Item C22
Revised 3/99
BOARD OF COUNTY COMMISSIONERS
AGENDA ITEM SUMMARY
Meeting Date: 12/13/00
Division: Community Services
Bulk Item: Yes ~ No 0
Department: Library
AGENDA ITEM WORDING: Approval of the Library Annual Plan of Service for the Year
2001
ITEM BACKGROUND: The Library Annual Plan of Service is required as a part of the
application process to receive the State Aid to Libraries Grant. This plan was discussed
and passed by the Library Advisory Board on November 28, 2000, and recommended
for BOCC approval.
PREVIOUS RELEVANT BOCC ACTION: The Library Annual Plan is approved annually
by the BOCC, most recently January 19, 2000.:.
STAFF RECOMMENDATION: Approval.
TOTAL COST: N.A.
BUDGETED: N.A.
COST TO COUNTY: N.A.
REVENUE PRODUCING: Yes ~ No 0
AMOUNT PER MONTH
YEAR Approx. 10% of
Library budget
APPROVED BY: COUNTY ATTY N.A. OMS/PURCHASING NA RISK MANAGEMENT NA
/VJ(
DIVISION DIRECTOR APPROVAL: "-~
DIVISION DIRECTOR NAME:
,-
DOCUMENTATION: INCLUDED: ~ TO FOllOW: 0 NOT REQUIRED: 0
DISPOSITION:
AGENDA ITEM #:
j-C2L
MONROE COUNTY PUBLIC LIBRARY
YEAR 2001 PLAN OF SERVICE
INTRODUCTION
This plan, like that for the year 2000, is drawn from the five-year plan of service
for the Monroe County Public Library System that was originally submitted in
1998. Of course, since that first plan was written, many changes have occurred
throughout the library system as well as within the communities we serve, and
the plan for the year 2001 is geared to reflect those changes and the concomitant
changes in the direction that the library is now facing.
OUR CHALLENGE
The incorporations of the past few years are having their expected impact on the
financial concerns of the County as a whole, and thus, on the library system.
Although no additional incorporations have since been formed, the long-term
impact of these political entity changes are just beginning to be realized, as the
County faces the need for appropriate reductions in budgeting and personnel.
Library service, to be sure, is a Countywide benefit, cutting across political
borders, but the funding sources from which the library budget is drawn are
limited, and the demands on them have not been lessened by these
incorporations.
Rather than reducing the community call upon library services, these
incorporations add to our challenge: new communities are being formed, new
needs are being created, and new challenges are being made to the library
system as a whole-to work with these new communities, to identify and meet
their new needs in a proactive manner, to reach out to them and create new
partnerships with them in order to work through the inevitable changes that will
be occurring as they develop their own new community characteristics.
In the light of these ideas, we look to the coming year with a renewed sense of
determination as we rededicate our efforts toward meeting the needs of the
citizens of Monroe County.
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OUR OBJECTIVES
To better establish specific goals for the year 2001, we re-examine and re-affirm
the system-wide objectives previously developed:
1. The library will provide courteous and efficient service through an adequate
number of competent, well-trained and enthusiastic staff, working within
mandated budgetary limitations.
2. The library will provide materials, information services and programs that are
conveniently accessible and easily used.
3. The library will provide high-interest, popular materials in adequate numbers
in a variety of formats for all ages.
4. The library will provide timely and accurate reference and information
services.
5. The library will provide materials, programs, and an environment to foster
reading for young children and to encourage parents, youth workers, and
educators to participate in reading activities with children.
6. The library will make residents and organizations of the community aware of
the library's resources and services.
7. The library will provide facilities that are conveniently located in the
community, easy to use, comfortable and attractive.
8. The library will manage its resources and functions effectively in order to
achieve the service goals within given financial limitations.
OUR GOALS FOR THE YEAR 2001
These broad objectives form a basis, in five specific areas, for our goals for the
year 2001 :
I. We provide collections encompassing a wide range of materials in a
variety of formats.
Although this goal in itself is unchanging from one year to the next, the
way in which it might be met is encountering constant change. While the
basic media of print and cassette form the backbone of our collections,
electronic media are becoming more and more prevalent, and libraries
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across the country and around the world are taking note and adapting to
these new trends. The electronic book, or e-book, is drawing attention in
many areas, and we are looking at ways in which we might be able to
introduce this new format to our patrons as well. In the coming year, we
hope to participate in a program offered through the Florida State Library
which will make a core collection of e-books available to library users
throughout the state, so that we might evaluate their impact and
desirability for further offerings and expansion of choices.
Along with enrichment of the library's collection in itself, increased ease of
patron access to the system-wide collection is a primary goal for the
coming year. A library web-site, with dial-up access to our central catalog
and subscription databases for library users, is essential to the
development of our basic services and our efforts to take our part in
bridging the information gap. We must bring our services to patrons who
cannot themselves come to us-to provide access to information on a 24-
hour, 7 -day basis that cannot be provided through our physical sites
alone. This goal, this need, brings us to our next pledge.
II. We offer our services to the communities through five branches across
the Keys.
Technology is not a simple, nor an inexpensive commodity. It places new
demands on physical settings, on equipment needs, and on staff. Further,
it creates ongoing need for replacement of outmoded and/or worn out
tools for the transmission of information which is at the heart of our
service.
The Big Pine Key Branch, which just five years ago was publicized as
having too much space and too few books, in the last few months had to
sacrifice meeting room space to expand the stack area, due to
overcrowded shelves. The tools of technology also take space, and
increased use demands even more.
Buildings, too, are not self-regenerating, and our library buildings are sadly
in need of a planned maintenance program.
In the coming year, we will look for ways to expand, to replace, and to
maintain our buildings and equipment through charted resource allocation.
III. We serve our communities through the efforts of friendly, helpful,
knowledgeable staff.
The restructuring of County government has been much publicized lately
as important to its overall functioning as well as to its financial condition. In
the two major restructuring plans suggested so far by County officials, the
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Library has been represented as vital to the County citizenry and as a
major resource for local government. These plans suggest better
utilization of the Library as a central tool in the County communication
process. This cannot happen without a strong staff development program.
The library staff represents a broad spectrum of skills, talents, and
interests. They deserve, as do the communities they serve, that these
assets be further developed and enriched. In the coming year, we will
develop and implement a technology-training program, beginning with
staff and expanding to accommodate the public demand. Opportunities
will be provided for staff to further their professional skills and abilities
through workshops, participation in professional organizations and
activities, and inclusion in system-wide projects as well-meeting the
needs of library staff is central to meeting the needs of the patrons.
The library also recognizes the worth and contributions of volunteers, and
will actively recruit and train these valuable assets in the assistance and
support of library staff.
IV. We work with our communities to become familiar with, and meet, their
needs.
Changes are inevitable in any growing community, and our libraries must
recognize these changes and adapt to them. To this end, we must
continue to form partnerships with the community groups around us, and
reach out to those whose needs we have not yet fully encompassed. An
ongoing program of public information will be continued and enhanced to
let our current and our potential users know what we have to offer and
how they can share and participate in these benefits.
V. We recognize the fact that increasing demands on library services bear
increasing costs.
Fiscal responsibility is the duty of every public agency, and the library is
no exception. We will continue to seek outside sources of funding, both
through community partnerships and through grants. The quest for
Federal and State-funded grants has become more and more competitive.
Our recent efforts have been well rewarded, but the need for outside funds
to complement our County funding has expanded with our expanding
services. We will pursue, on a constant basis, every feasible source of
funds to fulfill our mission.
These goals for the coming year are the basis for the objectives stated above,
and each of them is intrinsic to our mission. Although these are ongoing
concerns, with no tangible point of completion, yet specific measurements are
possible, and indeed, important, to check progress, effectiveness, and impact.
Such implementation must also include a mechanism wherein corrective
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measures can be taken where appropriate, and revisions applied where needed.
A plan is a living document, after all, and allowances for growth and
development, as well as for change, must be intrinsic.
OUR RESPONSIBILITY
We acknowledge our responsibility to the people of the Monroe County
communities. Our promise to them is not only one of service, of access to
information. It is also a promise to do our best to meet their changing
informational needs in a positive, pro-active and effective manner. Even more, it
is our obligation to accomplish this within the constraints of fiscal responsibility.
To these ends, we pledge ourselves to the efficient and orderly collection and
management of information, in all appropriate media, to educate ourselves in the
collecting and management process, and to promote this process within the
principles of intellectual freedom. We will involve ourselves in the constant
learning process so essential to meeting the challenges presented by today's
changing technology, and we will dedicate our abilities to provide a bridge
between our community and our profession, to meet the expectations of the
people we serve and among whom we live. This is the Monroe County Public
Library Plan of Service for the year 2001.
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