Strategic Plan 2022-2025

Welcome

Create and maintain a welcoming environment for all

• Explore creating a designated quiet room or space where patrons can study and read in a peaceful, noise-reduced environment.
• Engage new patrons with our spaces by offering library tours when applying for library cards.
• Assemble a sensory kit available for patrons to use in the library.
• Review collection names, such as Juvenile and Easy Reader, in the children’s area to determine if they are understandable for users.
• With the Library Board's guidance, develop a plan for constructing The Backyard at the Library once the Library Foundation Board completes its fundraising goal.
• Develop a plan, with the Library Board’s guidance, to address the water infrastructure issues on the East and North sides of our building.
• Continue developing a quarterly usage report that tracks traffic patterns and usage to serve our patrons at optimum times.
• Continue to add RFID technology to new and existing materials in the collection.

Enhance staff competencies and internal communications.

• Implement training to prepare for RFID conversion self and manual circulation stations for staff
• Research ways to make processes at the front desk run more quickly, smoothly, and efficiently 
• Formalize onboarding training for new staff members and cross-train current staff members in the three patron-facing departments
• Maintain the Staff Policy and Procedure Manual and update it yearly
• Enhance programming collaboration between the Youth and Adult Service departments, including quarterly check-ins
• Establish customer service protocols that address isolation to create stronger social connections and an increased sense of belonging.
• Increase staff awareness of cultural competencies through training and ongoing conversations.

Enhance equity, diversity, and inclusion throughout the Library

• Purchase and evaluate use of materials for adults in Spanish and Chinese
• Enhance Hi/Lo reading material selection to encourage adult literacy
• Collaborate with the Ball-Chatham School Librarians in showcasing school/student voices in displays
• Provide at least four cultural events/programs annually
• Evaluate collections, determine collection gaps, and increase titles that represent members of our community

Connect

Engage and connect with the Community

• Utilize the Library’s Book Bike to engage with the community and encourage Library card sign-up and usage in walkable neighborhoods
• Continue to distribute materials and resources to those in assisted living facilities monthly. 
• Invite community members and local organizations to utilize our display cases as a platform to showcase their unique collections, achievements, or services.
• Provide 8 Storywalk stories per year, and host 2 Library events at the Veteran’ Memorial Square
• Highlight local area artists, organizations, and BCSD students to showcase their talents with at least eight art shows annually.

Develop partnerships that foster deeper community ties 

• Collaborate with the Chatham Area Chamber and the business community by hosting board meetings and luncheons.
• Collaborate with the HSHS and Memorial Health to develop presentations to make a healthier community.
• Maintain collaboration for the Library’s Food Pantry with the Sugar Creek United Methodist Church

Preserve and promote Chatham’s history and heritage

• Develop a clear and accessible system for researching, documenting, and preserving the history of houses in Chatham to support community interest and historic preservation.

Communicate

Promote the services and materials the Library has to offer

• Create 3 Monthly Targeted Email Newsletters for Adults, Seniors, and Children
• Maintain our weekly online newsletter process, highlighting services, events, and opportunities for patron involvement.

Facilitate dialog between community members

• Create a series of events that celebrate and share diverse cultural traditions, fostering understanding and connection among community members to be hosted in 2026.
• Identify gaps and highlight stakeholders and library advocates in the key community areas.
• Investigate visiting the Middle or High School to interact with students for relationship-building and collaborate with Lincoln Library.

Educate

Enrich resources, services, and spaces to encourage and inspire lifelong learning

• Create a mobile makerspace
• Research changing trends in physical Audio/Visual and digital items 
• Use usage data to acquire additional copies of high-demand items and reduce spending on under-circulating subjects/genres.
• Continue to provide quarterly after-school STEAM programs 
• Quarterly, provide dramatic play themes for the playhouse in the toddler area.
• Every other month, provide new interactive passive programming for teens

Expand non-traditional materials of various types

• Research emerging Library of Things collections trends and integrate new, in-demand items to meet community needs.
• Investigate options for new or updated equipment intended for those 3-10 years of age.