent recurring lower‑level flooding.

The director said the library’s museum and attraction pass program, including popular zoo and botanical garden passes, is in high demand and the library is exploring ways to expand the collection and circulation. "We can't keep the passes on the shelf," she said, describing how certain passes disappear within minutes on busy days.

She also described plans to increase weekday community‑room bookings, to launch a podcast this summer and add at least one more high‑demand pass, and to pilot adult story‑time events tied to memory‑care programming. The library director asked the board to consider modest investments to address repeated sump‑pump failures in the lower level; she said two pumps and associated minor work could cost just under $3,000, while a full‑building generator would be substantially more expensive and not feasible in the near term.

Programming goals for 2025 include expanding partnerships with Brown Deer School District librarians for in‑school and library programs, occupational story‑times for children (firefighters, dancers and other professions), and continuing the library’s presence at the village farmers market. The director also proposed removing a false wall in the lower level to reunite media collections and increase circulation of nonfiction DVDs and Blu‑ray materials.

On staffing and hours the director said the building currently opens at 10 a.m. (drive‑through at 9 a.m.) and asked the board to consider shifting building hours earlier to 9 a.m. in order to better serve residents; she said doing so would require staffing adjustments but is a priority if workload can be balanced without burning out current library staff.

The director also proposed conducting a resident survey in a future summer to gather community input on library services and to schedule quarterly training for library staff using a training platform provided by the village’s liability insurance carrier.

Trustees asked about room rental fees, facility security for contested materials, artwork and youth partnerships with the high school; the director said the library charges reduced or no fees for some government and school users and noted the library is already working with local artists and high‑school students on potential displays. The director said the library has experienced occasional lower‑level flooding incidents this year and would like to prioritize small capital fixes to reduce the risk.

Trustees thanked the director for the report; no formal action was required on the presentation itself.