Qualitative Research, Strategic Planning, Outreach and Engagement
A participatory research and strategic planning project to align the Library’s strengths with user needs.
Intro
Pierce County Library System (PCLS) serves nearly 600,000 people in its service area- Pierce County, which is part of the Puget Sound Region in Washington State. With new executive leadership, PCLS wanted to create a multi-year strategic plan.
Our team was tasked with understanding community and stakeholder needs to help PCLS leadership define and craft a strategic plan, as well as implementation tools to monitor and evaluate progress towards its goals.
My Role
Project Management
Qualitative Research: Survey design, interviews, stakeholder feedback
Design & Communication: Create reports, presentations, etc.
The Problem
Never before has the health of communities and the functioning of their libraries been so connected. Changes in society and technology affect the way people access and share information, and shape the issues that are most important to communities.
In the face of these changes and opportunities, the Pierce County Library System recognized a need to prioritize its work by listening carefully to what is most important to the community it serves and by establishing its role based on its resources, its strengths, and in relation to what other organizations can offer.
Research
Through a variety of research methods, we heard from more than 12,000 people in the community.
Open houses at all branch libraries and “pop-up” events in community-based settings.
An online survey and interactive social media campaign that received over 12,000 responses.
21 phone Interviews with local community leaders and representatives of community-based partner organizations.
Findings: We learned that people still use, and love, their library. They think that the library is on the right track, and want to see even more- more hours, more books, more programming.
Outcome
With this input as a foundation, a Strategic Planning Team articulated a Vision for PCLS and developed a Strategic Framework that provides direction and focus to the organization’s ongoing efforts to achieve that Vision. An accompanying Implementation Framework defines how the library will focus its decision-making year to year, using its Strategic Framework as a disciplined prioritization tool.
