The Florham Park Public Library is pleased to present its 2024-2026 Strategic Plan. This plan was crafted during the second half of 2023 by Library employees, administrators, and Board of Trustee members, who worked together to analyze information and come up with a vision for the next three years. The plan presented here positions our institution as a place of connectivity here in Florham Park that is eager to preserve and share the traditions of Florham Park history and culture while also welcoming a new era by meeting the needs of a rapidly changing community.
The plan was crafted based on the evidence gathered from the following:
- A survey of Florham Park library users and non-library users
- A questionnaire for Library employees
- An in-depth analysis of the Library’s usage statistics and trends over the previous 10 years
- A detailed look at circulation activity for all Library collections
- 2020 Census data
- 2022 American Community Survey data
With these sources in hand, the Strategic Planning committee met during the months of September and October 2023 to discuss and ideate together. These conversations resulted in the following four strategic priorities:
- Offer high quality services and collections
- Support learners of all ages and abilities
- Nurture a healthy organization
- Provide a safe and welcoming environment
In recent years, the Borough of Florham Park has welcomed many new residents, and will continue to do so during the next few years as new developments in town become available. As Florham Park expands, so too does the Library. FPPL is becoming a more modern and complex organization with a wider variety of collections, programs, and services offered. This plan aims to create actionable yet flexible goals for the Library as it experiments with new and better ways to provide innovative and high-quality services and spaces to its patrons. The 2024-2026 Strategic Plan also seeks to preserve institutional knowledge, protect and future-proof the integrity of our organization, and to create a forward-thinking working environment that attracts and retains qualified and enthusiastic library professionals and paraprofessionals.
The strategic priorities and goals outlined in this document will guide decision making at the Florham Park Public Library over the next three years, and were designed with the Library’s mission and core values in mind. They represent a roadmap toward a bright future for our institution as it enters into an exciting period of growth and opportunity.
Strategic Priorities
Goals
Priority 1: Offer high-quality services and collections
- Maintain a clean and up-to-date collection of physical materials.
- Promote patron privacy and intellectual freedom.
- Calibrate a diverse portfolio of digital resources based on community needs, interest, usage, and cost effectiveness.
- Continue to loan non-traditional Library materials.
- Explore the development of a foreign-language collection.
- Preserve and share Florham Park history with the community.
Priority 2: Support learners of all ages, interests, and abilities
- Regularly offer lectures, classes, and workshops for adults.
- Make it easier for children and their caretakers to locate appropriate library materials, resources, and programs.
- Educate Library users on how they can access and maximize their use of the Library’s digital resources.
- Provide a positive Library experience to people with special needs.
- Host an excellent annual Summer Reading program.
- Support makers and innovators in the Florham Park community.
Priority 3: Nurture a healthy organization
- Foster mutually-beneficial relationships with community organizations, charities, and local government.
- Attract and retain a qualified and well-trained staff.
- Improve organizational resiliency.
- Maintain policies and procedures that are up-to-date, actionable, and fair.
- Build new relationships with the local business community.
Priority 4: Provide a safe and welcoming environment
- Be a comfortable and beautiful place for Florham Parkers to enjoy.
- Celebrate the cultural diversity of Florham Park.
- Become a more environmentally-conscious and sustainable institution.
- Improve facility management and planning.