In January of 2021, the Millstadt Library received a grant from Libraries Transforming Communities (LTC): Focus on Small and Rural Libraries. This initiative, created by the American Library Association and in collaboration with the Association of Rural and Small Libraries, granted the Millstadt Library $3,000 for community engagement about the new Millstadt Library project.
Months of planning within the Millstadt Library, with the Millstadt Library Building Committee, the team at Poettker Construction and the tremendous help from the team at Williams Architects, allowed for a night that allowed the library to discuss this project with the Millstadt community.
In June, the library hosted its event. In order to social distance, the Millstadt Library rented space at the Millstadt VFW and spaced-out boards of information. Different team members took different boards and spent time talking to the community members who stopped by. The response was overwhelmingly positive and many great questions were asked.
Overall, there were 47 people who attended and 55 survey responses, a mix of in-person survey cards and online surveys. The top four features in order of most to least were; Youth area, Youth Program Area, Large Meeting Room and Crafting/Art Space. There was also a preference to Concept A of the outside renderings. The main concerns were cost and the start date. The board, staff and whole team assured community members that the project would continue to move forward and that the library would find ways to afford the project through grants, loans and fundraising.
Overall, the team learned a lot about the community’s position on the new library project and what their preferences were moving forward. The team also were able to communicate to the community to alleviate fears or concerns about the project.
For more information on the project and the Millstadt Library Open House results, visit our website http://www.millstadt-library.org/new-library-1.