FAYETTEVILLE -- Recommendations from a recent study help the Fayetteville Public Library know what its staff and patrons want, even if it can't afford them all right now, executive director David Johnson said.
The Ivy Group, a consulting firm in Charlottesville, Va., last week presented the library's board and administrators with the results of a yearlong study assessing residents' needs and how the library could address them. A Walton Family Foundation grant covered the $62,360 study.
The team of consultants collected information by holding focus groups and community input sessions with residents, as well as online surveys. It also spoke with 10 community leaders representing groups such as the University of Arkansas, social service agencies, philanthropic funds and health care professionals. Additionally, the consulting firm surveyed and spoke with library staff.
The consultants also analyzed census data, regional economic and health studies, information from peer libraries and national marketing data for the city.
The library is working on some "low-hanging fruit" recommended in the study. For instance, residents said the expanded library can be confusing because of its size, and that they were unaware of many programs the library offers.
Staff have since placed more directional signs in the building and are getting information out through local media and partner organizations, not just the library's own social media, website or email lists in response, Johnson said.
FINGERS ON THE PULSE
Some of the recommendations will require further research to figure out what's feasible from a staff capacity and financial standpoint, Johnson said. A focus group said the library should establish a world language center to facilitate cultural understanding and welcome the city's newcomers. The consulting firm recommended that the library build a branch on the west side of town, and it suggested raising employee pay to match peer libraries.
Voters approved a property tax increase in 2016 to expand the library. A portion of the increase was permanent to pay for the library's expanded operations. Another part of the increase will sunset in about 30 years after paying $26.9 million of the library's nearly $50 million construction cost. The library's nonprofit foundation has about $9 million left to raise to pay off the remaining $23 million.
Johnson said the library won't be able to tackle the more expensive recommendations until the construction loans are paid off. Library administrators expect to pay an average of nearly $150,000 annually on interest for the construction loans over the next five years. The library has relied on reserve money to balance its budget since opening the expansion. Once the debt is paid off, that money can go toward meeting community needs instead, he said.
How long that takes will depend on how quickly the library's foundation can raise the money, Johnson said.
Findings from the study will be used in the library's overall strategic plan, Johnson said. The most recent strategic plan was released in 2013 and recommended a property tax increase for the library to double its size.
The library can't sit and tread water while it waits to pay off its debt, Johnson said. Plugging the information into a strategic plan update, possibly next year, will enable the library to start right away on its next phase of development once the debt is clear, he said.
"If we're not prepared with a plan for what we want to do, then we're reacting. We're having to back up and then start the process," Johnson said.
Ciarra Murphy of Fayetteville said she primarily uses the library to find books. On Friday she checked out "Isabella: The Warrior Queen" by Kirstin Downey after hearing about it on a history podcast. She said she would like to see an expanded bookstore in the library.
Murphy lives on the west side of town and said she would welcome a branch closer to her neighborhood. She also liked the idea of the library deploying its Bookmobile more often and in different parts of the city, such as rural areas, which is another study recommendation.
As far as programming, Murphy said she would be interested in classes that explore particular periods of history or the works of certain authors.
Landis Bauer of Fayetteville used the library Friday to get out of the cold. The temperature was about 40 degrees that afternoon. Bauer said he's homeless and has found that the library's staff welcomes him when he comes in. He said he was unaware of many of the services the library offers, such as workforce training and guidance to find information on basic needs such as getting a driver's license, housing or job listings.
Bauer said he's interested in nonfiction and art history. He said he'd like to see more reference books that chronicle an artist's entire body of work and would attend guided workshops or classes on art history if they were offered.
WHAT'S NEXT?
Residents who provided feedback said the city lacks adequate access to public transportation, child care and broadband services. Johnson said some issues go beyond the library's ability to fix. However, the library could partner with organizations that focus on those issues to help bring services to patrons, he said.
For example, one of the recommendations in the study is to create social work partnerships to help residents find housing, health care and jobs. Some libraries, such as the one in Richland, S.C., have social workers on staff, said Julia Prince with the Ivy Group. The Fayetteville library wouldn't necessarily need to have social workers on staff, but it could arrange certain dates and times for social workers from a partnering organization to be available to patrons, she said.
The library offers an English as a second language class to adults through a partnership with Fayetteville Public Schools adult education, Johnson said. Participants often bring children to the class who read while instruction is going on. The library could provide a structured child care program through a partnership with a day care, he said.
Overall, residents were satisfied with the library's enrichment programs, but said they experienced long wait lists or programs filling to capacity quickly. More than half the staff said the library needs more employees, according to the study.
A majority of those surveyed, about 80%, said checking out materials was the primary reason for using the library. About 80% also said they use the library as a source of accurate information. Community leaders expressed a need for job readiness programs.
Johnson said some of the findings in the study confirmed that the library is already on the correct path with its programming. The expanded library opened in January 2021 with more materials for patrons to check out and a center for innovation with various labs and simulators to assist with job training.
"We listened to the community and we built an expansion. We've now got that expansion opened and we're seeing how it works," he said. "This community-needs assessment is sort of a reaction to that. The next step is where do we go from here?"
The library's board will discuss the study's findings at its meeting at 4 p.m. today in the Walker Community Room.
JB Anderson, a library volunteer and patron, works Friday, Feb. 17, 2023, with a 3D printer inside the J.B. and Johnelle Hunt Family Center for Innovation at the Fayetteville Public Library. The Ivy Group, a consultant based in Charlottesville, Va., did a community needs assessment for as a way to help guide the libraryÕs future operations. Visit nwaonline.com/photo for today's photo gallery. (NWA Democrat-Gazette/Andy Shupe)
Patrons walk Friday, Feb. 17, 2023, past a colorful series of windows at the Fayetteville Public Library. The Ivy Group, a consultant based in Charlottesville, Va., did a community needs assessment for as a way to help guide the libraryÕs future operations. Visit nwaonline.com/photo for today's photo gallery. (NWA Democrat-Gazette/Andy Shupe)More News
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Read the community-needs assessment for the Fayetteville library from consultant firm the Ivy Group: nwaonline.com/219assessment/