Johnson County Library has just launched a department entirely focused on continuing to develop its excellent program offerings to be even more robust, responsive and accountable to the community.
“We are adapting to a new model of designing and delivering library programs,” explains Angel Tucker, the new Program Department Manager, who will oversee the department of 22 people. “We see this as an opportunity to redefine and prioritize collaborative efforts as it relates to providing innovative services to the community.”
As the needs of diverse audiences grow and evolve, this focused approach to programming will allow the Library to better understand and serve their needs. It’s all about providing children, teens, adults and seniors with ideas, information, and experiences to enrich their lives.
The programming staff will focus on important community interests and outreach, enhancing cooperation and coordination with other Library departments, county agencies, volunteers and myriad organizational partners.
Tucker said communication both internally and with the public will be key. The department will be doing a lot of listening to their colleagues and members of the public, with a goal of responsiveness, creativity, strategic thinking, relationship building and service orientation.
The organization’s staffing structures were last evaluated about 10 years ago, when libraries and the world were very different. The need to take a step back and look at how to best meet patron and community needs became apparent during the pandemic, Tucker said.
“We started to think about the many challenges we are facing,” she said. “How can we make our efforts more sustainable?”
Change is hard, Tucker acknowledged, and it has proven to be disorienting for both staff and the public. “It will take time, training, and an intentional focus on cross-department collaboration,” Tucker said. “Johnson County Library staff are smart and creative and they want to be vested in impactful work.”
Patrons will see some changes to favorite providers of programs like Book Groups and Storytimes. But Tucker emphasized those popular and well-loved offerings will continue to be offered in pursuit of sustainability and growth. The ultimate intention is to balance process and outcome and to invest in relationships internally and externally. “We will center a co-design methodology that gives key stakeholders — the community, partners, and colleagues — a defined role in the program design process.”
Tucker brings 20 years of experience with Johnson County Library to her new role and has worked on successful initiatives throughout that time. She began as a part-time youth specialist at Central Resource Library and started a middle school creative writing class that evolved into the Library’s highly-praised teen literary magazine, elementia.
She eventually took a full-time Library position and in 2014 helped develop Race Project KC, a social justice project aimed at educating teens and the wider community about race relations in the Kansas City area and nationwide.
She says she’s been blessed with an incredible team of colleagues. “Everything I’ve accomplished, I’ve accomplished with my colleagues,” she said.
The new programming department includes veteran Library staff. In addition to 12 Program Services Specialists with decades of combined experience providing public programs, the department will be led by two Program Operations Managers and six Program Coordinators. Key program areas will include Pre-readers; Summer Reading; Reading Arts and Culture; Writing Arts and Language; and Community Matters (civic education and community engagement.)
Tucker said it’s exhilarating to forge even greater connections with the community, discovering their needs and wants and reaching people who don’t yet know all the Library has to offer. She’s excited about the possibilities and eager to get going with her team on this new initiative to carry the Library into the future.