13-02-2025
The 'next chapter' begins at the Lee-Itawamba Library system
TUPELO - The Lee-Itawamba Library System is launching a new strategic plan to coordinate its operations and growth over the next five years.
Approved by the Administrative Board of Trustees in their October meeting, the library's new strategic plan was developed over the past 12 months using a variety of planning tools and feedback, beginning with the system's staff and moving out to include the library board, the fundraising group Friends of the Lee County Library and a community survey that was used to collect feedback earlier this summer.
The plan, which positions the period of 2025-2030 as 'the next chapter' for the library system, identified five areas of strategic priority for the library to focus energy and attention—people, outreach, programming, space, and funding. The library will target specific objectives within each category, goals such as creating a structured volunteer program, creating and implementing a system-wide marketing plan, cultivating partnerships, carrying out much-needed facility upgrades, and securing sufficient funding to support important growth.
'These changes are necessary in order to mobilize our library for the future,' said Philip Shackelford, the system's executive director. 'Looking forward, it is more important than ever that our library remains focused on serving the individuals in our community — supporting their quality of life and expanded opportunity.'
A key element of the library's new strategic plan is an intentional focus on people — both in terms of the communities served by the library its team. This is clear in the system's updated mission statement, revised during this year's strategic planning process and approved by the library board during an earlier meeting: 'Our mission is to empower our community by providing information, service, and opportunity. We mobilize community growth by being bold, purposeful, and people-focused. We are YOUR library.'
That final phrase — we are your library — represents an updated brand for the library system, which was developed earlier this year and first used informally on social media. The rebranding effort was recognized by a Public Relations Award from the Mississippi Library Association in October, bestowed to highlight the best year-round effort by a public library system to publicize library services. The mindset embodied by this new brand represents the starting place for how the library system thinks about its purpose — enabling community members to harness the power of the library to meet their personal, educational, or professional goals.
'Libraries today are about people,' Shackelford said. 'Serving our community's needs effectively requires dedication, persistence, creativity, adaptability, and yes — graceful pivots when and where they are necessary.'
Programming is another recognized priority that the library aims to develop, cultivating a range of offerings for different audiences. Building upon an already active foundation of programs for children and teens, the library team plans to begin offering classes, workshops, and cultural programs for adults, while maintaining signature collaborative events such as Tupelo Reads, the annual Helen Foster Lecture, and the Friends of the Lee County Library's popular Lunching with Books series.
'We work hard to provide a wide range of programming, so we're very excited to see how much people appreciate our efforts and enjoy what we're able to offer,' said Grace Guntharp, youth services manager at the Lee County Library, referencing the record turnout that brought over 11,000 individuals to the library system for Summer Reading and other activities. 'We are always working on adding more programs to our schedule.'
Staff throughout the Lee-Itawamba Library System are excited to see objectives included in the 'Next Chapter' plan come to fruition, particularly those which will address much-needed and long-overdue facility upgrades and additional funding.
'The library's new strategic direction will allow our library system to better serve our community,' said Jeffrey Martin, library manager at the Itawamba County-Pratt Memorial Library in Fulton. 'I am excited to see the positive changes that this initiative will bring, and for the new opportunities and resources that will be made available to residents in our local area.'
Shackelford agreed.
'Looking forward, our team is excited by the possibility of bringing enhanced library services to our communities—transforming our libraries for the future. We will innovate,' he said. 'We will grow. Together, we will serve as the most vibrant and forward-thinking library in North Mississippi.'
