Peggy Parrish, Leander Public Library director, partnered with Dayna Williams, assistant executive director of Partners Library Action Network, which works with libraries across Texas, to present the plan for 2025-30. The presentation included feedback from staff and the community regarding what they want to see from the library in the future.
Council took no action on the proposed strategic plan. Mayor Christine DeLisle requested more information about short-term solutions be brought to a later meeting.
What you need to know
In compiling data, Williams compared Leander’s library to the libraries of seven cities of similar size and growth projections. She compared the data based on per capita results, which is an average found by dividing statistics by each library's legal service population. Leander consistently came in last or second to last when compared to its peers.
In 2023, 122,460 people visited the Leander Public Library. That number divided by 74,375, Leander’s population that year, comes out to 1.65 visits per capita, putting the city second to last among its considered peers, according to the data.
Leander also had the fewest items to check out per capita at 1.37, with the highest of the group, Georgetown Public Library, coming in at 13.17 per capita. Additionally, the library spends around $7.19 per capita on staffing for the library, also putting them last among their peers and below the state average of $12.08, Williams said.
Williams also conducted interviews of 12 library staff members, spoke with members of the community and received 242 responses to a community-wide survey, of which 83% had a library card, 66% borrowed materials from the library, and 43% attended programs at the library.
Additionally, 48% of respondents said they use the Cedar Park library for its larger kids spaces and expanded offering of books and amenities.
Going forward
Williams had multiple recommendations for the library moving forward, including:
- Establishing the library as its own city department, with the library director at the head
- Increasing the size of the library
- Hiring an architect to determine size, location and cost comparisons to meet the square footage requirement of a projected population of over 100,000 in 2028
- Increasing staffing from the current 11.13 full-time equivalent to 20-27 FTE
- Increasing the library’s materials budget from $2.05 per capita to $3 per capita in the first year of the plan, with incremental increases to follow
- Increasing the library’s materials collection from 101,930 to up to 280,000
DeLisle and the council were receptive to ideas to update the library but reluctant to commit to any major new library developments without a clearer roadmap.
“I think that this is very data-heavy, but it’s solution-thin,” DeLisle said. “We know we need a larger library—we’ve needed one since the day it was built. It was never big enough for what we have.”
DeLisle added that she would like to hear some ideas that did not involve the construction of a new library facility.
“I would really like to see and hear some ideas about how we could optimize our [building], how we can make it more efficient, and what we should be working toward in that interim until there is a new building, and I think that’s something that’s missing from the plan,” she said. “I think this is really good, but I want to see a little more about where we go.”
