Coronado Public Library Stakeholder Interviews Summary Prepared By The Singer Group, Inc. February 2011

Purpose of interviews  To collect data from key Stakeholders for input into the Strategic Plan  To enhance relationships and opportunities for collaboration 2

Who we interviewed  Bob Balfour – Board President, Coronado Historical Society  Robin Franck – Library Board Trustee  Steve Johnson, Web Publisher of E-Coronado  Blair King – City Manager  Debbie Riddle – Principal, Lee Mather Company  Need to include other names here 3

Who we interviewed 4

What We Wanted to Learn  Their relationship with the library  Strengths and weaknesses of the library  Trends  Unmet community needs  Opportunities for improvement  Advice for us  $1,000,000 5

What We Learned 6

Relationship with the Library  Positive, outstanding, accessible  Good customer services  “Most professionally run organization”  It is #5 on his tour list when he has out-of-town visitors  Good – trying to foster the relationship – historical association board recently had a wine and cheese with the library board  Both historical association and library accept gifts and contributions and work together on some exhibits (e.g. naval exhibition) 7

Strengths  Welcoming staff  Facility (6)  Winn meeting room  Location  Size  Wonderful public room  Mural  Physical environment that people enjoy, experience 8

Strengths 9 Library - continued  Very popular place (2)  It is the “jewel of the City – iconic”  Very welcoming, warm environment  Children’s library  Young family loves the library  Fees are very fair  Coffee cart outside – very popular

Strengths: programs/services  Free internet (2)  Exhibits  Entertainment, cultural, + Educational programs  Library keeps up with the times (e.g. DVDs etc.)  Interpreting and sharing Coronado’s history  Children’s programming  Christmas and Halloween events  Summer Reading program  Puppet shows  Great selection! 10

Weaknesses or Limitations  Are non-residents using internet at expense of residents’ ability to do so?  Open earlier on Sunday (2); more hours “ access should be a high priority”  Parking  Have more copies of books – then could extend the borrow time from 14 days to 21  Have more copies of movies  Hard to find events on website  No competition – no one wants to leave the island 11

Trends  Technology (2)  E-readers and downloadables (3)  Convenience  Schools changing when and how teach  More empty homes (2 nd and 3 rd in Coronado)  Increasing traffic  Becoming 3 separate communities 12

Trends  More people using the computers  Economic downturn 13

Unmet Community Needs  Not all have internet/ students (2)  Need hours for people who work  Seniors  Need 24/7 school  Improve relationships with the schools  Cultural programming 14

Improve?  Make community more aware of services;” blow own horn”; marketing of services (2)  Ongoing survey of patrons; get real data  Better future planning for users ; where headed?  More weekend hours  Lend e-readers  Move 2 nd Hand Prose forefront  Let patrons drink coffee in a cordoned off part of the library  Use space differently 15

Improve?  More computers  Do as much as can for kids and young adults  Enhance role as museum of local history; encourage people to donate artifacts  Have a URL that makes sense e.g. coronadolibrary.com  Post events on the website  Put library information or events on the back of the receipt - can have a Coronado library “bookmark”  School has its own library – may be redundant; figure out how to meet needs without duplicating; could centralize the library and utilize that space more 16

Opportunities to improve relationship  None (4)  More of a presence, communications ; bring people back into the community decision making process regarding community quality of life  Library can get more out of e-Coronado –have a staff person responsible for posting all events – is willing to provide training on e- coronado to library staff*  The historical association and library could do more cross-referring – develop a reciprocal relationship  Need to better coordinate the idea that the historical museum has professionally archived historical artifacts and a world class archive 17

Ways to Tell Story  Have annual meeting/ this year share strategic plan  Let people know!  Library seen as ‘stand alone,’ should be seen as a city institution (like recreation)  More media attention  Need PR person to reach out into the community  Stories about volunteers and employees in newspaper  Ongoing Facebook  On e-Coronado  Have banners put up outside the library  Have more lectures and guest speakers  Have a joint venture with a local bookstore  Invite service organizations to meet in the library 18

Advice For Us  Don’t assume problem if there is none (local orgs would ask for help if needed)  Plan should result in a few clear priorities  Let people know about strategic planning process and plan  Older, more educated population still wants books  Talk to stakeholders, listen to all voices  Tune into school system’s strategic plan  Could expand the kiosk outside 19

Advice  Would like to see more opportunities to donate books – more book drives  People could be referred to the historical museum for more information on historical collections  Large gifts have been donated to the library for historical collections/archives and the historical society would like to be thought of  Get organizations that complement the library (e.g. historical society, chamber of commerce, visitor’s center) to work with the library (to avoid duplication of effort); or share space with the library (can generate some funding and provide cross-promotion opportunities) 20

$1,000,000 grant  Storage facility for physical items  Augment collection with what is missing  Endowed librarian position  Integrate senior center with library; share services and programs  Expansion of computers and other technology  Programs to educate kids about computers  Support on-line learning  Blow up and display archived photos; share more of Coronado history visually 21