Strategic Plan

 

Platteville Public Library Strategic Plan 2018-2022

On June 27, 2017, the Platteville Public Library opened the doors to a new, 22,000 square foot facility, and opened the doors to a new chapter of library service in Southwest Wisconsin. The library board and staff developed this strategic plan to ensure we maximize the promise of the new library building.

Knowing the major undertaking of designing and building a new library was on the horizon, the development of this strategic plan was scheduled over two time periods, one before and one after the library was built. The first stage, with the guidance of the consultant, involved a half-day session with the library staff on November 20, 2015 to develop a mission statement and organizational values. A second session was held on January 15, 2016 to create service standards for staff. These foundations serve as guiding principles to reach the goals of this plan, and to guide the services of the library into the future.

For the second stage of the process, a strategic planning committee consisting of library staff and library board president formed in September 2017. The charge of the committee was to create a five- year plan to identify the goals of the library after careful consideration of the community’s needs and aspirations. The committee developed the framework of goals and activities to meet the needs of the current population. We recognized that the plan should allow for flexibility as the staff and community continue to adapt to their new facility. With the consultant also facilitating this stage of the plan’s development, the committee used the following sources of information to help determine the goals for the library:

  • Annual report data submitted to the Department of Public Instruction (DPI) for the years 2009-2015.
  • Demographics from the 2000 and 2010 Census and the 2015 American Community Survey.
  • Issues and Needs Questionnaire, completed by members of the Planning Committee.
  • Results of a survey of convenience conducted between 9/25/2017 and 10/23/2017. There were 320 total responses.
  • Three Community Conversations held on 10/30/17 with 11 attendees, 11/1/17 with 13 attendees, and 11/7/17 with 11 attendees. These conversations were attended by business and civic leaders, educators, officeholders, citizens and library patrons.

The strategic planning committee met on December 6, 2017 to develop the strategic goals and activities outlined in this plan.