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Petoskey Public Library presents strategic plan, highlights building upkeep and expanded programming
Summary
Library staff presented a strategic plan to City Council based on a community survey of about 970 responses and several focus groups; priorities include building maintenance, expanding community connections, staff support and programs to cultivate curiosity.
Val, a library staff member, presented the Petoskey Public Library’s finalized strategic plan to City Council, summarizing survey and focus-group results and listing four board priorities: protecting the building, expanding community connections, supporting staff and cultivating curiosity through programming.
Why it matters: the plan sets direction for the library’s capital and program priorities over the next three to five years and will guide budgeting, facility changes and new program development.
The presentation said about 970 people responded to the main survey and the library worked with the University of Michigan to analyze the data. Staff targeted non-library-card users at community events — including outreach at a fall football game — and held four to five focus groups. The plan’s priorities reflect repeated public feedback that the building should be maintained and that the library serve as a low-cost, alcohol-free community “third place” for 20-to-40-year-olds and other residents.
Programs already in place or planned include a twice-monthly “Third Place” volunteer-run meetup, one-on-one college-essay review sessions led by a college professor and volunteer readers, and summer SAT-prep classes for teens. The library highlighted its “library of things” circulation (tools and appliances) and gave an example of a patron who borrowed a food dehydrator and used it at home.
Council members asked detailed questions. Councilmember Moore asked about proposed building reconfigurations to improve staff–patron sight lines; Val described a “flip-flop” idea to move the desk to the top of the stairs so staff are visible when patrons exit the elevator. Moore and others asked how the plan would reduce wait times for popular materials; Val said staff are tracking hold ratios and hold wait times and considering cost-effective purchases to reduce queues. Councilmember Shields asked for a PDF copy of the plan for distribution; Val said Mitchell Graphics prepared the packet and staff would provide the PDF.
Next steps: library staff are assigning action items, reviewing goals, and planning budgeting steps over the next three to five years to implement priorities and to present required materials to council as needed.
