The Chattanooga Public Library has announced its new five-year strategic plan.
During the course of its previous strategic plan, the library made facility improvements at several of its locations, increased its offerings, strengthened its partnership ilton County Schools and launched a new branch in the Avondale neighborhood. Over the next five years, the library’s focus areas include lowering barriers to library access, improving facilities, increasing outreach, strengthening collaborations and partnerships and providing new offerings.
The plan is available at strategicplan.chattlibrary.org.
“For me, the strategic plan is the memorialization of what we already have been doing,” library Executive Director Will O’Hearn said in an interview. “It’s just writing it down and making it so people can all see what we’re doing, communicate clearly to staff, to our community, and give an idea of what we’re doing and why we’re going in that direction.”
The new strategic plan states the library’s initiatives are aligned with the One Chattanooga plan, a framework put forth by Chattanooga Mayor Tim Kelly and his administration to unify the city. The strategic plan is designed to help achieve the goals of the One Chattanooga plan such as building a universal path to early learning, building a competitive regional economy and providing responsive and effective local government.
(READ MORE: Mayor Tim Kelly gets a second term to push One Chattanooga)
“The Chattanooga Public Library is a critical asset to delivering on the One Chattanooga plan because it helps close opportunity gaps, fosters community safety and drives the city’s arts and culture economy,” Chattanooga Mayor Tim Kelly said in an emailed statement. “My administration continues to support the library wholeheartedly. Will O’Hearn and his staff are doing a phenomenal job, and I’m excited to see the community rally behind this strong strategic vision.”
The Chattanooga Public Library’s funding for fiscal year 2026 is just over $7.8 million, according to the city’s operating budget.
Data used to inform the library’s strategic plan shows people want more from their public library, O’Hearn said.
“They never want less,” he said.
Chattanooga library launches five-year strategic plan
BARRIERS
When it comes to lowering barriers to library access, the strategic plan outlines two goals for fiscal year 2026: eliminating fines on all adult materials and expanding digital access by adding at least one new database or electronic material resource, the plan said.
The library eliminated late fines on most of its materials in November. The only materials that have fines are the library’s Beyond Books collections, which are its non-traditional items, O’Hearn said.
“We want the library to be intuitive and easy to use,” O’Hearn said. “We don’t want it to be something you have to go out of your way (for). In fact, we want to intersect with your life. So, we want to basically make it so it’s hard not to use the library.”
FACILITIES
Along with the strategic plan’s focus on new and improved facilities, the library is launching a 10-year facilities plan. One goal of that facilities plan is to establish a new East Brainerd branch. East Brainerd has the highest level of library cardholders in Chattanooga and the second highest level of circulation, O’Hearn said.
The strategic plan’s facilities goals for fiscal year 2026 are selecting a site location for a new East Brainerd branch and adding a meeting room space at the downtown branch, the plan said.
OUTREACH
Referencing the Kevin Costner-starring 1989 sports film “Field of Dreams,” O’Hearn said the days of “if you build it, they will come” are over. The library does not have a branch in every district, so outreach is an effective way to offer its services, he said.
One example of the library’s outreach is “Poppy,” a van used as a mobile library. Library staff can take the van to an organization or event to share information about the library and offer sign-ups for library cards, books for check-out and activities, according to the library’s website. The outreach van has attended 281 events, resulting in engagement with over 22,000 people, the website said.
The strategic plan’s 2026 goals for outreach are to offer at least three outreach opportunities in each district and increase outreach to older adults by 15%.
PARTNERSHIPS
“We think Chattanooga works best when we all work together toward shared goals,” the strategic plan said. “We all have different strengths and expertise, so when we collaborate, we get better outcomes than if we were to work in silos. The outcome is worth more than its parts.”
For the focus on collaborations and partnerships, the strategic plan’s goals for 2026 include establishing two new partnerships and expanding programming to support non-traditional learners, the plan said.
A pass from the library’s family pass program gives adults and children the opportunity to visit local attractions such as the Tennessee Aquarium, the Chattanooga Zoo and Reflection Riding. In O’Hearn’s time as library executive director, the family pass program has grown from five community partners to over a dozen, he said. During the interview at the downtown library, red signs indicated all the family passes had been checked out.
“They’re very well-used,” O’Hearn said.
OFFERINGS
To provide new and unique offerings, the strategic plan’s 2026 goals are to expand two Beyond Books collections and improve access by making two Beyond Books collections available at all library locations.
The library’s Beyond Books collections include the Adventure Library, which allows library cardholders to borrow outdoor gear such as tents and sleeping bags. Collections include musical instruments, plant seeds, tools and toys.
“We have all sorts of information at the library, but really we’re a place that creates community,” O’Hearn said. “We’re a place where everyone can feel welcome and belong. The library used to be about information access. Now, we’re just about access. We’re about sharing.”
Contact community reporter Sam Still at sstill@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6579.