Meeting the Needs of Our Community

Barberton Public Library’s

Strategic Plan

January 8, 2004

Summary

Our Past/Our Future

Goals and Objectives

Summary of Selected Activities

Acknowledgements

Summary

Mission Statement

The Barberton Public Library will promote the development of independent, self-confident, and literate members of the community through the provision of efficient and effective services; the access to diverse cultural, educational and informational resources; and the offering of an environment within which people can meet, interact and participate in public discourse about community issues.

Goals

¨      Barberton Public Library will become a clearinghouse of pertinent information for job seekers and employers  while establishing working relationships with local businesses and career agencies in the area.

¨      Barberton Public Library will promote information literacy by establishing and providing instructional classes and services so that community members may use library resources effectively.

¨      The entire community will have opportunities for formal and informal interaction in the provided meeting spaces and common areas at the Barberton Public Library.

¨      Barberton Public Library's materials and services will reflect the wide variety of interests and needs of the entire community.

¨      The Barberton Public Library will provide supporting services and materials for basic literacy.

¨      Barberton Public Library will support individuals enrolled in a formal program of education with appropriate materials and services.

Our Past/Our Future

A group of young women, led by Minnie Cassell Johnston, began a girls club, library, and lounge area in a rented room on Second Street funded by donations from local citizens.  In 1899, O.C. Barber made an offer to build a library for the town of Barberton and donate $1,000 to equip it, if the citizens could match his donation and raise an additional $1,000.

They eventually collected $2,000 in donations, but time passed and Mr. Barber did not follow through on his promise.  Eventually he did rent a large room in a downtown building as a temporary measure and named his new library the Barber Public Library.  The new library was dedicated to the citizens of Barberton on Friday, July 18, 1902.  On April 7, 1903, the library numbering 2,400 volumes was presented to the City of Barberton by Mr. O.C. Barber and opened to the public.   Mr. Barber never did follow through on his promise to build the library a building and the city assumed financial responsibility for the library.   

Over the next two decades the city maintained responsibility for the library, moving the library to the Barberton Inn Annex and finally to the Masonic Temple Building in 1924, before requesting that the Barberton Board of Education take over control of the library, which it did in 1925.  

The Barber Public Library became the Barberton Public Library in 1947.  On Saturday, November 2, 1957, the Barberton Public Library opened at its present location at 602 West Park Avenue.  

In 2000, the Community Health Library Branch was opened inside Barberton Citizens Hospital. The branch has become an integral part of the library's services, allowing community members to access current health and medical information in a variety of formats.  

In 1986, the entire library building was extensively remodeled and updated, followed in 2002 by a new renovation of the Children's Floor.  

In 2003, the Barberton Public Library marked its 100^th year of service to the community of Barberton.   The library board, director, and staff saw this milestone as an opportune moment to begin to plan for the library’s next 100 years.  

Therefore, on Friday, September 19, 2003, the library invited community leaders representing various community groups and constituencies to a meeting to advise the library board and staff on the role that they thought the library should play in the future of this community.   

These leaders expressed a pride in their community, that this once vibrant industrial city has survived decades of economic turmoil and that the city has many assets and features to be admired.   Members of the committee at the same time acknowledged that the community is dealing with many problems including poverty, a lack of literacy, and limited employment opportunities.  They expressed that they would like to see many members of the community offered more opportunities and assistance in improving their circumstances.  Another priority was providing the community, especially the younger community members, with an area to meet and gather.  The group also stressed utilizing and strengthening connections with existing community organizations to enhance areas such as literacy, learning, and communication.  

In the weeks following this meeting, library staff teams worked to evaluate current library services and resources in light of expressed community needs and to develop service strategies that specifically met those needs.  While doing so, the staff came to

reaffirm the library’s  long-standing goals of providing excellent public service and promoting life-long learning to all members of the community. In its first 100 years of service, the library expanded to meet the needs of the public. As we look forward to our next 100 years, the library wants to ensure that it remains relevant in a rapidly changing world, is accessible to all people, and makes its programs and services known to as wide an audience as possible. Our expectation is for the goals outlined in this plan to be met over the next three years, although it is our hope that this document will continually be revisited and updated on a regular basis. 

 Goals and Objectives

Goal One

Barberton Public Library will become a clearinghouse of pertinent information for job seekers and employers  while establishing working relationships with local businesses and career agencies in the area.

• By the end of 2004, establish and maintain an information center of current and relevant business and career resources within the library, using a variety of media and providing referral information to pertinent area agencies. 

• Add three technology classes focused on career and business skills conducted by the library in 2004.

• Create web pages of interest to businesses, job seekers, and entrepreneurs for inclusion on the library’s website, and evaluate, revise, and update this information semi-annually for the duration of the plan.

Selected Activities for Goal One

• Establishing a multimedia business and career information center in the library

• Strengthening partnerships with local organizations to increase staff knowledge of area resources and to facilitate the efficient referral of patrons in need of services and information

• Advertising in local papers, on our library website, and on broadcast media

Goal Two

Barberton Public Library will promote information literacy by establishing and providing instructional classes and services so that community members may use library resources effectively.

• Increase staff competencies in library information resources and technology in 2004 by encouraging participation in training and educational opportunities.

• Establish, develop and evaluate an information literacy program for the community in 2004.

• Sponsor or provide two programs and services that will aid community members in finding and using appropriate information resources each year for the duration of the plan.

Selected Activities for Goal Two

• Strengthening partnerships with local organizations to increase staff knowledge of area resources and to facilitate the efficient referral of patrons in need of services and information

• Advertising in local papers, on our library website, and on broadcast media

• Training additional staff to assist with computer classes

Goal Three

The entire community will have opportunities for formal and informal interaction in the provided meeting spaces and common areas at the Barberton Public Library.

• By the end of 2005, enhance the exterior and main entrance of the library to provide a more inviting atmosphere.

• Create a beverage station and lounge area in the lobby area of the library

• Increase the number of uses by groups of the library's meeting spaces annually by 3%.

Selected Activities for Goal Three

• Creating a lounge area along with a beverage station in the lobby of the library

• Installing a room divider in the Ruth H. Spillette Meeting Room, allowing for increased flexibility and availability of meeting room space

Goal Four

Barberton Public Library's materials and services will reflect the wide variety of interests and needs of the entire community.

• Increase the number of people using outreach services by 5% annually for the duration of the plan.

• Increase the variety and number of programs/activities offered by/at the library by 3% annually for the duration of the plan.

• Use annual surveys to determine community interests and learning styles and each year allocate percentages of the library’s materials budget that reflect and highlight the findings of each survey.

Selected Activities for Goal Four 

• Purchasing a van for delivery, outreach services, and increased visibility of the library in the community by the end of 2005.
• Allocating a budget for programming and speakers

Goal Five

The Barberton Public Library will provide existing community organizations with supporting services and materials for basic literacy.

• Increase within six months staff knowledge and awareness of basic literacy programs and services.

• Increase public awareness of services that the library offers promoting literacy.

• Add two quiet and private spaces for use by tutors in the library in 2004.

• Earmark $500 of the 2004 materials budget for materials that help adult new readers learn to read. 

• Measure the use of that collection, especially its growth during the year, and increase or decrease the percentages of the materials budget allocated for these materials in 2005 and 2006.

Selected Activities for Goal Five

•  Strengthening partnerships with local organizations to increase staff knowledge of area resources and to facilitate the efficient referral of patrons in need of services and information

• Advertising in local papers, on our library website, and on broadcast media

• Installing a room divider in the Ruth H. Spillette Meeting Room, allowing for increased flexibility and availability of meeting room space

Goal Six

Barberton Public Library will support individuals enrolled in a formal program of education with appropriate materials and services.

• Increase by 5% the number of home schooling families utilizing the Barberton Public Library annually for the duration of the plan.

• Provide a staffed homework center four to six hours a week by September 2004.

• Increase, replace and update materials and services for adults in GED, ESL, and higher education classes annually for the duration of the plan.

• Increase information about library services to schools by 5 % by exploring cooperative relationships with the schools as well as other means.

Selected Activities for Goal Six

• Creating a homework center for students to use for study and projects

Summary of Selected Activities

These are a sampling of the activities that have been designed to accomplish some of the objectives in this document. 

• Creating a lounge area along with a beverage station in the lobby of the library

• Purchasing a van for delivery, outreach services, and increased visibility of the library in the community by the end of 2005.

• Creating a homework center for students to use for study and projects

• Establishing a multimedia business and career information center in the library

•  Utilizing a schedule and existing spaces to make more private tutoring areas and times available to the community

• Allocating a budget for programming and speakers

• Strengthening partnerships with local organizations to increase staff knowledge of area resources and to facilitate the efficient referral of patrons in need of services and information

• Advertising in local papers, on our library website, and on broadcast media

• Installing a room divider in the Ruth H. Spillette Meeting Room, allowing for increased flexibility and availability of meeting room space

• Training additional staff to assist with computer classes

Acknowledgements