By Elizabeth Brannon
The Flower Mound Public Library has been serving our community since 1985, and is constantly expanding and redefining what’s offered to the public, including providing access to information, creating young readers, fostering success in school and facilitating lifelong learning.
The staff consists of 22 FTE employees, a few volunteers and one Director of Library Services, all of whom are tasked with defining and/or meeting the strategic goals for the library. Those goals for the library fall under two broad categories that comprise the library’s mission: Supporting Education and Contributing to the Quality of Life.
The library contributes to the quality of life by stimulating imagination, celebrating diversity and encouraging creativity that meets the needs of the community. The objectives on how to achieve goals change every year, with special emphasis on a few objectives each year.
This year, there will be many changes for the library. There will be more robust media marketing for the library, because how to reach people changes constantly. The library continues to utilize different methods to advertise, adding new ways to the old. The library’s website (www.fmlibrary.net) is always up to date and will allow people to sign up online for library offerings and use a calendar filter.
Volunteers will be utilized in traditional and non-traditional ways, including identifying volunteers who have specific skills and who can teach skills in the Creation Lab. The library will offer circulating kits that people can check out to learn how to do a new craft or skill, and there will be early literacy kits to take home for pre-school that will include games, books and puppets. Also new are circulating board games for all ages, including adults, family, teens, and just for kids, that are very popular to check out for holidays and breaks. It’s a great way to try something new before you buy.
Recently there was a program about cooking, related to All Together Flower Mound that identified the various cultures that thrive in Flower Mound, and allowed participants to learn about the cultures through food, including finding the food, finding people who can talk about food and culture and finding people who can cook as well.
As of the end of the calendar year, the library had circulated over a half million items, which is a large number for a community the size of Flower Mound. 30% of the items checked out were digital. The library has something for everyone, including places to study, books to be checked out, events that can be attended, robust pre-school programs, a lounge for teens, patios for enjoying the day and providing Wi-Fi for residents.
In 37 years, the library has grown from a 15,000 square-foot house into the current 40,000 square-foot modern and beautiful facility. As an indication of how successful the library has been, the Flower Mound Public Library has been awarded 18 consecutive annual Achievement of Excellence in Library Awards. The most recent was in 2021, during the time of COVID and library renovations. The future is certainly bright for the library and those residents who avail themselves of all the library has to offer.
To familiarize yourself with the vast offerings of the library, visit the website: www.fmlibrary.net, or go to the Facebook page: FlowerMoundPublicLibrary, or see pages 20-21 of the Winter/Spring 2023 “ADVENTURES”publication which is mailed to all Flower Mound residents.
“Libraries store the energy that fuels the imagination. They open up windows to the world and inspire us to explore and achieve, and contribute to improving our quality of life. Libraries change lives for the better.”― Sidney Sheldon
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