FORT WAYNE, Ind. (ADAMS) – On Wednesday, the Board of Trustees of the Allen County Public Library met in special session.
The purpose of the meeting was to provide an update on ACPL’s Facility Master Plan and share feedback the library has received from the community regarding upgrades to ACPL facilities.
During the special session, ACPL’s Executive Director Susan Baier provided a summary of comments and questions related to each branch location, as well as the Main Library.
The library obtained feedback from the 5 open houses it hosted in January and February, as well as 1300 responses to a public survey. Baier also shared results of a survey question that asked respondents how likely they are to support a bond for ACPL to renovate, expand and or build new buildings and facilities.
Some of the key questions ACPL sought to answer during the process were:
What services is ACPL not currently offering that you think we should and how might our facilities need to change to offer those services?
Can our current facilities meet our community’s needs? Should we have additional branches? Should some of our existing branches be larger?
What steps should ACPL take with its facilities to meet community needs?
The majority of respondents indicated they were somewhat to very likely to support a bond initiative. “I feel that the comments we’re seeing reflect the diversity of views about our branches and how people use our library locations,” said Baier. “We can continue to address the varied needs of our patrons by taking a ‘yes and’ approach. We can provide spaces for a wide variety of library materials, meeting rooms, spaces for children and families and technology.” “I’ve appreciated hearing from our community about what they want to see from their libraries, and I am eager to work together to achieve that vision,” said Baier.
ACPL’s Board of Trustees will receive the final version of the plan during a special session scheduled for April 7, 2022 at 3:00 PM.
Information on the Facility Master Plan can be found here.
