Bozeman is such a great place for so many reasons. It’s so great in fact, that everyone already knows all the richness that can be found here — no need to point out the plethora of hiking trails, great skiing, rivers galore, and the cool vibe around town. No need to talk about the local brews, killer festivals, public art, and homegrown musical talent.

But there’s another treasure here that is worth mentioning: the Bozeman Public Library. While it’s a not-so-well-kept secret with 1200 people, on average, walking through the door on any given day, it is a place that perhaps is taken for granted, as often public libraries are.

Free public libraries have been around since the early 1400s, with the first ones appearing in England. They made their way to the U.S. shortly after colonization and then were further popularized by Benjamin Franklin and later philanthropist Andrew Carnegie who famously donated over $60 million to build libraries across the young country. Because of this, libraries are now a fixture in the public’s eye — public libraries and public schools are a given.

Library lovers, of course, always find the public library in town; some even decide to move to a place because of an awesome library. We hear that a lot in Bozeman. If a town the size of Bozeman can support such a big and vibrant library, it must be one of the coolest places on the planet, right? That’s what we think.

Twelve hundred individuals visiting the Bozeman Public Library a day sounds like a lot, but what may surprise some even more is that that number bumps up in the summer months to averaging 1500+ people. A day. What other entity can boast this success?
Obviously our library means a great deal to many, many people. To meet the community’s needs now and into the future, we are embarking on a long-range Strategic Plan to make sure we are hitting all the right marks. Some of the questions we have are: What should the Bozeman Public Library look like in two years? Five years? Ten years down the road? What new services need to be provided? What type of programming is important? How can the facility complement the services? Is the library property being used to its fullest extent?

There are many other questions out there that we haven’t even thought of. And this is where the strategic planning process comes in. The Bozeman Public Library is partnering with the Library Foundation and Friends of the Library to hire Library Strategies, consultants out of St. Paul, Minnesota, who will focus solely on helping our library with planning, development, and implementation of a plan to lead us boldly into the future.

There is an aggressive time frame for developing this plan, which is why we are bringing in the experts. Library Strategies are heavy-hitters in the library world, and we feel very lucky to have them working with and for us to get the best possible outcome looking forward. The process will include a stakeholders meeting, a comprehensive survey, an operational planning retreat with Library staff and Trustees, and an accompanying fundraising plan for the Foundation so we are sure to think about the funding aspect of any new projects.

Even with the help of a national consulting firm, we still sought local input to work in tandem with the consultants to help design how to accomplish our lofty goals in a way that worked for our town. A small group of dedicated community members are already putting in time; they range from city personnel to business leaders to active retirees to library professionals to parents.

The Library Foundation also has a team of MSU Marketing Management students who will be helping us with the process. They will be actively gathering comments and questions from folks across town, seeking input and learning what is important to all of you. Two particular goals for this team will be to execute the survey mentioned above and conduct a series of focus groups with specific groups.

The entire process will be as encompassing as possible. Our goal is to hear from as many people as we can muster to get a good sampling of how the library is viewed and how it can be better.
There is a great quote by Marcus Tillius Cicero, “If you have a garden and a library, you have everything you need.” Given our community’s organic nature, this is a particularly pertinent sentiment for Bozemanites. But like gardens, libraries need tending, weeding, and diligent attention to allow it to thrive. If just let go wildly, something will grow, but after awhile it might not provide the needed sustenance.

Libraries need to react to the changing times in meaningful ways and not willy-nilly. In the short time since our new Library doors opened in 2006, the digital world has changed dramatically, as just one example. In addition, the role of libraries continues to grow, evolve, and head in new, unforeseen directions. Our goal is to manage this change in a meaningful and directed way.

The Bozeman Public Library is a world-class library, an example of the excellence that can be achieved when a community comes together, with passion and vision, to create something special. Our goal is to continue to nurture that excellence for future generations. This strategic planning exercise will help us to do that.

But we can’t do it without help. We’ll be reaching out to community members of all stripes for advice, to hear what we’re doing right and what might need changing.

So while out there enjoying the last of the ski trails, lacing up skates for the season’s end, strapping on snowshoes for the final trek, or pulling hiking boots out of the closet in preparation for spring, please put some thought towards how the Bozeman Public Library can better serve you.

You’ll be hearing from us.

Susan Gregory recently celebrated her first year as the director of the Library and couldn’t be happier to be in Bozeman. Paula Beswick has celebrated everyday for the past six years as the director the Library Foundation.