In 2006 the DeWitt Library Board
of Trustees hired The
Breton Group of Grand Rapids, MI to conduct a Needs Assessment
for the DeWitt Public Library.
The Needs Assessment
was a product of three months of meeting with library trustees, staff
and patrons to accomplish the following:
- "Assess the current status
of the library.
- Determine the community's need
for improved library services.
- Articulate the unique library service
and programming needs of the DeWitt community.
- Determine the appropriate size
of the library facility based on collection needs and unique programming
needs.
- Put forth an appropriate plan to
finance the project."
(Final Report, Needs Assessment
& Facility Planning Report for the DeWitt Public Library, The
Breton Group, p.1 - This document is available for review in full
at the DeWitt Public Library, 13101 Schavey Road, DeWitt, MI 48820.)
The Final Report was presented by
Doug VanderLaan to the DeWitt Library Board of Trustees in September
2006. "After a thorough and objective study completed by the participants
mentioned in this report, and in consideration of the information gathered
and put forth in this needs statement, the following recommendations
are for the consideration of the DeWitt Public Library Board of Trustees.
The board should:
- Consider
construction of a 31,376 square foot library as called for in this
report based on national library planning standards
- Engage
the services of an architect or a design/build first for assistance
with:
-- Site selection
-- Preliminary design
-- Closer approximation of estimated construction and operational
costs
- Identify and secure a site for
proposed construction
- Continue and expand programming
and services to the contracting townships of Bath, Olive, and Riley.
Although not residents of the library district, contracting townships
are projected to make up 38% of the library's service area in 2025.
Their continued use of the library's programs and services is a major
assumption of the library's future planning and growth. The Library
Board needs to engage in ongoing discussions with township leaders
and residents to ensure the solidity of the contracted relationships
- Invite discussion with area government
and arts organization leaders to foster and to develop cooperative
delivery of literary and arts programming and services to the community
- Once costs are more closely projected,
evaluate the structure of a funding plan based on perceived expectations
of community residents
A private fund raising campaign should precede a ballot initiative
to, 1) Demonstrate the Library Board's best efforts to keep the required
tax initiative as low as possible and, 2) Build awareness of and momentum
for the culminating ballot initiative
- The Library Board's establishment
of a private fund raising goal will dictate the level of needed tax
funding. Approximate fund raising/ballot initiative levels would be:
- Private Fund Raising Needed
Tax Initiative
$500,000
$1,000,000 1 Mill
$2,000,000
$3,000,000
$4,000,000
$5,000,000
- Develop communications programs
and strategies that educate the public about the library's vision
and benefits to all service area residents including:
-- Its role as a community resource
-- Its critical needs
-- Its benefits and possibilities for the entire community in enhanced
library
programs and services
-- Its possibilities with the development of a new library facility
to move users
(and the community's coming generations) into the future
- Conduct site visits to other libraries
to:
-- Gain insight and assistance
-- Build awareness that similar communities have recognized the enhancement
that a quality library brings to its community
- One the Library Board adopts a
plan, initiate a feasibility study to define the level of private
support and community acceptance of:
-- The need to expand the library to the size called for by national
library
standards
-- The proposed site and construction project
-- The estimated costs
-- The proposed operating millage - both renewal of the existing millage
and the
the needed addition
-- The funding strategy
- Should the feasibility study determine
the merit of the Library Board's plan, move forward with the suggested
organization and funding strategies"
(Final Report, Needs Assessment
& Facility Planning Report for the DeWitt Public Library, The
Breton Group, pp.36-37.)
Armed with this public input, the Library
Board and Staff leaped into action.
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