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Fort Worth Public Library lays out new strategic plan and community outreach
Summary
Library staff presented 'Next Chapter Starts With You,' highlighting record FY25 circulation (just over 4.3 million checkouts), elimination of fines, 132,000 program attendees, and a multi-part community engagement process including a statistically valid mailed survey and an online Social Pinpoint forum.
Fort Worth Public Library staff on Tuesday briefed the Community Development Committee on a new strategic planning process called “Next Chapter Starts With You,” outlining community engagement to shape the library’s priorities and a timeline to deliver a finished plan by the end of fiscal 2026.
Dory, the library presenter, said the department’s previous three-year plan expired in 2021 and that the new effort will build on recent gains. “Our FY25 number of checkouts, which was just over 4.3 million checkouts, was our highest ever recorded amount of checkouts in the history of Fort Worth Public Library,” Dory said. She also noted the department recorded nearly 132,000 program attendees in FY25 and has removed fines and fees for overdue materials to reduce barriers to access.
The plan’s outreach includes multiple engagement streams. Dory said the city hired consulting firm Barry Dunn in 2025 to run a statistically valid mailed survey; the consultant needed 400 responses for the stated confidence target and received 475, which Dory said yields a margin of error of roughly 4.5 percent. The library is also running an open online Social Pinpoint engagement: Dory reported 749 contributions as of May 29 and encouraged council members to share the link with constituents. “We’d love to have more,” she said, noting the online forum had no fixed numeric goal.
Internally, the library formed a project core team last October and two employee advisory councils totaling 24 members to inform staff-facing priorities. The department has also convened a community task force and is meeting with the library advisory board and foundation board to gather feedback.
Committee members asked whether the online survey had a target response goal. Dory replied that the mailed survey had a specific target for statistical validity but the open online survey did not; she offered to distribute the Social Pinpoint links to council members for wider promotion.
The library plans another internal advisory meeting on July 27 and expects to complete the strategic plan by the end of FY26. The presentation did not include any formal votes or committee action.
