Library launches new strategy plan to be announced this summer

The San Antonio Public Library announced a new strategic plan to align itself to the city’s SA2020 long-term goals of improving education and to confront technological advances that are changing the way people get information.

At its annual “Love Your Library” news conference, on Monday, Feb. 14 the library announced the formation of a strategy committee that will map out a new vision to be carried out in the next five years.

See selected excerpts from Monday's news conference below. The story continues below the video.

“Libraries are evolving rapidly, and the strategic plan will help the San Antonio Public Library better assist its customers by identifying new services, technologies and growth opportunities while creating a culture of service for the future,” said Jean Brady, chair of the library’s board of trustees.

Brady laid out an overview of a Leadership Advisory Committee made up of community leaders that will create a draft plan that the public can comment on when it’s presented in six months.

The committee will be chaired by Tom Frost Sr. and includes the San Antonio Independent School District, the University of Texas at San Antonio, Friends of the Public Library, USAA and the San Antonio Hispanic Chamber of Commerce, among others.

San Antonio Mayor Julian Castro and Bexar County Judge Nelson Wolff also spoke at the conference, highlighting the role a public library plays in a competetive society, particularly in a city such as San Antonio where about 40 percent of the population doesn’t have high-speed Internet.

"The library is the No. 1 asset of a city," said Castro, adding the new strategy will "dove-tail" with the city's SA2020 project to bring about dramatic changes in education in the next decade.

The announcement comes after the library hired a consulting team led by San Antonio-based KGBTexas and the Ivy Group of Virginia that are mapping innovations and best practices from top libraries across North America.