On December 12, 2013 in coordinated efforts with the Carson City School Board and Board of Supervisors, the Library Trustees unanimously adopted Level Up, a strategic plan for learning 2014 – 2019, the library’s next five year plan.
“An educated, skilled citizenry will secure our future. The integration of the strategic plans and the exciting partnerships/collaborations demonstrate that collectively, community leadership gets it. We welcome the challenge and look forward to the possibilities,” said Library Trustee Chairwoman Sandy Foley.
From the library’s business branch, the Business Resource Innovation Center, into the evening the five member board discussed the library’s vision for 2014 – 2019. Meaningful linkages to the Carson City School District’s strategic plan, Empower Carson City- 2017 and the City of Carson City’s 2012 / 2013 initiatives calling for “excellence in education and lifelong learning wherein K-12 entities and Western Nevada College are supported” are addressed in the library plan’s new objectives.
“This was the third of three governmental entities (the City, the School District and the public Library) who have not only coordinated strategies for k-12 education and lifelong learning, but have done so by co-adopting one another’s strategic plans moving forward. Not before in the history of Carson City local government has there been this kind of formal and committed effort to improve education,” said Carson City School Board Trustee Ron Swirczek.
Level up (!), a strategic plan for learning 2014 – 2019 offers a unified vision and practical approach to deliver public library services over the next five years. The plan outlines emphasis on learning opportunities, access to technology and reconfigured spaces within the main library building on Roop Street. Taken together the library can better serve the community’s most pressing needs, especially those that are related to building or sharpening marketable skills and providing essential support to public, private, charter and home school teachers, students and families.
Key objectives emphasize the library’s role as a community asset that inspires learning with technology tools and programs designed expressly for increasing digital literacy. Meaningfully linked learning opportunities between the formal classroom, home and third places of learning (like the public library) leads to a skilled and qualified local workforce who can compete for higher paying jobs.
“This board is to be commended for its leadership. It’s essential to have a strategic plan that along with fostering accountability, also successfully articulates an organization’s goals and what is necessary to accomplish a vision. The goal of the school district is to create a new generation of innovators, leaders, and thinkers. This transition often happens outside of the classroom and the library provides vital resources where this can occur,” said Ben Contine Carson City School District Community Engagement Coordinator.
“Currently there is real momentum among community leaders to address workforce readiness and level up marketable skills for every age learner. For the library’s part, offering quality out-of-school-time programs that are meaningfully linked between formal education, other youth-serving organizations and the workplace is our primary role,” said Interim Library Director Tammy Westergard.
“What this shows is we are connecting with the community and with those who believe Carson City’s future belongs to the power of education. These partnerships and commitments signal that we are taking the best from the past and moving that forward to build on what our youth need to be successful. Leadership in Carson City recognizes the value of public library services and understands that leveraging these resources makes practical sense. It’s so obvious it seems innovative, but this has always been the role of libraries. Leaders in all of Nevada’s 17 counties would do well to remember that,” Swirczek concluded.
Level up (!), a strategic plan for learning 2014 – 2019 is available online at www.carsoncitylibrary.org, Empower Carson City- 2017 at www.carsoncityschools.com and 2012/2013 Carson City Strategic Plan Approved by the Board of Supervisors at www.carson.org.
Photo: Carson City Library Board of Trustees, from left, Robert Kennedy, Diane Solinger and Chair Sandy Foley watch a presentation during their monthly meeting at the BRIC in Carson City, Nev., on Thursday, Dec. 12, 2013. The board unanimously approved the "Level Up (!), a strategic plan for learning 2014-2019", marking the first time that the three governing bodies, the Board of Supervisors, Carson City School District and the Carson City Library, have coordinated their strategic plans to improve education.
Photo by Cathleen Allison/Nevada Photo Source