Roseburg Public Library surveys community

ROSEBURG, Ore. – Roseburg Public Library is updating its strategic plan and asking community members to help plan for the future.

“Please take five to 10 minutes to complete a survey, which will give us focus and direction for providing services to the community. No matter how often you use the library, your feedback is valuable,” said library Director Kris Wiley.

The survey is available in English at https://bit.ly/RoseburgLibrarySurvey and in Spanish at https://bit.ly/RoseburgBibliotecaEncuesta. It is linked on the library’s website at www.roseburgpubliclibrary.org and Facebook page at www.facebook.com/roseburglibrary.

Responses are due by Sunday, Dec. 7.

The library’s first strategic plan was created in 2020 by RARE (Resource Assistance for Rural Environments) AmeriCorps member Kai Fischer and a committee of staff and community members. That document and annual reviews are available on the library’s website under the tab “2021-2025 Strategic Plan.”

For the update, the library hired Stephanie Chase of Constructive Disruption and she is leading a group of staff and community members in a process that will include focus groups, interviews and personal requests to complete the survey.

At 4 p.m. Tuesday, Nov. 18, the Library Commission will go through the focus group process. The public is welcome to attend the meeting in person at the library or watch on the City of Roseburg’s Facebook page at www.facebook.com/cityofroseburg.

Over the next couple of months, committee members will gather data and then convene for a daylong work session in early February. Information from that meeting will be shared at the Library Commission’s Tuesday, Feb. 19, meeting. Library staff expect to present the next five-year strategic plan to the Library Commission on Tuesday, March 19.

“The first strategic plan helped focus our efforts over the past five years, and I consider it successful even though we didn’t accomplish everything in it,” Wiley said. “I have learned so much, and that is informing my contributions to the committee.”

The new five-year plan will benefit from the perspective staff have gained after the library has been open seven years.

One of Wiley’s primary considerations is capacity – in the number of hours the library is open, in staffing, in programming – really, in all the components required to provide public library services.

“Your survey responses will help us prioritize those services. This is your library, so please take a few minutes to tell us how it can work best for you,” Wiley added.