Library’s five-year plan

Focus on new approach in response to low funding, rising costs
Last year alone, the Sonoma County Library checked out 3.2 million items to residents across its 13 regional branches, as well as a temporary branch in Roseland. There are currently 222,400 active library cards, and the robust library reading and educational programs are attended by a combined 30,000 children.
The bad news is that the cost of books and materials is rising, but the library system is operating with decreased revenues. Since 2011, the library has had to cut operating hours by 25 percent.
The educational programs and classes offered are funded almost entirely through volunteer fundraising, not the library itself. The Sonoma County Library is also governed independently of the county, and does not receive outside funding support from the county.
“The number of children that have been attending the library reading and educational programs has continued to increase over the years,” said Healdsburg children’s librarian Charity Anderson at a recent city council meeting on June 6. “With our library system in general, we are very busy and we are very active and we can continue to see increases in those numbers.”
The library formed a Strategic Planning Steering Committee in October of 2014, which worked with the Results Group for 12 months to create a five-year strategic plan that began rolling out in 2015. There are five main goals of the plan, which is in effect until 2020.
The first is customer experience. “We want every customer interaction to be as excellent as possible,” Healdsburg Regional Library and Sonoma County Wine Library branch manager Jon Haupt wrote in an email. The plan emphasizes the principle of “people first,” and then enhancing the customer experience with the inclusion of welcoming places and spaces.
The second goal is education and discovery. “Not only does the library strive to work together with K–12 schools, but we are focused on lifelong education—from newborns to seniors,” he wrote.
The third is innovation. “This priority is focused on technologies, but not just technology for its own sake—the library is dedicated to exploring, using and promoting new technologies that can improve our lives in the community.”
Following that is community engagement. “The library strives to make connections not only with the schools in the area, but also other educational and cultural institutions as well as civic and industry organizations,” he wrote. “We know and embrace the joy and power of working together.”
And finally, financial sustainability. “Until this point, the library has not had a sustainable financial model, a point made clear by the financial troubles of the last several years,” he wrote. “We are resolved to diversify our model and find revenue streams that will better weather our changing global financial landscape.”
According to Haupt, the library is the heart of the community in several ways. “It’s the great equalizer—anyone, regardless of age, socioeconomic background, language, literacy, disability—is welcome in the library at no expense, and the staff will do their best to connect them with the information they need,” he wrote.
“The other thing is that we as citizens have an interest in improving ourselves, making thoughtful, intelligent, reasoned decisions and exercising good judgment; the public library is an institution created with that in mind. By providing our collections and services across the entire cross-section of humanity in our community, the library helps strive toward the goal of a higher level of knowledge for everyone.”
Haupt says the strategic plan will help bring focus to the Sonoma County Library. “Librarians get into the field because we want to help people; the desire is always there, but it helps to have focus in order to achieve our broader goals,” he wrote. “Also, as we look for financial support, we want to raise awareness that we will show excellence in stewardship with any additional funding we may be able to secure, dedicating the money toward improving the quality of life of our community.”
The plan includes a relevant quote from Neil Gaiman – “Google can bring you back 100,000 answers, a librarian can bring you back the right one.”
To read more about the strategic plan, including viewing the document itself for more specific updates, visit sonomalibrary.org/about/strategicplan.