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North Kingstown Free Library unveils one-page five-year strategic plan to expand community services
Summary
Library trustees and staff presented a concise five-year strategic plan emphasizing space improvements, outreach to nonusers, deeper partnerships and sustaining core services. Councilors flagged near-term capital needs, including HVAC and bathroom repairs estimated at about $300,000.
The North Kingstown Free Library presented a new five-year strategic plan during the town council meeting on Feb. 9, laying out a mission "to gather, grow and connect" and four priorities intended to guide annual work plans and budget decisions.
Will Valverde, chair of the library's Board of Trustees, and Megan Wheaton, the library director, said the plan was built from focus groups, a public survey and stakeholder interviews and distilled into a single-page format the board can reference regularly. The priorities are: preparing the building for future needs (including activating the lower level for meetings and installing charging stations), welcoming new audiences through marketing and clearer signage, expanding partnerships with the Chamber and local schools, and protecting core services and local-history stewardship.
Wheaton said the plan is required by the state and is intended to link strategy to measurable annual actions and reporting back to trustees and the public. "We heard a lot of community members saying that this is one of the few places in town where you can just be," she said.
Councilor Matt McCoy and other members pressed presenters on facility needs and the plan's capital implications. McCoy said recent discussions around the capital improvement plan identified HVAC and bathroom upgrades among top priorities and estimated near-term capital needs in the "range of $300,000" to keep the building fully usable.
Valverde and Wheaton said the strategic plan will guide budgeting conversations; progress will be measured and reported in annual plans submitted to the trustees and shared with the town. The council thanked trustees for the work and moved on to related budget items on the evening's agenda.
Next steps: trustees and library staff will use the strategic plan to shape annual work plans and to seek funding aligned with the town's FY27 budget process.
