Strategic Plan

Home  »  About RPL   »  Strategic Plan

The 2024-2028 strategic plan for Richmond Public Library affirms our mission and vision which have been in place and guided the library since 2019, and introduces updated values that will guide how we support one another and our community. It also outlines our goals and priorities for the next four years, which will inform resourcing, operations and activities at Richmond Public Library.

In developing this plan, we took a data-driven and community-focused approach, engaging families, youth, newcomers, seniors, and non-profit organizations in workshops and surveys, and receiving feedback from library staff and almost 3,300 community members through online engagement.

Strategic Plan

Goals and Priorities

Champion intellectual freedom and freedom of expression

  • Define our approaches to facilitating safe spaces for community dialogue

Improve brand recognition and engagement

  • Market our programs, spaces and collections in innovative and impactful ways

Reduce and remove barriers to improve accessibility

  • Reduce and remove barriers to our libraries’ collections, programs and services
  • Make experiences, programs and materials more accessible across our community

Strengthen our social and economic sustainability

  • Leverage new and existing cross-sector partnerships to meet diverse and changing community needs
  • Commit to environmental sustainability principles and practices
  • Ensure organizational readiness for decolonizing
    approaches

Provide excellent customer experiences

  • Improve customer service and experience within our library spaces
  • Improve the customer experience of our digital platforms and communication systems
  • Equip and empower staff to deliver excellent customer experiences
  • Enhance evaluation measures for programs and collections to increase value and improve engagement

Historical Strategic Plans