Darien Library’s Goals for the Next 3 Years: More Health Info, Partnering with Groups, Better Refuge in Disasters

By 2020, Darien Library will work more with other groups in town, improve the ways librarians help patrons find sensitive health information for patrons and find ways to make the library more useful when storms or similar disasters hit town.

Those are essentially the goals the library has for the next three years, as described by Assistant Library Director Stephanie Anderson at a presentation to the public Wednesday at the library. Anderson ran the strategic planning process that included meetings with people in the community over a six-month period last year.

The strategic planning process was unusual in that it relied so heavily on what people in the community were saying Darien needs and what they think about the town and the library. It also was unusual in coming up with a strategic plan that fits on one page. Both were ideas Anderson found at conferences for librarians.

First Goal: Grow Partnerships

Grow new and existing partnerships to expand the reach of our core services and strategic priorities.

• We will establish internal guidelines and formalize our relationships in the community.
• We will reach underserved groups through proactive partnerships.
• We will structure staff time and knowledge to support increased outreach.

Anderson said one of the things librarians found out in meeting with people in the community was that many newcomers to town, including many people from abroad, don’t really know all the things the town has to offer or how the town works.

Many newcomers, for instance, are not familiar with New England town government, so they can be confused about what the Representative Town Meeting is.

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See also:

• Library’s New Strategic Plan Focuses on Partnerships, Connecting Patrons (Jan. 1)

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Those who move to town without children, or who put their children in private schools, can sometimes feel disconnected with the rest of the community, which is very oriented toward schools and youth sports teams.

“It’s very hard to meet people here if you don’t have kids,” Anderson said.

Second Goal: Connect Patrons to Expertise

Connect our patrons discreetly with experts and information to improve our community’s well-being.

• We will create a compendium of health and wellness resources for staff and patron use.
• We will build relationships among staff and experts in areas of need.
• We will provide opportunities for patrons to ask and share sensitive information.

Librarians are often approached by patrons who desperately want to find out more about important health problems, Anderson said, and librarians want to help guide people to good sources of information.

For instance, she said, woman may come up to a reference librarian and say, “I was diagnosed with breast cancer. What are my options?” Not only can the librarian help with information, but sometimes with a suggestion about a support group the patron can go to.

The patron may be looking for a doctor and tell a librarian that she only wants doctors with degrees from Ivy League institutions. The library has a database that can do that, Anderson said.

Many people don’t realize that professional librarians consider it extremely important to protect patrons privacy when using the library and getting help with research, she said.

Third Goal: Prepare for Crises

Prepare our staff and building to serve our community in extraordinary circumstances, during disasters and through rapid change.

• We will evaluate likely crises and prepare plans for each scenario.
• We will build staff skills for service in crises and their aftermath.
• We will change and improve our building and infrastructure for anticipated uses.

When Darien was hit by Hurricane Sandy in 2012 and by a couple of other storms within about a year, power was out for days, and people in town needed to recharge their cell phone batteries and even electric toothbrushes, so the Library stayed open and patrons sat on the floor when the chairs were all taken.

Alan Gray, director of the library, spoke briefly at Wednesday night’s meeting and said that that service, while it wasn’t as vital as providing food or shelter, was highly valued by the town.

Since then, the library purchased a large emergency generator. Anderson mentioned that the library still has bags of power strip cords in basement storage, just in case a similar storm hits.

Continuing Goals

Here’s the rest of the one-page Darien Library Strategic Plan for 2017 through 2020:

These goals will improve our core services. Every Day, we:

• Provide answers, information and entertainment for all ages;
• Select materials that are useful and engaging;
• Create consistent, high-quality programming and educational opportunities;
• Offer access to essential and experimental technology;
• Organize our resources and information so that they are easy to find;
• Maintain a safe, clean and welcoming space for public use;
• Engage in active outreach to all corners of the community; and
• Communicate about our core services clearly and effectively.

These goals and services are supported by our mission statement:

To provide education, entertainment, enrichment and community building through compassionate service to all.

This mission is supported by our core values:

Community | Innovation | Respect | Discovery |Integrity | Excellence | Leadership

This plan is supported by the Town of Darien, the Friends of the Darien Library and the State of Connecticut, and is inspired by our patrons.