The Board of Directors of the Airdrie Public Library has released its Plan of Service for 2018 - 2020.

The library runs on a three-year planning cycle and planning started for the 2018 - 2020 plan in the fall of last year.  APL Board Chair Daniel Nelles says the document is vital and outlines library priorities for the next three years.

"It;'s the broad strategic plan of how the library and the board of trustees plan of delivering library services to the citizens of Airdrie.  The plan is basically our guiding documents on how we prioritize changes of service from planning cycle to planning cycle and how we strategize in terms of allocation of resources."

According to Nelles, the plan was put together with the help of dozens of members of the community from a wide range of community organizations who have a vested interest in library services.

"We bring in former city councillors, we bring in prominent members of the business community, we bring in parents, we bring in teachers, representatives of Rocky View Schools.   All of these folks come together over a full day and basically, we talk library."

Six service priorities grew out of the consultation but one of those priorities came through as the most important.  

"The public has told us loud and clear that our top priority for the next three years is going to be to focus on Airdrie Public Library as a community space and what we can do in terms of tweaking our services to bring that focus into reality."

The other service priorities include:

  • Engage in early childhood development opportunities 
  • Connect to school-age children and teens 
  • Know your community 
  • Understand how to find, evaluate and use information
  • Pursue personal interests and self-development 

Nelles says the priorities that focus on young people are not new to the library.  "In the previous planning cycle," he says, "children's programming was our top priority.  We want to make sure that APL offers a variety of high-quality programming for both early childhood education as well as school-age children.  It's very important to both staff and the board of trustees."

From the Plan of Service, library staff has come up with an action plan to ensure the priorities are met.  

While the Action Plan is plotted over the three years of the Plan of Service, it is a dynamic document that's flexible enough to respond to changing circumstances.  The Action Plan will be reviewed and adjusted each year as part of the library's annual business planning.  

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