LONG RANGE PLAN  
2001 –2006

Part 1 - The Fairfield Public Library Mission

Fairfield Public Library promotes reading and serves the people of Fairfield as a center for lifelong learning and a community hub.  Residents of all ages find information and enjoyment to meet their expressed wishes and needs.

Part 2 - Introduction

The Fairfield Public Library Long Range Plan Committee has created this strategic plan, the fourth in a series of five-year plans, designed to provide superior public library services for the town. Ideas from the American Library Association planning document Planning for Results: A Public Library Transformation Process  were used in developing the concept of identifying and responding to the town’s emerging needs through the use of focus groups.  Citizen participation was enlisted in order to learn how the public views the community’s strengths and weaknesses, as well as opportunities it sees to improve the Town, and potential obstacles to positive change.  Six focus groups were organized, consisting of parents of young children, high school students, senior citizens, elected officials, the general population and Library staff members.  The ideas presented in these groups were then combined in a “Community Vision for 2010” which describes an idealized Fairfield in which the real problems and dissatisfactions of the year 2000 have been resolved.

By studying the ideas of focus group participants, the committee was able to develop appropriate themes with associated goals, objectives and activities to meet the town’s emerging needs during the next five years.  A separate document describes each activity in more detail, including associated tasks and costs with an approximate time frame for completion. The “Fairfield Public Library Vision for 2010” describes a thriving public library system centered around a renovated Main Library.  Residents enthusiastically take advantage of a host of resources and activities which have been developed from the expressed needs and desires of the citizens.

The Long Range Plan will be restudied annually by the administration and staff in order to measure the Library’s progress in meeting its goals and to evaluate the continuing appropriateness of the various activities.

Return to Long Range Plan Contents