STRATEGIC PLAN

Happy Holidays from the Hoover Public Library!

Jan. 1 will mark the completion of my first year as your library director. It has been an absolute joy to serve in this capacity. Who knew librarianship could be so much fun?

My first goal was to complete a strategic plan for the library. With input from our community, city leaders and library staff, that plan is now a reality. We identified five major goals for our organization that we believe will help make your library experience even better.

First is community engagement. Our patrons count on us to entertain, enlighten, inform and ignite the community by offering a wide variety of relevant resources and original programs. In 2018, we’ll continue our mission of redefining the role of the public library. We aim to wow our patrons! Some new things to expect in the next year: documentary streaming, special needs story times and classic movie nights.

Second is convenience. We heard you loud and clear! Our patrons need their library to be easy to use.  In 2018, we’ll offer text message reminders and a new app that will make using the library’s resources even easier to use. We’ll begin opening an hour earlier on Sundays and we’ll install a book drop on the 280 corridor. And that’s just the start! Our goal is to eventually have satellite locations.

Our patrons consider the Hoover Public Library its community center, so our third goal is to serve as a gathering space. Our patrons meet, study, converse, gather, collaborate, work and unwind at the library.  They expect the library to be clean, inviting and comfortable. We’re working to offer more electrical outlet access right away. In the future, we want to offer individual study spaces and a hands-on makerspace.

Fourth, we learned that our patrons aren’t aware of all the great things happening at the library, so we hope to develop a marketing plan this year that will reach our patronage. The first step in our process is to develop a brand and we’re working on that now.

Last but not least, our patrons expect exceptional customer service from our employees, regardless of their rank in the organization. They want assistance from well-trained, well-informed staff members who are empowered to make decisions. From now on, each employee hired at the library will go through a thorough customer service training process.

Of course, our plan doesn’t end here. Staying relevant means keeping up with trends and listening to the needs of our patrons. Please stop by the library and let us know how we’re doing.