Interviews affirm library goals

Feedback from Union County community members have proved the library is on the right track.

For the past few months, Gibson Memorial Library has been working with Misty Gray from the State Library of Iowa to get a read on what Union County community members want from their library. A large part of this involved phone interviews with a wide demographic of Union County citizens.

Earlier in the year, library board members put together a list of people to possibly talk to, including both library members and non-members in the community, from various age groups and job backgrounds. In the end, Gray conducted 20 interviews with community members, a 100% response rate from original scheduled meetings.

Responses were overall positive, with some of the suggested programming already occurring at the library. Between work done in the past and planned projects, much of the library’s ideas were covered in the interviews.

“One of the things that struck me was the excitement that everybody did have about what the library is doing so far,” board member Alyssa Love said. “That was really cool to see.”

Board president Ann Coulter seconded that opinion, emphasizing the appreciation for programming. “We’ve been working for years to get that to happen.”

Other services those interviewed appreciated included reliable internet and children’s programming.

Since some suggestions were already implemented at the library, director Danielle Dickinson Thaden said a change in marketing was likely needed.

“One person suggested we start an adopt an author program, which we have. The response about partnering with schools, I do a lot of, and if there’s ever a school group that visits, I always try to be a part of it if they let me,” Dickinson Thaden said. “That made me wonder if that’s more of a marketing thing, if we just need to advertise better what we do offer.”

Another change the library is looking to incorporate is creating more of a comfortable place for patrons to read or simply hang out. With adult material being weeded and sized down, there is now room for that to occur.

“One of the issues with that is that we never really had space where we could do that,” Coulter said. “With your rearranging and changing things, more people can come in and sit down and chose to read the book here instead of taking it home if they want, or having a safe conversation with a couple other people and know that it’s okay. We’ve been after that for years.”

Though not concrete yet, these responses have helped the board focus on specific items for their 2025-2027 strategic plan. Along with adding more marketing strategies, the board hopes to focus on creating young readers, providing community resources and services and creating a comfortable physical and virtual space for patrons. The board will look at a more specific strategic plan at their January meeting.

In other library news...

Two businesses have reached out to the library in regards to sponsoring Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library in Union County. Still in the beginning phase, the library would need donors from the community to keep the program running. The cost per child runs about $25 per year. When a family signs up for the program, children through the age of 5 receive one book a month every month until their fifth birthday.