StrategicPlan
2023-2027
Princeton Public Library
from the Executive Director Message
Dear Stakeholders,
In the fall of 2021, Princeton Public Library retained Creative Capacity, LLC to facilitate a strategic planning process. The library aimed to build a plan that would define the next chapter of its history of innovative service to the community.
Creative Capacity conducted extensive research to inform the planning process, including:
• One-on-one interviews with library senior staff and trustees, directors of the Princeton Public Library Foundation, and members of the committee of the Friends of the Princeton Public Library.
• An online survey completed by 50 staff members, six library trustees, seven Foundation trustees, and 11 Friends of the Library trustees.
• One-on-one interviews with eight external stakeholders, including elected and appointed officials and leaders of community groups.
• An online community survey completed by 1,494 people, 91% of whom were cardholders.
• A listening session with the library’s Teen Advisory Board.
• Two listening sessions attended by 31 representatives of the library’s community partners.
• Two community listening sessions open to anyone who wished to register.
All of this research was conducted during an unusual time, when operations remained significantly disrupted by public health conditions. This stretched the typical planning timeline out somewhat, but library leadership agreed that planning decisions could be made more effectively once pandemic impacts had lessened. Fortunately, library visitorship rebounded during the summer and fall of 2022, allowing planning to proceed.
Planning retreats were held for library trustees and staff members in the summer of 2022. A team of library senior staff members worked with Creative Capacity to build the plan, with feedback from library trustees. The plan focuses on building an accessible and inclusive library community that warmly welcomes all residents. Removing barriers to library participation and innovating new services that support personal and community growth will remain key priorities. The library will continue to collaborate with the municipality, community organizations, and the business community to advance initiatives that support Princeton’s future as a healthy, inclusive, connected community for all.
This is an adaptive strategic plan, designed to help Princeton Public Library adapt to changing conditions over the next five years. The plan’s vision and objectives will guide the organization’s decision making. Broad strategies are included to illustrate the kind of work that is likely to take place. Annual assessments and project planning
Mission
Princeton Public Library connects everyone in our dynamic and growing community by advancing knowledge, encouraging dialogue and providing opportunities for discovery and joy.
Vision
A vital cornerstone of community connection, where curiosity and wonder flourish.
Values
L earning and teaching
Equity and inclusion
Clarity and transparency
Humility and teamwork
Creativity and collaboration
Optimism and accountability
Kindness and an assumption of good faith
Goal 1 Princeton Public Library intentionally builds an accessible and welcoming library
community for everyone in our town
▶Identify and remove barriers that prevent people from fully participating in all that the library has to offer.
▶Evolve the library’s services and approach to meet the changing needs and interests of our entire community.
▶Align all of the library’s policies and practices with our desire to model inclusivity and serve the community equitably.
▶Welcome new residents as soon as they move to town, inviting them to use our services and connect to the community through the library.
Strategies
▶Build the next generation of library users.
▶Invest in opportunities to make everyone feel welcome at the library.
▶Provide library services at other community locations, meeting people where they are.
▶Integrate the library’s ongoing work on diversity, equity, inclusion, and access into its strategy and operations.
▶Ensure that all residents get a library card.
▶Expand the role that technology can play in ensuring effective and accessible library services.
Goal 2
Princeton Public Library innovates services that are essential to personal and community development
▶ Provide resources that people rely on every day to build their 21st century literacy skills (information, media, technology, etc.), support learning, and reach their personal and professional goals.
▶Develop community connections through opportunities for fun, relaxation, and cultural expression.
▶Partner with Princeton’s business community in our town’s economic development.
▶Support the achievement of significant community goals by collaborating with the municipality, schools, and community organizations.
▶Be a trusted location for civic engagement and civil discourse.
▶Advocate for the value of unfettered access to ideas and reliable information.
Strategies
▶Design and deliver outstanding resources that support both personal and professional development.
▶Sponsor events that bring people together.
▶Continue to be a leader in Princeton.
▶Offer increased programming that connects with current issues.
▶Advance community understanding of the importance of environmental sustainability.
▶Create initiatives that help people to be discerning users of media and technology.
Goal 3
Princeton Public Library has the infrastructure to support excellent and equitable service
▶ Retain and attract a top-quality, diverse staff.
▶ Increase community support for the library.
▶ Raise awareness of the library’s wide variety of outstanding services throughout the community.
▶ Ensure that the library’s facility and technology remain state-ofthe-art and capable of supporting the library’s current and future goals.
Strategies
▶ Design the Library’s organizational structure and practices to support staff success.
▶Actively promote the value of the library throughout the community.
▶Develop sustainable, annual private philanthropy that supports the library’s excellence.
▶Mentor the next generation of library leaders.
▶Make ongoing investments in the library’s building and technology.
▶Share our innovations with the library field.
Library Culture
We exceed the public’s expectations The exemplary customer service that we provide for our members and guests is what sets us apart from other libraries.
We value diversity, equity and inclusion The library is stronger when we bring varied perspectives to the work of serving a growing and increasingly diverse community.
We innovate The library’s staff, boards and stakeholders are bold and creative. We think about new ways to improve our community every day.
We educate and enrich We curate extraordinary collections and research tools, constantly develop our level of expertise and offer classes, lectures and events that complement these resources and services.
We listen We want to hear from everyone about how well we are doing in meeting their needs and how we can do better; we analyze evidence and question our assumptions and we commit ourselves fully to making thoughtful changes.
We collaborate We are eager to learn and love to lead. We consult with and support colleagues at other libraries and community partners in order to ensure our ability to implement the ideas that best meet our community members’ needs.
We steward The library is a beautiful, welcoming, versatile building and collection, a world class resource that is owned by our community, funded through public-private partnership and entrusted to the management of a dedicated and talented library staff.
Leadership
PRINCETON PUBLIC LIBRARY BOARD OF TRUSTEES
Robert Ginsberg, President
Stephanie Oster, Vice President
Christopher Van Buren, Treasurer
Jeffrey Liao, Secretary
Eve Niedergang, Mayor’s Designee
Keisha Smith-Carrington
Princeton Public Schools Superintendent’s Designee
Holley Barreto
Edward Felten
Sebnem Tuzun
FRIENDS AND FOUNDATION BOARD OF DIRECTORS
Rosalind Muir, President
Shalu Naso, Vice President
Nicky Katz, Treasurer
Jennifer Podolsky, Secretary, Library Executive Director
Swati Bhatt
Andrea Bradley
Audrey Egger
Jane Fransson
Florence Kahn
Seva Kramer
Jonah Lansky
Courtney Lederer
Beth Leman
Ann Parker McKeehan
Brett Shaver
Dina Shaw
Jane Silverman
Andrew Sutphin
LIBRARY SENIOR STAFF
Jennifer Podolsky, Executive Director
Erica Bess, Assistant Director
Tim Quinn, Marketing and Communications Director
Bonnie Sprouls, Human Resources Director
Susan Chernik, Finance Director
Susan Conlon, Head of Youth Services
Ji Hae Ju, Head of Access Services
Sonja Vloeberghs, Head of Lending Services
Laura Bishop, Head of Adult Services
Janie Hermann, Adult Programming Manager
Becky Bowers, Information Technology Manager
Pat McAvenia, Facilities Manager
Produced by the Office of Marketing and Communications at Princeton Public Library
Photography by Catherine "Cie" Stroud
Cover photo by Tim Quinn
