Letter: Help create the Grafton Public Library’s Long Range Plan

The Grafton Public Library’s Long Range Plan expires in December 2020, and it’s time to see where we are going, next! 

We need your input. The Library’s Long Range Planning Committee met in March 2020 to begin to strategize and we now invite community feedback. Share your thoughts about Grafton (and what role the Library will play over the next 5 years) in our short Community Survey, online at bit.ly/LRP2025. There are no wrong answers, and we appreciate your time and thoughtfulness.

A Long Range Plan, or strategic plan, is a written document that provides goals, measurable objectives and specific activities for Library staff to carry out. Strategic planning isn’t new for Grafton; it is a routine part of running a successful Library, and considered to be a standard of best practices in library management. A Long Range Plan spanning five years is required by the MA Board of Library Commissioners (MBLC) for any library that wishes to apply for—or keep—grant funding. The Library currently is in the middle of MA Public Library Construction Program Grant for Library renovation and expansion, and must create a plan and update an action plan (and remain eligible for State Aid) to keep this grant.

Traditionally, we first examine the needs of the community, and then in a subsequent meeting, discuss how the Library might meet some of those needs. In the interim, we invite the community to provide feedback about Grafton’s needs and brainstorm about what role the library can play in meeting those needs.

Anyone can review the current Long Range Plan and Activity Plan online at www.graftonlibrary.org/lrp.

Beth Gallaway, Library Director
gallawayb@graftonlibrary.org.