MARINETTE – In 2025, the Marinette County Consolidated Public Library Service (MCCPLS) underwent a strategic planning process to ensure access to information and services through the creation of a five-year strategic plan for all seven of its branches.

“Our strategic planning process was people-powered, starting with the planning team,” the MCCPLS explained in a press release.
The planning team began gathering information from residents in the fall of 2025 through multiple activities, including a Library Stakeholders Questionnaire, which asked library stakeholders to consider local and countywide opportunities and priorities for the library.

County Stakeholder Interviews asked interviewees that were considered connectors in their communities about their viewpoints on library priorities and its role in the county while a general community survey asked community members about usage, awareness and satisfaction with current library services as well as priority focus areas for the library in the future.

At the library, a Strengths, Opportunities, Aspirations and Results (SOAR) Questionnaire gave library staff a chance to reflect on MCCPLS’s current strengths and results they would like to see while the IMLS/DPI Annual Report Data Comparison — provided by Wisconsin Library Services (WiLS) — allowed the library to compare statistics such as visits and circulation with other libraries.

Finally, a Planning Landscape Questionnaire asked members of the planning team about local and countywide opportunities and challenges, and the role they see for the library both now and in the future.

The plan consultants found several key takeaways and themes from provided data sets.

Strengths included the library’s countywide presence that provides access to resources, information and services and a strength in commitment to learning and literacy.

Areas for improvement included:

• Emphasize efficiency and consistency across the county
• Need for local flexibility in individual libraries
• Increase community awareness through internal and external communications
• Emphasize the library’s value on both a local and countywide level.

The MCCPLS has curated a new vision through its strategic planning process, which includes inspiring curiosity, connection and community in Marinette County.

Also refreshed was the MCCPLS mission statement — “Marinette County Consolidated Public Library Service empowers, educates and connects our community through access to resources, friendly service and welcoming spaces for all.”

“A library’s mission and vision statements are not only words on a page. They must be our north star, offering inspiration and guidance for our staff, board, friends and our library community,” the press release said.

MCCPLS’s new strategic plan includes four main goals, each with measurable objectives and sample activities or projects.

The first goal is community embeddedness, which includes objectives such as cultivating literacy skills through programs and partnerships and increasing connections with elected officials to improve communication. This came from the community survey, where responses indicated that the top priority is increasing coordination with local schools.

The second goal is county-wide access, with objectives including: offering access to equipment; connectivity and assistance; and improving access to physical library materials across the county, especially for those in rural areas and older adults. Responses from the community survey reflected that the addition of an after-hours access pick-up was the top potential change for the physical space of the library.

The third goal is marketing and communications, which has objectives of increasing opportunities for library staff and community members to hear and share information on other branches and using specific talking points for all library branches to ensure consistent communication across the county.

The final goal is a hub and spoke organizational model, with objectives such as facilitating county-wide assessment of services, spaces and resources as well as establishing a library-wide staff training and professional development plan.

“A key aspect of the strategic plan is an assessment approach that allows us to track and evaluate what’s working or helping move the needle on the strategic goals and measurable objectives, without being overly burdensome for the library,” the press release said.

“To ensure accountability to our community, we will implement a communication cadence to share various aspects of the plan and engage communities across the county through activities.”