Johnson City Library asking for input regarding 5-year plan
The Johnson City Library is located at 501 N. Nugent Ave. Go to jclibrarysite.org or call (830) 868-4469 for more information. Facebook photo
STAFF WRITER JENNIFER FIERRO
JOHNSON CITY — What do you need from your library? What will get you here?
Those questions will be posed to patrons during the Johnson City Library’s community forum Wednesday, Sept. 19. The event begins at 9 a.m. at the library, 501 N. Nugent Ave.
“You do need to ask your public fairly often,” Johnson City librarian Maggie Goodman said.
The library is mandated by the Texas State Library and Archives Commission to do a five-year plan, and 2019 is when the Johnson City Library must turn its in, Goodman said.
“We hold these forums to get the community to tell us where we should be in five years,” she said.
Implementing changing technology is something library staff is planning now, she added.
The plan includes making the community education room, adjacent to the public computers room, a spot for people who need access to a computer to fill out forms, find jobs, search for scholarships, and other important online tasks.
Goodman envisions that room being used by those who have limited communication skills or who didn’t finish high school.
It will have a 50-inch screen, and groups can meet there for seminars, classes, and video chats. Some could even use the room to create video games. Wireless internet in the facility has been upped to a faster bandwidth.
“We’re partnering with different groups, businesses, the high school, lifelong learners,” Goodman said. “People can bring their own computers and laptops, and there’ll be one powerful computer in there.”
This forum is the second the library has hosted. Civic leaders attended the first and suggested adding coffee makers and an area for people who wanted to bring their laptops and work.
Those attendees also toured the library and saw the various services it offers.
“So, we are getting their input and giving them knowledge,” the librarian said. “The one thing they wanted was longer hours. Closing at 7 p.m. doesn’t give them much time to come here. They saw longer hours, they saw coffee machines, a very comfortable, inviting space.”
Go to jclibrarysite.org or call (830) 868-4469 for more information.