Acknowledgements / 3
Introduction / 4
Background / 5
Pleasant Hills Demographic Assessment / 5
Planning Process / 7
Focus Groups and User Surveys / 7
Trends Affecting Pleasant Hills Public Library / 9
Our Mission / 11
Our Vision / 11
Our Beliefs and Values / 11
Priority Goals / 12
Action Plans
1. BUILD A STRONG COLLECTION
By 2013, the Pleasant Hills Public Library will have a strong collection of print and nonprint materials that serves the needs and interests of all its patrons. / 13
2. EXPAND AND ENHANCE PROGRAMS AND SERVICES
By 2013, the Pleasant Hills Public Library will expand and enhance its programs and services for children, teens, adults and seniors. / 14
3. MAINTAIN AND IMPROVE FACILITIES AND GROUNDS
By 2013, the Pleasant Hills Public Library will be a safe, secure and more inviting environment with comfortable furniture, a redesigned floor plan and improved accessibility. / 16
4. MARKET PROGRAMS AND SERVICES THROUGH EFFECTIVE COMMUNICATIONS
By 2013, the Pleasant Hills Public Library will have a formalized communications policy, procedure and program developed to market the programs and services offered by the library and to establish its value as a community asset. / 18
5. IMPLEMENT TECHNOLOGY, TECHNICAL SERVICES, WEB 2.0 AND LIBRARY 2.0 APPLICATIONS
By 2013, the Pleasant Hills Public Library will use technology to create efficient
and effective operations and provide a continuum of innovative service options
to library users. / 19
6. ENSURE FINANCIAL STABILITY THROUGH SUSTAINABLE FUNDING SOURCES
By 2013, the Pleasant Hills Public Library will demonstrate financial stability based on identified revenue streams, sustainable funding sources and stewardship. / 21
Appendices / 23
Strategic Planning Team Work Session Story Board Notes / 24
Survey and Focus Group Results / 41
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
With appreciation and gratitude for their time and talent, we recognize the following individuals who participated in the preparation of the Pleasant Hills Public Library Strategic Plan.
PLEASANT HILLS PUBLIC LIBRARY BOARD MEMBERS
Tracy Michael Soska, / President
Jackie Grachen, / Vice-President and Secretary
Becky Dixon, / Treasurer
Joanne Chamberlin, / Member
Robert Dressing, / Member
Allyn Rotthoff, / Member
Ernie Williams, / Member
PLEASANT HILLS COMMUNITY REPRESENTATIVES
Donna Lowman / Former Board Member
Tim Orsega / Former Board Member
Janet Nevling / Borough Representative
Greg Parks / Borough Representative
James Funkhouser / Borough Representative
Eileen Bourgeois / President Friends of Pleasant Hills Public Library
Donna Watson / Teacher, West Jefferson Hills School District
Doug Saltzman / Community Member
Larry Foulke / Ombudsman, Allegheny County Library Association
Michael Andreola / Community Member
PLEASANT HILLS PUBLIC LIBRARY STAFF
Sharon Julian-Milas / Library Director
Joanna Heywood / Children’s and Teen Librarian
Holly Clark
Teena Hintz / Technical Services
Mary Jo Della Mea
Lynn Ejzak
Anthony Forgione
Shirley Gealy / Program Coordinator
George Kohl
Barbara Leach / Front Desk Coordinator
Sharon Nissley
Beverly Pistey
Cheryl Sirianni
Introduction
Pleasant Hills Public Library is pleased to introduce its Strategic Plan 2008 – 2013: “Building Our Strategic Future…Together.” As the title suggests, our primary focus over the next five years is to build on our current strengths and improve our collection, programs and services meet future demands.
As a part of the strategic planning process, we visualized Pleasant Hills Public Library 5 years from now. We imagined what the library of the future would look like, sound like and be like for our patrons and our staff. We agreed that we viewed our library as a community center for lifelong learning and leisure. We viewed the library as our community’s gateway for information, inspiration and intellectual pursuits through multimedia resources. We recognized the expertise of our staff and the high quality programming that attracts patrons and involves our community members and volunteers in a welcoming environment.
To achieve this vision, we agreed to focus our human, financial and material resources, our energies and creativity, over the next three years on these five priority goals:
1. BUILD A STRONG COLLECTIONBy 2013, the Pleasant Hills Public Library will have a strong collection of print and nonprint materials that serves the needs and interests of all its patrons.
2. EXPAND AND ENHANCE PROGRAMS AND SERVICES
By 2013, the Pleasant Hills Public Library will expand and enhance its programs and services for children, teens, adults and seniors.
3. MAINTAIN AND IMPROVE FACILITIES AND GROUNDS
By 2013, the Pleasant Hills Public Library will be a safe, secure and more inviting environment with comfortable furniture, a redesigned floor plan and improved accessibility.
4. MARKET PROGRAMS AND SERVICES THROUGH EFFECTIVE COMMUNICATIONS
By 2013, the Pleasant Hills Public Library will have a formalized communications policy, procedure and program developed to market the programs and services offered by the library and to establish its value as a community asset.
5. IMPLEMENT TECHNOLOGY, TECHNICAL SERVICES, WEB 2.0 AND LIBRARY 2.0 APPLICATIONS
By 2013, the Pleasant Hills Public Library will use technology to create efficient
and effective operations and provide a continuum of innovative service options
to library users.
6. ENSURE FINANCIAL STABILITY THROUGH SUSTAINABLE FUNDING SOURCES
By 2013, the Pleasant Hills Public Library will demonstrate financial stability based on identified revenue streams, sustainable funding sources and stewardship.
Pleasant Hills Public Library’s Strategic Plan 2008-2013 was developed by a team of borough representatives, library staff and board members in consultation with the Pleasant Hills community. We gratefully acknowledge the valuable input provided by our patrons and stakeholders. All comments, questions and concerns were dutifully considered during the planning process. Because we have heard from our constituents, we recognize that they are our reason for being and that the services and programs that are important to them today will continue to be important to them and to us as we move forward together toward implementing our strategic plan over the next 5 years.
Tracy Michael Soska Sharon Julian-Milas
Tracy Michael Soska Sharon Julian-Milas
President, Pleasant Hills Public Library Board of Trustees Director, Pleasant Hills Public Library
Background
The Pleasant Hills Public Library was founded in 1945 and has been housed in its current location since 1963. It serves the 8,397 residents of the Pleasant Hills Borough in the South Hills area of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. The median age of the residents is 43.2 years while 1,328 or 15.8% of residents are in the 35-44 year age range. The Library has 7,457 registered users that it serves within it 6,575 square foot capacity. Total circulation is 118,235 annually including juvenile circulation at 40,216. Out of 168 hours available per week, the Library is open 57 hours. During those hours, staff provides 129 adult programs and 117 juvenile programs annually. Access to the Library is also available online through the Internet and the Library’s website. In addition to the print collection of books and periodicals, the Library offers 1 large screen computer and 11 public access computers to its patrons.
The Library employs 3 staff members, 2 full time and 1 part time who answered 13,652 reference questions in 2008. Volunteers also assist with Library services and programs along with the Friends of the Library who provide funding as well as time and talent. The annual budget is $324,314.
Pleasant Hills Demographic Assessment
Pleasant Hills has seen a number of demographic changes between the 1990 and 2000 U.S. Census, and these trends will likely continue. Among the more notable population trends that the Pleasant Hills Public Library considered in its strategic planning process are the following:
Population and Age
· The borough has seen a roughly 5.5% decrease in overall population
· There has been an increase in the under age 5 population that will be carrying into school ages for the 2010 Census, and there has also been an increase in the population age 60+ with the baby boomers soon to add to that increase.
· The other age ranges have stayed fairly stable, except for a roughly 5% drop in the young adult (18-25) age range, which could have an adverse impact on the core adult, tax-paying age group by the 2010 Census.
Considerations: While the population has decreased the school age and older adult populations, which are prime library users, have increased, and these trends are likely to continue in the 2010 Census. There may be some concern in regards to a reduce core adult population decrease that represents the prime tax-payers and donors based on income at this age range.
Home Ownership
· Homeownership increased slightly in the borough and rentals decreased slightly, which is a positive growth indicator, especially from a tax point of view;
· However, vacant housing units showed a 45% increase from 83 (1990) to 150. However, these could be new homes that have not sold, but in any case can be a tax and growth liability.
Considerations: Increased homeownership would seem a positive growth pattern for the Library as this shows a more stable population that tends to use community resources, such as libraries.
Education
· The percent of resident with a high school degree or higher increased from 84% to over 89% between the 1990 and 2000 Census;
· Moreover, the percent of residents with college degrees and higher grew from 33% to nearly 39%.
Consideration: Higher education is indicative of greater library use and further, shows a population that likely drew on library resource to advance their education.
Language
· The number of residents who speak a language other than English increase significantly in this ten year period from 53 persons to 402.
· While Spanish and Asian languages show a modest increase, the largest number are Indo-European languages
Considerations: The library should be sensitive for language barriers and also consider their importance as a community resource to these residents in building English skills.
Employment, Income and Poverty
· Labor force status and employment levels remain much the same during this period of study;
· However, there is a marked shift in occupations. While management remains the top occupation; professional, specialty and technicians have dropped from the second and third spot to be replaced by service and sales occupations respectively.
· A corresponding shift in household income is notably in the decreases at the upper income levels; however, the middle income levels remain strong.
· At the lower income levels, while there is little noticeable change in income, the number of individuals in poverty increase from 237 to 300 and families from 30 to 60, which is of significant concern given the overall population decrease.
· The number of female-headed households has decreased; however, surprisingly, few of these single female-headed households were at risk of poverty.
Considerations: Management, professional, and technical profession are often indicators of a single primary wage earner; however, service and sales occupations are indicative of second wage earners or two wage-earner households. This can be a factor in both leisure and volunteer time available for the library. Also, there seems to be an increase in poverty in Pleasant Hills among both individuals and families. This could also be indicative of both working poor households and aging households who are finding themselves more at-risk of poverty. The library might look to how it could be more a resource to these households.
Planning Process
Pleasant Hills Public Library’s Strategic Plan provides the board and staff with defined Vision, Mission, Belief Statements and Goals for moving ahead and implementing the plan together over the next 5 years. Building on the previous work of the board and staff that developed the 1995 and 2001 long range plans and recognizing the significant changes that affect programs and services, we have developed a new strategic plan to focus our efforts over the next 5 years.
The strategic planning process was led by the Strategic Planning Team consisting of borough representatives, community constituents, the Library Board and the Library staff with the support of facilitators, Paula A. Calabrese, Ph.D. and Judith K. Boren, M.S. Ed. of Cardinal Consulting Group, Inc.
Focus Groups and User Surveys
The plan reflects the work of the Strategic Planning Team that began in June 2008. It incorporates the best thinking of the team and provides a clear direction for focusing the human, financial and material resources of the Library for the next 5 years. An important part of the planning process included a focus group with the library staff and a series of surveys of varied user groups. Library patrons who responded to the survey were 79.4% female were in the 45-54 age range and lived in the community for 20 or more years.
Positive Highlights of User Survey with About 155 Respondents91.4% / Visit the library to check out materials
41.7% / Visit the library to use the computers
38.0% / Visit the library to attend library programs
56.3% / Visit the library weekly
24.4% / Visit the library monthly
72.2% / Visit the library in the afternoon; with about 20% visiting on Monday through Saturday and only 10% visiting on Sunday
93%+ / Agree that the staff is responsive, helpful, approachable and reliable
96.7% / Feel safe at the library
95.5% / Find the library clean and welcoming and that check out is quick and easy
78.7% / Feel it is important to be able to make new purchase recommendations to staff
77.0% / Feel the library materials are current
76.4% / Feel that the materials reflect their needs and interests
Concerns Expressed in the User Survey with 155 Respondents
62.5% / Are unable to consistently find DVD videos, music and audio books that they want
20.5% / Seek adult fiction to read most frequently; best sellers not always available
40.3% / Said that expansion and renovations of facilities would increase their library use
38.9% / Said that an increase in programs for adults would increase their library use
Positive Highlights of Staff Survey
90.9% / Agree that check out is quick and easy
90.9% / Agree that access to the copier is important
72.7% / Agree that they feel safe in the library
Concerns Identified in Staff Survey
90.9% / State that parking is inadequate for patrons
81.8% / State that restrooms are inadequate for patrons; temperature and lighting are not always comfortable
72.7% / State that there are not a sufficient number of computers available
63.6% / State that the library layout is not well-organized to accommodate patrons
45.5% / State that there is a need for more DVD videos, music and audio books
70.0% / State that the reading areas need attention
63.6% / State that the teen collection needs attention
90.9% / Agree that additional computers would increase the number of patrons
63.5% / Agree that expansion or renovation of facilities would increase number of patrons
54.5% / Agree that increasing the number of adult and children’s programs would attract more patrons
45.5% / Agree that increased programs and services for teens would increase their participation
Trends Affecting Pleasant Hills Public Library