Plans for a new app for Park Ridge Public Library users and reimagined collaborative spaces are underway as of Jan. 1 as part of the library’s new four-year strategic plan – which officials say stems from community input.
“The last strategic plan was done during COVID-19 and I, personally, was really excited to hear from our community in 2025, the voice of our patrons,” said Theresa Renaldi, Park Ridge Public Library board president since August. “We had over 2,000 community members engaging with us, giving us feedback and that’s gold.”
The 2026-2030 strategic plan, approved by the library board Aug. 19, was the direct result of information gathered at focus groups with community partners – including local school districts, the Park District and small businesses – library staff, along with feedback from 2,000 library cardholders who responded to a, said library Director Joanna Bertucci.
Topping the list of to-dos was creating a more seamless online program registration experience that improves access to library materials and creating more meeting, study and collaborative spaces.
The four key drivers of the strategic plan, which will be phased in over four years, include: Optimizing spaces, investing in resources and staff, and aligning programming, services and outreach while increasing community awareness and support.
Earlier this year, Bertucci hired Colorado-based ReThinking Libraries consultant firm, which assisted in managing the focus groups and patron survey. Once library leaders identified the need for a new mobile app, the Connecticut-based tech company Communico was hired to create an app using the library’s branding and graphics that will ease the program registration process and provide a one-stop shop for searching for books, checking out e-content, linking to companion digital services and reserving meeting space.
“It’s the No. 1 ranked service or convenience item that we could add to our repertoire to make the library more accessible to people,” Bertucci said. “We wanted to hit the ground running.”
Development work is scheduled to begin Jan. 1, she said, and the goal is to release the app in time for tracking summer reading in early June. The library signed a three-year, $10,000 per year subscription with Communico for the service, she said.
“While we’re doing that, we’ll be looking at our collections,” Bertucci said. “Thirty-two percent of our circulation is coming from e-books, e-audio books, e-magazines. In 2022, we were at 16%, so in three years, it’s doubled.”
Library staff will be looking at the collections that are not circulating, such as CDs. Although DVDs still circulate, she said, that will be the last of the disc-based technology to go.
“We’ll be looking at these collections and asking what we can put in that place,” Bertucci said, adding community partners and survey respondents all asked for more study, meeting and collaborative spaces in the library.
As a result, space consultant David Vinjamuri, president of ThirdWay Space and an associate professor of marketing at New York University, will begin a space audit of the library in late January. Bertucci said in year two, a plan will be developed to reimagine the library space differently.
“There’s a reason the milk is in the back of the grocery store,” Bertucci said of the space planning. “He’ll apply consumer tactics to the library.”
There are no preliminary costs for any renovations at this time, she said, and the outlay for consultants has been $10,000.
“We’re not suggesting a referendum. The goal of the plan is to maximize what we have,” Bertucci said. “In five to 10 years, we could honestly say we did our due diligence to make spaces the community is asking for.”
Bertucci said library staff will also begin developing more programs for young adults between the ages of 20 and 30, while increasing community awareness and support. In addition, she said dollars were added to the budget to hire another part-time employee to staff the library’s Studio makerspace.
“Some of these activities are not a huge capital outlay,” she said. “We’re thinking about what we’re doing and how we can do it better.”
Renaldi and the board have been pleased with the steps taken to respond to the community’s feedback about the library, which as a 17-year resident, she has found to be very valued by the Park Ridge community.
“I felt like we came out of the process and we picked a great partner. It didn’t feel superfluous — this step is very linear and purposeful,” Renaldi said. “We feel good about our macro objectives which are clear deliverables we can deliver on as soon as the new year.”
Elizabeth Owens-Schiele is a freelancer.