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Athens-Clarke County LibraryStakeholder Interviews

SummaryPrepared By Gail Griffith

August 2012

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Purpose of Interviews

To collect data from key Stakeholders for input into the Strategic Plan

To enhance relationships and opportunities for collaboration

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Who we interviewed

Valdon Daniel, Principal of Oglethorpe Middle School (retired)

Phil Pollock, former head of UGA Institute of Government, Talking Book volunteer

Mary Quinn, former City Council, Friends of the Library

Commissioner Harry Sims

Julie Walker, Deputy State Librarian, Athens resident

Barbara Dooley, businesswoman and motivational speaker

Doc Eldridge, President and CEO, A-CC Chamber of Commerce

Kay Giese, attorney and retired Municipal Court Judge

Commissioner Kelly Girtz

Don Nelson, Communications Coordinator, Athens Technical College

Dr. William Gray Potter, UGA Associate Provost and University Librarian

Diego del Pozo, UGA Lecturer, Romance Languages

Amanda Tedrow, Agriculture and Natural Resources Extension Agent, Cooperative Extension Service

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Relationship with the Library

All positive! Some worked closely with the library Even non-users felt positive about the

library and its importance to the community

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StrengthsLibrary

Is a presence in the community, makes itself accessible and welcoming to all (5)

Outreach (3) Levels the playing field, providing opportunities to all (2) Involves the community (2)

Close relationships with partners and funders Provides good community meeting space (2) Provides broad range of services—programs, collection, public

meetings, literacy (2) Strong Friends group Strong community support Board members are involved—not ‘resume fillers’

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Strengths

Technology Computer access for

public, well-used (7) Keeps up to date Online access to PINES

and account Computers important for

job seekers Online access to library

Staff Helpful and knowledgeable

overall, provide good service (4)

Leadership and Advocacy—Kathie is one of the strongest Directors in the state (3)

Children’s department staff especially strong (2)

“Kathryn and her staff have done an incredible job with limited resources of providing what the community needs. “ (2)

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Strengths

Programs

Youth programs (children and teens) excellent and important, help introduce children to reading (5)

Community and educational programs (3)

Library is a good partner for programs—handles logistics well and attends to partner’s needs

Collection

Good collection overall (2)

Book collection well-used

Heritage, genealogy

Galileo

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Weaknesses or Limitations More current e-Books—hard to find

anything both interesting AND available (2)

More books on CD (2) Would love to see a significant

branch with great children’s services on the east side of town (2)

Website could be more user-friendly

Wish we still had bookmobiles—both a symbol and a way to provide access

Establish more of a presence in fundraising—have to compete with many other organizations

Hard to retain staff if salaries aren’t competitive

More social networking More activities to draw in the whole

community? Ex: community forums, film festival around cultural issues

More computer access for disadvantaged?

Expand Heritage Room, provide access to statewide digitized materials (or promote if already doing)

Space and programs for teens Space for tutoring Space and informational programs

for seniors Larger building and more hours

needed for Winterville

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Trends Shift to digital and online (7)

Must be online to participate in the world; can’t even find a job without it

Technology influences how people read, learn, are entertained

Free access to downloadable books, music, and movies could attract a group of non-users

Easy to get so much from home and office, need to work harder to draw people in

It’s everywhere—plants at Botanical Garden will have QR codes

How to bring back teens once they go online?

Caterpillar plant coming, with jobs (4) Can library collaborate with

labor department to reach employees?

High poverty rate (4)

Education (3) High dropout rate New superintendent focused

and driven to improve system Increase in homeschooling Education is valued here

Growing senior population will need info and advice (3)

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Trends Economic turnaround—when? (2) Athens is a music town—could the library tie into it? (2) Millennials are especially tech-savvy and looking at new

and creative things High teen pregnancy rate Latino population growing Public agencies will have less funding, will need to increase

partnerships and market their value even more

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Unmet Community Needs Bifurcated community in terms of

education, jobs, wealth—need to serve both parts of the community (5)

Need to engage children in their own education, have more partnerships with schools (2)

Community always needs space to come together and engage in activities (2) Winterville doesn’t have as many

parks and recreational opportunities

Need to reach children Birth—4 through child care providers and pre-K programs

Tremendous resources exist (UGA, Athens Tech); need to do more to determine what synchronicities are possible

20% of public school population is Hispanic, many come from homes where only Spanish is spoken

Access to computers

Jobs (great that Caterpillar is coming)

Taxes—not getting enough from the tax base

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Ideas for Partnering UGA (6)

More technology and digitization projects with UGA (2)

Internships for journalism majors Maintain Library Board connections Osher Lifelong Learning Institute at

UGA (OLLI) Local history/genealogy programs

with UGA Special Collections Library

School district (3)

Library does a good job partnering with the arts and going after grants (2)

Athens Tech (2) Orientations for students Role in training for Caterpillar?

Hold more community events that appeal to broad range of people—not just literature-based programs (2) Friends help at Winterville

Whatever It Takes: Athens Community Plan for Children

Health services (UGA hospital)

Full-day conference with multiple speakers from CES—maybe a fundraiser for the library?

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Opportunities to Improve Relationship?

“You are doing it now by reaching out to me! I feel like I need to get involved now.”

Be more visible participants in events like those of the Chamber of Commerce, where many potential partners come together.

Many expressed interest in creating more links to the community themselves—seemed to be waiting to be asked!

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Ways to Tell the Library’s Story Outreach (4)

Go to schools and talk to students Visit large employers and tell them what’s in it for their

employees Distribute online newsletter to partners, have them link or

distribute within their network

Already doing a good job. Word does seem to be getting out—library is busy! (4) Mentioned hearing info on radio (2)

Create relationships with opinion leaders and use their word-of-mouth; face-to-face works here (2)

Social media—does library have a Facebook page? (2)

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Ways to Tell Story Need a new marketing campaign with new attitude to go along

with the new building. “We’re here—we rock and roll.” (2) Get a consultant, skilled volunteer, or marketing intern to help

analyze your promotion. Community has large group of retirees with expert knowledge. (2)

Seek out opportunities to have events like candidate forums that could be broadcast from the library

Market on black radio stations using topics of interest like health, money management, raising teens

Library Board is key—they should be connected and use their connections

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Advice for Us Continue to think about how to leverage

resources and keep them going (3) Retain good volunteers, keep program

organized Partner to help each other, pull together

—maybe work with schools, get SPLOST money as partners

Will have to become more of a public-private partnership, go after funds

It’s all going digital, you have to be there! (2)

Maintain good relationships with elected leaders

Make sure you have marketing and technology expertise on your Board

Serve everyone, including the disadvantaged

Look for ways to draw non-users in

Work with leaders of the Hispanic community

Ask for suggestions from the public and show how you’re acting on them

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Advice for us May need even bigger facility in next 5 years, or a satellite

facility on the east side Your biggest challenge will be persuading the powers that be

that everybody needs to be served—not just certain sections of the population.

Continue to welcome everyone—everyone “can be a star at the library.”

“Don’t give up! Think of yourselves as a crucial community resource. Don’t lose sight of this—you are education and learning at the core. And don’t be afraid to say it!”

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Keep at all Costs… Keep technology alive (4) “Children’s services are the most critical. Nobody else is doing what you

are doing for children.” (3) Basic collection (2) Facilities in lower-income neighborhoods Hours of operation Cut hours, not services (knows they have had to do this and would like to

see cuts reinstated) PINES system Talking books could be absorbed by the State

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$1,000,000 Gift, No Strings! Improve the lives of the disadvantaged

(5) Partner with social workers and

educators to raise their sights Ensure access to technology

Keep collection as strong as possible (3)

Keep up with trends, including technology and resources accessed remotely (3)

Put together a dynamite marketing campaign that makes people think of the library as exciting (2)

Put some in an endowment for future needs (2)

New branch on east side

Expand Winterville

Hire educators to give programs on environment, obesity, other important topics

Focus on library as community gathering place

Outreach—go into the community with books and programs

Focus on serving teens, seniors, and millennials

Augment salaries and benefits to retain quality staff