Library needs input for long-range planning

The Great River Regional Library is about to set its course for the next nine years, and it needs input from its public to determine that course.
People, both users and non-users of the library, are invited to attend an input meeting at 2 p.m. Friday, Nov. 9 in the Array Community Room of the library in St. Cloud. GRRL Director Kirsty Smith will be there to take suggestions and opinions about current and future services. Those suggestions will be included in discussions and planning by the library’s administration to help chart GRRL’s path.
GRRL provides library services at 32 outreach locations in Benton, Morrison, Sherburne, Stearns, Todd and Wright counties. Because the library system receives support from the State of Minnesota, it’s required to file a strategic plan with the Department of Education’s State Library Services. That plan includes goals for three years with an outlook for nine years.
“Although many library services remain stable, the social forces affecting libraries change over time,” said Julie Henne, GRRL’s communication and fund-development coordinator. “In recent years we’ve been increasingly focused on children’s literacy and on information technology, helping ensure all our users have access to the Internet. The public input sessions will be used to help determine if the library needs to adjust its path or if other information needs should be prioritized.”
The St. Cloud library site is one of there sites at which input will be collected. The others are in Little Falls and Monticello.
The GRRL provides central Minnesota residents with nearly one million books, CDs and DVDs, as well as 250 public computeres, programming and information services.
For more information, call the St. Cloud Public Library at 650-2500.