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Library Cements New Five-Year Plan
Every five years, the Library’s strategic plan evolves and changes to better serve patrons and to improve operations and programming. The 2024-2029 strategic plan highlights three areas: building projects (both a new building and improvements to existing buildings); a reorganization of staff and job descriptions; and a focus on diversity, equity, belonging and inclusion efforts.
Merriam Plaza Library will open in spring 2024, but other building projects will also require focus, County Librarian Tricia Suellentrop said. These projects include maintenance work at the Shawnee Library, ongoing discussions in Prairie Village regarding a community center campus — that could include a new Corinth Library — and renovations to the Spring Hill and De Soto locations.
The Library is exploring a key-card system that would expand Library hours at Spring Hill and De Soto without adding additional staff by allowing patrons into the buildings before and after staff are present. This might benefit students and others who need extended access to Wi-Fi and often use the Library’s parking lots to connect.
Suellentrop and Deputy County Librarian Kinsley Riggs also highlighted anticipated service improvements resulting from a personnel reorganization within the system.
The reorganization is intended to “turn the dial up” on customer service, Suellentrop said. Branches have the mantra of, "how do we get to ‘yes’?” in filling even the most difficult requests. “Staff will now have more time to get someone closer to what they need and what they want,” Suellentrop said.
Changing job descriptions and duties and adding new positions focused on programming, Riggs said, helps the Library provide “the right programs in the right places based on what our patrons need and want.”
Riggs notes that those programs could be online or in the branches; but the bigger hope is for the Library to get out into the community more by participating in school events, farmers markets, festivals and other gatherings and events. The intent is also to build on partnerships with other county departments, such as Johnson County Corrections or outside partners like Growing Futures Early Education Center.
“It’s possible we will see an increase in programs,” Riggs said. “It just depends on when we hit the right stride.”
The third focus of the new strategic plan is an integration of county-wide efforts to improve diversity, equity, belonging and inclusion. In Library operations, these efforts will include working to ensure that both staffing and programming decisions (including author visits, program topics, storytimes, book groups and more) align with the vision and mission of Johnson County’s DEIB goals.
As with the previous five-year plan, this updated version has five key performance areas (KPAs): education, operations, community, communication and convenience. Tweaks to the language in the vision for each KPA emphasize the Library’s focus on the Johnson County community.
Also on the horizon in the coming years is a refresh to the Library website and security reviews at branches.
Meanwhile, Library officials will continue managing consequences of the COVID-19 pandemic, some positive and some not. One challenge is training staff to respond to an increasing unhoused population and their use of Library spaces.
Because the Library learned during the pandemic that patrons appreciate curbside service when possible, the Library has continued curbside service at five locations. It will also remain fine-free, which Suellentrop said provided a “really great test for the Library board” and gave members the confidence to keep it in place moving forward.
You can view the strategic plan as well as the Library’s mission, vision and values on the Johnson County Library website.
Museum Memories
It’s another grand Throwback Thursday when we encourage you to time travel through Johnson County's history. JoCoHistory is a collaborative presentation of the history from the Johnson County Museum, Johnson County Library and many JoCoHistory partners. Explore historical photographs and documents about the people, places and organizations of Johnson County, Kansas, from the 19th century to the present.
Collection spotlight: Johnson County Museum
About this collection: The Johnson County Museum has a wide range of images dating from the late 19th century to the current day. A major focus of the collection centers on individuals and groups of people in domestic, recreational, scholarly and business settings.
Toolkit Tuesday - Librarian Lists You'll Love
With our Tuesday Toolkit, we share Library tools you might not know about! This week's tool: How to search for staff-generated booklists in the catalog!
You will find a search bar near the top of every page of our website, just under the navigation menu bar. Select the options to Search the "Catalog" by "List" from the dropdown menus. Then, type "JCL" in the search box.
That's how easy it is to search for staff-generated booklists in the catalog!
You'll find booklists for book groups, leadership, suggested genres and sub-genres, books for language learners, early literacy picks, most wanted titles, recommended teen titles and more! There are well over 400 staff-generated booklists in the catalog!
This Week at the Library
Johnson County Library locations are closed Monday, Jan. 1 for New Year’s observance.
Look what’s coming in the new year!
- New Merriam Plaza Library is opening in Spring 2024 with approximately 15,000 square feet and will pay homage to some of Antioch’s most beloved features such as reading nooks in the kids section. Community input sessions held by the Library and architects led to features such as a convenient drive-thru, a large meeting room with updated technology to host storytimes and other events, plus two well-equipped study rooms and a variety of seating options across the branch.
- Local art exhibitions will be continuing as Johnson County Library partners with InterUrban ArtHouse to curate a diverse selection of artwork to display in the Library’s physical and digital spaces. While you view these exhibitions at the Library you can also scan the QR codes at each and listen to the artist’s audio commentaries and read their bios.
And the tradition at Johnson County of offering a variety of resources for writers of all levels of experiences will still include lectures, workshops, contests and opportunities to share work with our community.
2023 JoCoHistory Blog Year in Review
Have you missed any of the stellar JoCoHistory blog entries? Each post allows you to time travel through Johnson County history. 2023 presented so many compelling topics! Which of these was your favorite?
- Johnson County Museum Collections on JoCoHistory.org
- The Founding Mothers of Johnson County Library
- Railroad-Inspired Johnson County Placenames
- Ernest Hemingway’s Kansas City Connections
- The Olathe Leadership Lowrider Bike Club
- Women, Carnegie, and the Public Library
- Johnson County Museum Upgrades to a Cloud-Based Collection Software
- Lenexa’s Video Library: The Life and Times of Johnson County’s Largest Video Store
- Meadowbrook Park – From Farms to Suburbs
- Johnson County, Kansas: A Brief Historical Sketch
- “All ‘Board: The Farm Homes Special!”
- Want to Explore JoCo History? Library has Abundant Resources
- REDLINED: Cities, Suburbs, and Segregation – What’s Next?
- Johnson County Library: Origins
- All Aboard! – New TRAINS Special Exhibit at JoCoMuseum
- Helping Bring the Past into the Future
- Conflict and the Big Bull Creek
- Kansas Day 2023
- The Long History of the Shawnee Indian Mission Site
- Away from Home: American Indian Boarding School Stories
- Johnson County Library’s Corinth Branch Celebrates 60 Years
- Things We Learned During REDLINED
This Week at the Library
Our holiday wishes for you: May all the joys of the season be yours.
We look forward to sharing more story times, more book discussions and more incredible programs like the annual Writers Conference in the coming year.
The Johnson County Library locations are closed Sunday, Dec. 24 and Monday, Dec. 25 for Christmas.
Libraries will also be closed Sunday, Dec. 31 and Monday, Jan. 1, for New Year’s observance.
Johnson County Libraries will re-open for regular service hours Tuesday, Jan. 2, 2024.
Rain or snow, sleet or dark of night: our eLibrary and Library OnDemand are always open and available anytime you like.