After many years without one, the Alpena County George N. Fletcher Public Library has officially approved a new strategic plan! This plan will help guide the library’s priorities, services, and community engagement over the next two years.

What Is a Strategic Plan?

A strategic plan serves as a road map, outlining an organization’s goals, priorities, and the steps needed to achieve them within a set time frame.

For the library, this means identifying community needs, evaluating current services, establishing measurable benchmarks, and setting expectations to help staff continually improve the library experience. Developed by the Library Board of Trustees and Library Director, the plan focuses on the areas most important to serving our community.

Our Mission

Our library enriches the community through equitable access to all library services, educational resources, and opportunities to explore new ideas and skills.

Our Vision

Our library strives to bring our community together through creativity, connection, and an appreciation of learning and literacy. We aim to provide a welcoming, comfortable, and helpful environment for everyone.

Our Strategic Goals and Objectives

1. Customer Service Excellence

Providing excellent customer service starts with ensuring staff members have the training and resources they need to assist patrons effectively. This goal outlines customer service training standards, including responding to complaints, de-escalation techniques, maintaining a professional environment, and other skills that support a positive library experience.

2. Collections and Programs

The library wants to ensure its collections, services, and programs reflect the needs and interests of the community. Staff and library leadership will analyze available data and feedback to better understand how patrons engage, identify which needs are already being met, and discover opportunities to provide additional resources, programs, and events.

3. Community Outreach and Marketing

Strong community relationships and effective outreach help the library connect with new audiences and expand awareness of its services. This goal examines past and current partnerships while identifying local businesses and organizations that may be interested in future collaborations.

It also includes the approval of a new library mascot! The mascot will help create a recognizable face for the organization, add personality to library communications, and open the door to creative marketing campaigns that reimagine how the library connects with the public.

Another objective establishes benchmarks for staff-led programming based on scheduled work hours:

• Part-time staff working fewer than 20 hours per week: At least one event
• Part-time staff working 20 or more hours per week: At least two events
• Full-time staff working 35 or more hours per week: At least three events

These benchmarks will help the library evaluate programming efforts and encourage staff involvement in creating opportunities for community engagement.

4. Collaboration

While outreach focuses on building new connections, collaboration emphasizes strengthening existing relationships. This goal encourages the library to improve established partnerships, reconnect with organizations where communication may have diminished, and build on successful work already taking place in the community.

The focus is on nurturing relationships, growing together, and making existing collaborations even more effective. The plan also identifies how progress toward this goal will be measured.

Looking Ahead

This two-year strategic plan provides the Alpena County George N. Fletcher Public Library with a framework for continued growth, improvement, and community connection. By setting clear priorities and measurable objectives, the library can better evaluate its efforts, respond to community needs, and continue creating opportunities for learning, creativity, and connection.

Our goal is simple: to ensure the library remains a welcoming, valuable resource for everyone in our community.

To review our full Strategic Plan click here.