A community-focused strategy
Using human-centered design to align a town’s community spaces with the modern needs of a growing population
Growing together
As a town expands and changes, so must its community spaces. Still feeling the burden of an overbroad and unnecessarily complicated strategic planning process five years in the past, Henderson Libraries approached Territory hoping for something different. The library sought to use it as a jumping-off point for an organizational restructure and implementing a new strategic plan to better adapt to and serve its growing community.
People first
Libraries are an excellent gathering place for their local community and, as such, often serve as a kind of community touchstone. However, as such, change is felt acutely and requires difficult conversations and reflection. As the world becomes increasingly digital, the role that libraries play has shifted. No longer do they simply serve as a means of access to information; now, public libraries have become centers of communication, connection, and activity.
Henderson Libraries set out to build a strategic plan that would clarify and solidify this changing role both within their organization and to the people they serve. As proponents of both human-centered work and adaptation to the shifting needs of the people we work with, we felt ready and inspired to take on this challenge.
The
WORK
After reviewing the previous strategic plan, we began our work by conducting interviews with and administering surveys to community members and library employees. This allowed us to better understand how people engage with Henderson Libraries, and these findings shaped how we approached our next step: a facilitated strategic planning workshop.
We brought together a diverse group of library employees who would be able to bring unique perspectives to this strategic planning session. The goal of the facilitated workshop was to discuss, define, and explore objectives for the next five years that were aligned with the library’s mission, vision, and values. The workshop was an all-day and interactive activity that was not only constructive, but fun and engaging.
“I’ve been in a lot of these focus groups and I want you to know this was the best utilization of our time and he really made sure all our voices were heard.”
– A workshop participant
Grow our team
Employees and their roles should be assembled in order to best support personal and professional growth.
Plan and improve spaces to meet needs
Henderson is a growing town; the library should mirror that growth physically and functionally.
Build a culture of belonging
In order to most effectively serve the Henderson community, the library must gain an understanding of its members: who they are and what they need.
Build and share our story
Who is the library? What do they offer? And how do they best tell this story? These questions will be answered, and the answers agreed upon both within and outside of the organization.
Create a culture of psychological safety
Employees should feel comfortable; a healthy environment increases communication, collaboration, and shared values. This in turn leads to better work.
A vision for the future
We share Henderson Libraries’ commitment to prioritizing the people they serve by utilizing human-centered design. With this value alignment, we helped foster communication, create a clear plan, and set achievable goals. By truly listening to the people in the Henderson community, we were able to identify a clear need—and with it, a vision for the future of the library. The five objectives above were used to create an illustrated version of Henderson Libraries’ final strategic plan.
“This plan is exceptional and beautiful and I cannot imagine the hard work and talent that went into making it.”
– A Henderson Library board member
