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Public libraries are one of those dwindling free resources that have an outsized positive impact on our city. The Dallas Public Library system’s 29 branches are so much more than places to borrow books and multimedia. They are community spaces that expand children’s horizons through story-time hours and music classes and give adults new opportunities through GED prep courses and citizenship classes.
Dallas Public Library is in the process of developing a strategic plan that will guide the system’s vision for about the next 10 years. Crucially, this plan will survey Dallas Public Library’s facilities and real estate, something that hasn’t been done since 2000. Recently, there has been a growing consciousness about the importance of using publicly owned real estate efficiently across city departments, and we are glad that Dallas Public Library is thinking along similar lines.
The library system has partnered with Group 4 Architecture, Research + Planning, a consulting firm that has worked on strategic plans for public libraries across the country. The firm collected data from focus groups of citizens and city staff members earlier in the year and found that libraries are evenly distributed throughout Dallas, but some facilities will need to be expanded to meet demand as our population grows.
The firm identified nine libraries that are due for renovation and 11 that could use an expansion in the coming years. Three of the facilities identified for expansion, the Martin Luther King Jr., Skyline and Dallas West branch libraries, are near park and recreation centers. Encouragingly, staffers are considering collaborating with the parks department to create joint facilities at these sites. Jo Giudice, director of Dallas Public Library, told us that the priority is to use space more efficiently and also provide more services for the community than a stand-alone library could. Facility expansions will most likely be funded through a future bond package.
In addition to rethinking facilities, the strategic plan will also include objectives and goals for the library’s catalog, programs and staffing, updated from its last strategic direction in 2017. The draft plan will be presented to the Municipal Library Board Dec. 12. Following that, the plan will be presented to the city’s Quality of Life committee in January and to the City Council in February. Citizens can still give their input on improvements they’d like to see in the libraries through an online survey through January.
This strategic plan is on the right track, but we know that when city budgets are strained, libraries are often the first to lose funding. Public-private partnerships and other creative ways to use city real estate efficiently can also be considered to protect the future of these vital community spaces.
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