In January, the library began a strategic planning process by doing a community survey that resulted in over seven hundred responses. The Board of Trustees, building from our previous plan, used that information to form three goals aimed at carrying us through the next 12-18 months.

1. We will strengthen and expand our community partnerships and collaborations evidenced by developing guidelines and Memorandums of Understanding with at least five existing and new strategic partners by July 2022.

Westlake Porter Public Library has always been proud to partner with other organizations to meet the needs of our residents: City of Westlake, our schools both public and private, Connecting for Kids, Garden Club, Herb Guild, Kiwanis, Rotary, Historical Society, League of Women Voters and so many more. However, we need to keep reaching out and forging new relationships. I am very excited about one of our newest partnerships with the Carolyn L. Farrell Foundation which empowers individuals and families to live well with dementia.

2. We will expand our maker offerings, equipment that facilitates creation of content, through the addition of four new maker-related technologies, with a target of achieving ten monthly repeat customers in the maker space by the end of June 2022.

Libraries have always been about access to content but the ability to create content has been steadily growing.  The creation of “Maker Spaces” has allowed people to learn about and try cutting edge technology like 3D printing. WPPL is committed to staying on top of technological innovations and making them available to the public.

3. We will develop a space plan that accounts for current and future use of our building and includes the design of a Maker Space, updated collection space layouts, and enhanced meeting, programming, and reading spaces by December 2021.

It is hard to believe but this building is almost 20 years old. Though we have made small changes here and there the layout hasn’t changed much. More than ever people use the library as a place to meet and access technology they would not otherwise have access to. That, coupled with an inevitable decrease in physical audio-visual materials and a rise in electronic resources begs the question, what will the library look like in 1 year, 5 years, 20 years? Through a comprehensive space plan, we will attempt to see into the future as far as possible.

Thank you to everyone who participated in our survey and to all those who continue to support your public library.

Sincerely,

Andrew Mangels, Director