Northland Public Library Strategic Plan: CONNECTING OUR COMMUNITIES 2016-2020 FINAL

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In 1988, Marshall Township held a referendum and the citizens voted to join the Northland Public Library. With the addition of this community and the revision of census, Northland, as of 1990, served a population of 77,711 people in a 62 square mile area. In 1989, Ross Township held a referendum setting aside 1.5 mills as a dedicated tax for the Library. Other communities continued to fund on a per capita basis. Subsequent to this, a municipal task force was established to work out a fair and equitable funding formula for the Library. A new formula was agreed to and used for the 1994 budget year. It called for a formula based on 20% for population, 20% for assessed valuation and 60% circulation. In 1994, Ross held another referendum rescinding the 1.5 mills and agreed to use the same formula for funding the Library. In 1995, Northland received a $200,000 grant from the Allegheny Regional Asset District given through the Allegheny County Library Association. This grant was given for only one year, because Northland and its supporting communities did not agree to a free lending policy for all residents of Allegheny County. The Library continued to try to find a way to qualify for ARAD funds without having to agree to the free lending policy. In 1997, ACLA offered ARAD funds to Northland plus the Regional Asset District provided a one year $150,000 grant to assist Northland and the five municipalities agreed to a one year trial of free lending to all Allegheny County residents, beginning January 1, 1998. Northland became a member of ACLA in July 1999 and continues to provide free lending to Allegheny County residents. Since 1998, Northland has participated in Access Pennsylvania, which permits registered borrowers of libraries outside of the five supporting municipalities and throughout Pennsylvania to borrow material. Sandra Collins was hired as Director in May of 1998. In December of 1999 the Ross Township Commission notified the Northland Board of Trustees of their intention to withdraw from the Authority at the end of 2002. A resolution was negotiated and Ross withdrew their notice in June of 2000. Northland moved to donated space at Northway Mall in August of 2003 while the Cumberland Road building was renovated. The renovated building features a comfortable reading lounge with a fireplace, meeting rooms with current technology, a young adult area, a redesigned children’s area with an aquarium and an oak tree and self checkout units. Northland become the first public library in Pennsylvania to convert from bar codes to RFID (radio frequency identification) to permit more efficient circulation of material. In October 2005 Northland migrated to the shared integrated library system used throughout Allegheny County. Over the years, Northland has received numerous grants and special honors. In 1984, the area Jaycees selected Northland for their Distinguished Service Award--the only time an organization has received this honor. In 1992, Northland was one of a few selected by the Secretary of Education to work on the three year Public Library Project which studied laws, aid and the development of public libraries in Pennsylvania. In 1995 and in 1996, Northland was selected by the American Library Association for specific projects. In 1995, Northland was one of 60 libraries to be part of the ALA’s fundraising project and in 1996 was one of 50 libraries to receive the Modern Poetry program. In 1997, Northland received the distinct honor of being selected as the one public library to host a Japanese public librarian for a three week visit. The Japan Library Association annually sponsors a visit to another country so that librarians in Japan may learn about library services abroad. The Three Rivers Storytelling Festival began in 2001 as a program of the Northland Public Library Foundation. The Festival became a library sponsored program in 2005. The family oriented event promotes the tradition of oral storytelling for people of all ages 23
The Best Seller Collection (now the Lucky Day Collection) was created in 2007, with a grant from the Northland Public Library Foundation, to better serve the needs of our local residents. The Ingomar Garden Club dedication of Blue-Star Memorial Marker occurred in June of 2009, and in 2010 Northland Received a Family Place grant and then an official Family Place designation. In September of 2011, the Northland Historical Image Collection debuted on the Historic Pittsburgh website. This collection has now grown to over 1,300 digitized historical photographs. In addition to the historical photo collection, the library now maintains the Northland Library Local History website, providing access to digitized documents, maps and links to other historical resources for each of our five supporting municipalities, North Park and the library itself. In August of 2013, Amy Steele was appointed to serve as the fourth director. In 2014 and 2015 Northland has dramatically increased its outreach programming traveling to schools, daycare centers, preschools, community centers, local parks and facilities of other community partners. The Children’s and Young Adult staff was recognized in 2013 with the Pennsylvania Library Association Best Practices Award for exceptional service to school age children. In 2013 two members of the Children’s and Young Adult staff were selected to participate in the 2-year ACLA-ASSET Librarians as STEM Educators training program and have been asked to present this experience at the national Public Library Association Conference in 2016. The Children’s and Young Adult staff was recognized in 2014 with the Pennsylvania Library Association Best Practices Award for exceptional multigenerational service. The Children’s and Young Adult staff was recognized in 2015 by the Pennsylvania Library Association, receiving two honorable mentions for Best Practices, one for Preschool/Pre-K and one for STEM. Northland has a physical collection of approximately 200,000 items including books, magazines, DVDs, compact discs, audiobooks and software. Additionally, the growing electronic collection includes access to over 100,000 downloadable and streaming books, audiobooks, magazines, music and videos. Internet access is available in the building on library provided computers and through WiFi for those wishing to use their own devices. The library’s website is a gateway to many resources including online reference databases, the electronic collection, our programming calendar, our electronic newsletter and our social media outlets. Our local history website provides access to more than 1,300 digital historic photographs, maps, and documents from our supporting municipalities. Programs for all ages, from infants to seniors, are provided throughout the year. Programming includes summer reading clubs for children, teens and adults, infant and preschool storytime, book discussion groups, and informational programs for all ages. (Some of the above information contains material taken from NORTH HILLS NEWS RECORD Articles.) 24
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Page 4 and 5: NORTHLAND PUBLIC LIBRARY AUTHORITY
Page 6 and 7: Priority 2 - Library Collection, Pr
Page 8 and 9: 2016-2020 Strategic Priorities In o
Page 10 and 11: Strategy 1D To raise adequate suppl
Page 12 and 13: Objectives Responsibility Date Due
Page 14 and 15: Executive Director Strategy 4B To p
Page 16 and 17: Strategy 5A To ensure Regional Asse
Page 18 and 19: Investigate and adopt available dow
Page 20 and 21: APPENDIX I Strategic Planning Proce
Page 22 and 23: APPENDIX II Northland Public Librar
Page 26 and 27: APPENDIX III NORTHLAND DEMOGRAPHICS
Page 28 and 29: MARSHALL TOWNSHIP 7,225 population
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Page 38 and 39: We look forward to meeting with you
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Page 46 and 47: You can select more than one, o Boo
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Page 58 and 59: Appendix VI Pittsburgh District Lib
Page 60 and 61: District Library Center, Responsibi
Page 62 and 63: Continuing Education, Outcome • F

Northland Public Library Strategic Plan: CONNECTING OUR COMMUNITIES 2016-2020 FINAL

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