Multnomah County Library Strategic Plan
Creating a better library for all
Multnomah County Library’s 2023-2025 strategic plan is a roadmap for our work. The plan helps to shape our decisions and keeps the library accountable to the community. New spaces and resources require innovative thinking and change.
Multnomah County Library’s focus will be on people and groups that the library has not fully included in the past. The strategic plan makes sure that we are providing for community needs and wants with equity at the center.
We look forward to welcoming you to your library.
Values — The deeply held beliefs at the heart of the library
- The library works in relationship and partnership, centering communities furthest from opportunity in order to create equitable access to library resources and information.
- The library acknowledges and honors the resilience, wisdom and knowledge of our community members and staff most impacted by the living legacy of racism and oppression. The collective wisdom of these communities is at the heart of the library's journey toward a more equitable library system.
- To facilitate and inspire learning, the library invests in specialized, culturally and linguistically relevant expertise and support to build active, trusting relationships with learners of all ages, from birth through adulthood.
- The library serves as a leading advocate for reading in Multnomah County, centering communities that experience the greatest barriers in literacy support, in order to support lifelong learning for the entire community.
Goals — What we want to accomplish with focused effort
The library will:
- Create public, popular, and personal opportunities and access to life-long learning and contribute to improved learning outcomes for all communities.
- Adapt library services and materials so the organization can grow with, and be responsive to, our shared communities.
- Help people access and learn to use computers, internet and other technology to remove digital barriers.
- Create welcoming spaces that reflect our diverse and multicultural community.
- Support the practice of democracy and self-determination with services, spaces and resources.
- Ensure positive experiences for community members with library staff, spaces, materials, and services.
- Collaborate with communities to create flexible buildings and spaces that can adapt to the changes in community needs and hopes.