Pierce County Library Executive Director Gretchen Caserotti calls the plan a “significant milestone.”
Courtesy Tacoma Weekly
Thanks to input from nearly 3,000 people, the Pierce County Library System has created a new strategic plan approved by the library system’s board of trustees.
“Our new strategic plan is a significant milestone for the library, shaped by the valuable input of our vibrant community,” said Pierce County Library Executive Director Gretchen Caserotti. “By embracing diverse voices and addressing a wide range of needs, we’ve crafted a plan that promises to elevate our services and enrich the lives of our patrons.”
With input from the board of trustees, staff, community stakeholders and Pierce County residents, a team of library administrators and staff worked with Coraggio Group, the library’s strategic planning firm, to develop the new strategic plan. The plan will be a roadmap to guide the library system through the years ahead, from 2025-2029.
The strategic plan goals include enhanced library experiences to improve visitor/user experience of accessibility, services, and resources. A modernized visitor/user experience and service delivery will bring implementation systemwide to update the customer service model to emphasize human-centered, hands-on learning, and experience-based approaches. Highlighting the library’s plan to embrace the community, the library system will provide several transparent channels for the library to listen to and understand multiple community voices, with an emphasis to listen and learn from the experiences of people in marginalized communities. Community resource navigation will be expanded to connect people to community resources more effectively by providing all staff training about community services and how to navigate them.
To foster welcoming, inclusive and safer spaces and services, the library system will become a trauma-informed library through implementing systemwide staff training for trauma-informed approaches for libraries and implement trauma-informed space and program criteria. Universal design criteria will be applied and include standards for services, spaces, communications, and experiences for wider audience appeal and accessibility for all. A focus on inclusion and belonging through arts and culture will increase the visibility of and celebrate the unique and diverse communities the library serves by amplifying arts and culture in services, spaces, and programs.
By emphasizing strategic partnerships, the focus will be on partnerships in which working together has lasting and greater impacts. This will be done by developing and sustaining strategic, high-impact community partnerships, and developing, maintaining and strengthening partnerships with shared goals to fill existing gaps or inefficiencies in services. Community will be key, collaborating and co-designing with local community members to bring programs and events that are representative of the community to all library locations and in the community. Social equity and literacies will be advanced by prioritizing strategies, partnerships, services, and programs to develop literacies to improve social equity, such as digital literacy, early literacy, and information literacy.
To build a sustainable future, the library will prioritize sustainability and the future of the library, environment, and the community the library serves. The focus will be on environmental stewardship to implement a plan to reduce the library’s environmental footprint; to build resilience through emergency preparedness; and integrate library plans and resources into the Pierce County Emergency Management network planning. Economic feasibility in sustainability will be emphasized to align the budget process to sustainability priorities and to use economic feasibility analysis in decision-making.
Pick up a copy of the new Strategic Plan at a Pierce County Library or at mypcls.org/about-us/strategic plan.
Regular informational packets and background materials for board meetings are distributed prior to meetings and are available for public review. Meetings are open to the public and public comment is welcomed. Information on the members, meeting schedule, agenda and minutes are at mypcls.org or by contacting the executive director’s office at (253) 548-3420.
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