Mercer library survey continues

By TOM LAVENTURE

[email protected]

MERCER, Wis. — The Mercer Public Library will conclude its survey at the end of the month with prize drawings to encourage more people to help shape the long-term planning of a community centerpiece.

All input is welcome but there is an effort to reach working age adults and those who don’t use the library regularly in particular, said Teresa Schmidt, director of the Mercer Public Library. The survey (bit.ly/mercerlibrarysurvey) wants to reach these people for some feedback to see what could change to make the library useful to them.

“We’re asking people what they value most about the library as it is now and then what ideas they have to make changes or try new things that might be useful to them,” Schmidt said.

The seven-member library board decided to use a 2019 donation from a local resident to hire a consultant to help with the first five-year plan since the last plan that led to a $422,000 expansion in 2013 that added 2,600 square feet of space to double the size of the library. That project led to additional book shelving but also created the children’s area, digital technology and programming space.

“We haven’t done one in a while so that is the project and the board has hired a consultant to help write that plan,” Schmidt said. “We are going to be getting together next month to go over some of the survey results and try to incorporate some of the community ideas into that plan.”

The last five-year plan helped to address some of the problems and needs at that time, she said. The plan can be a powerful tool in identifying needs and where to focus scarce resources.

“We are pretty connected with the people who are already using the library but the library is supposed to be for the whole community,” Schmidt said. “We have a lot of people who don’t make us part of their usual routine and those are really the people I am hoping to hear from on this so that we can get their feedback on what they think is going well at the library and what they would like to see change or be different.”

In the age of the internet and boundless information there are people who think there is no longer a need for a community library, but that is just not the case, she said.

“We’ve actually found the opposite to be true,” Schmidt said. “People visit libraries more now than they ever have.”

Libraries are evolving as far as materials and how people use them but they also serve as a meeting space that connects people with each other in the community, Schmidt said. The Mercer library, and most others, spend a lot of time developing events and programs for all ages to get people involved and using the library.

“COVID-19 has thrown a wrench into that so it’s been a little bit of a strange year for us,” Schmidt said. “But, that’s really what we are all about is connecting people and helping them find new ideas and share thoughts with each other.”

The books, technology and other materials are all a part of that, she said. But so is the one-on-one personal contact someone gets by attending a library event or program that gets them listening and talking to the rest of the community and being in touch with what’s going on and really feeling connected to it, she said.

There was a July 24 prize drawing for survey participants and a second drawing for gift cards will be held on the survey deadline of Aug. 31.

“We’re starting our planning process in the middle of September,” Schmidt said.

The library survey link is at bit.ly/mercerlibrarysurvey. For more information, contact the library at 715-476-2366 or visit mercerpubliclibrary.org.