Last fall's community surveys and group workshops at Cromaine Library led to the development of a thoughtful, elaborate Strategic Plan for 2024-2028, that is deeply rooted in encouraging connection, learning, and discovery in the Hartland community. Your Cromaine Library staff worked hard to bring this new Strategic Plan to life, along with the expertise of the resourceful team at ReThinking Libraries. We are so excited that our Library was recently featured in a ReThinking Libraries blog post, which highlights our extensive process of creating a Strategic Plan honoring the Library's past while holding excitement for our future endeavors!
In Bringing the Community In and Taking the Library Out, writer Jeannie Dilger spoke with Library Director Sarah Neidert about the challenges and inspirations that served as the backdrop for our creation of a new Strategic Plan.
Lingering effects of the COVID-19 pandemic and our changing community demographics posed particular challenges as we developed a new Plan: At the same time, endless inspiration and ideas motivated our new Strategic Plan. We are excited to enhance our beautiful outdoor spaces, expand virtual resources, and invest in other improvements in the Library building and beyond. ReThinking Libraries was an invaluable part of our 2024-2028 Strategic Plan creation, and we are proud that we can respond to the unique and varied needs of our community with our new Plan.
We have already taken action in response to our new Strategic Plan. Here are some of our most recent, exciting initiatives!
- One of our biggest Strategic Plan initiatives was the development and launch of a brand new website. Our new website is simplified, organized, and friendly to interpretive tools like screen readers.
- Late this summer, we published a new, mobile-friendly, accessible online calendar system that is directly connected to our website. This not only makes it easy to access Cromaine's online calendar, but also to navigate to various programs and register for events!
- Patrons also indicated a desire for a book drop box that is accessible directly from their vehicles. As a response, we installed a new book drop near the exit drive of the parking lot, that patrons can reach right from their car window to return books.
- We have also brought a variety of new resources to the Library as a result of patron indication, including the virtual resource Comics Plus, mini Cell Phone Charging Banks at the Adult Reference desk, and water refill stations in the building. All of these Library updates are a direct result of our 2024-2028 Strategic Plan.
We are so proud of the work we've already done to deliver patron needs and requests to the community-- and we are excited to pursue even more projects that benefit the Library and its users in the coming months and years! Thank you to ReThinking Libraries for featuring Cromaine on their blog, and for their endless expertise in developing a new Strategic Plan. We also thank our wonderful patrons, who supported the Library and participated in our surveys and workshops to help create a new Strategic Plan. Our Library wouldn't be the same without you and your valuable feedback! Learn more about Cromaine Library's Strategic Plan and annual report here.