Pima library seeks read from public

To aid that goal, the library is calling on residents — both regular patrons and the once-in-a-long-while variety — to give Pima County an idea of what is expected of one's local library.

"I'm hoping we'll get a strategic plan that will show what people want from us, rather than what we think they want," says Sarajane Harwood, branch manager for the Himmel Park branch, 1035 N. Treat Ave.

The library system has been holding a series of community forums to garner public opinion since early August.

Each of the system's 26 branch libraries will host a forum, and other forums have been scheduled for areas that don't have a branch nearby. The last forum will be on Oct. 30.

While comments about how the libraries are being run and how they look are appreciated, the intent of the forums is to find out how the libraries fit into the Tucson-area community as a whole, library director Nancy Ledeboer said.

"It's not just about, are you happy with the size of your library and the hours of your library," said Ledeboer, who says she's been a "fly on the wall" at more than a half dozen forums so far. "We want to know what are the needs of your community, and which of those needs the library can help. We want to be responsive to the most relevant services that we can provide."

Ledeboer said the library's last strategic plan, which runs through 2009, was completed in 2004. That plan helped prompt the system to expand services beyond being a place to get books and to become a location for the community to expand its knowledge in other ways.

She said branches have held seminars on such wide-ranging topics as health care, water harvesting, early childhood and transportation.

"People really see the library as a community learning center," Ledeboer said.

About a dozen people attended a forum on Aug. 24 at Himmel, a library that draws many of its patrons from the surrounding Sam Hughes neighborhood.

Frank Soltys, who is vice president of the Sam Hughes Neighborhood Association, said his group has held its monthly meetings at the library for at least 20 years.

He said the library is an integral part of his neighborhood, as well as adjacent neighborhoods to the north and east. The fact the library system is reaching out to residents means the system knows its importance to the community.

"This demonstrated that the library is responsive to the community," Soltys said of the forums. "They understand their role."

Future public involvement is expected in forms such as telephone surveys, says Mary McKinney, a librarian at the Murphy-Wilmot branch.

"This is just one of the ways of seeking community input," McKinney said of the forums.

all areas

Here's where forums will be

The Pima County Public Library is holding a series of community forums to gather public input for ways to assist the library system with planning.

Forums will be at each of the system's 26 branch libraries and at select other locations.

The next few sessions will be held:

• *Wednesday, 6 p.m., Valencia Branch Library, 202 W. Valencia Road.

• Thursday, 6 p.m., Desert Sky Middle School, 9580 E. Rankin Loop.

• Saturday, 11 a.m., Eckstrom-Columbus Branch Library, 4350 E. 22nd St.

• Sept. 9, 6:30 p.m., Flowing Wells Branch Library, 1730 W. Wetmore Road.

• Sept. 13, 3 p.m., Miller-Golf Links Branch Library, 9640 E. Golf Links Road.

• Sept. 14, 2 p.m., Joyner-Green Valley Branch Library, 601 N. La Cañada Drive, Green Valley.

For additional forum dates and locations or for more information, call 791-4010 or go online to library.pima.gov.

* Forum will be in Spanish