SHELBURNE FALLS — The Arms Library in Shelburne Falls will host an open house this weekend, inviting residents to weigh in on the library’s draft strategic plan.
The open house will be held during library hours Saturday, from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. In tandem, the library is hosting a Friends of the Library Pop-up Book Sale with sidewalk chalk drawing and refreshments available. There will be live music from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. by Sonny Crawford. From 1 to 2 p.m., the library will host “Mother Goose on the Loose” with Kay Lyons.
“We would love to have you stop by and let us know what you think of our draft strategic plan, a well-researched document, recently developed, that gives the Arms Library guidance on how to move forward over the next five years,” Library Director Laurie Wheeler said. “… We want the library to be able to be a place that extends beyond its own walls. A lot of what we are thinking is written into the actual plan.”
According to Wheeler, the library’s new strategic plan was drafted after a six-month process. They hired a consultant and conducted surveys among town households and local businesses, both through hard-copy and electronic means. Wheeler said focus group discussions among current library users and area residents who are not library users helped “get a sense of what would make the library more attractive, and more meaningful for our community.”
“Libraries are changing, one of our great skills is to be able to change to meet the needs of our community,” Wheeler said. “We want to reach more of our population, and we want to connect with the school, various local organizations and businesses to try to reach parts of the community that we’re not reaching right now.”
The draft plan highlights library values of being “accessible, welcoming, trustworthy, relevant, innovative and helpful.” According to the document, goals fall under three larger strategic priority titles, “Everyone belongs,” “We’re responsive to change, and continuously improving,” and “We love a good story.” While Wheeler said these titles sound like “broad strokes,” the library will continue develop more specific sets of goals and actions each year as it focuses on priority projects.
The priorities states goals include furthering outreach and to do it’s “best to ensure that people of all backgrounds and abilities feel welcome to visit and use” the library. Additionally, the library will serve as “a forum where people can gather, connect, and engage in critical conversations” and will “present the realities of the times we’re living in while conserving local history.”
The library aims to be a leader in adapting to new technologies and information and to “collect feedback and stories to show how the Arms Library benefits our community.” Other goals include helping people find reliable real-world information, while sparking imagination through access to fiction and storytelling.
Some goals for changes to the physical space include making the library “more comfortable and inviting.” The library underwent some renovations a couple of years ago, but Wheeler said continued efforts further renovations extending into the library’s backyard, which right now just has two picnic tables sitting among a couple of trees.
An example of new program initiatives, Wheeler said, is that they want to include more programming focused on social justice issues. She said libraries can be “agents of change” and the library members want to “help people get information to learn more about issues” facing them on local, national and global scales.
“We’re just in such a great community, with great patrons and people, and this is a great way to be able to meet people’s needs at the library,” Wheeler said.
All guests are asked to wear a mask, regardless of vaccination status. For more information, call the library at 413-625-0306 or email armslibrary@gmail.com.
Zack DeLuca can be reached at zdeluca@recorder.com or 413-930-4579.
Arms Library Strategic Plan DRAFT 2 by Zachary DeLuca on Scribd