Your Library's Next Chapter
Library Master Planning: Creating a Strategic Roadmap
Master Planning Your Library's Next Chapter
Libraries transform communities. From storytimes to senior socials, no other resource provides the depth and breadth of services – or is in higher demand – than today’s public library.
Many library buildings, however, were designed for a service model that has been outdated for decades. Spaces with tall, narrow bookshelves don’t support browsing and sightlines, and cramped areas with heavy wooden furniture don’t support community gathering. Outdated infrastructure and mechanical issues eat into budgets that were earmarked for renovation.
It’s easy to get caught up in addressing immediate concerns and spend many years and lots of money on piecemeal solutions without ever truly resolving underlying issues. That’s why it’s essential to pause, take a step back, and consider how your library buildings should function over the next five, ten, or even twenty years.
A facilities master plan serves as a high-level tool that helps identify priorities, estimate funding needs, and outline actionable next steps. This early, holistic approach ensures that resources are directed where they are needed most. Solutions are based on local needs and arrive in a variety of shapes and sizes: renovating existing spaces, reimagining library services, investing in mobile services, balancing collections, or building a new library.
Stakeholders and voters are more likely to support library projects when they understand priorities and see a thoughtful, long-term vision for the future. By telling a compelling story of need and opportunity, a master plan brings together the entire community, building excitement and buy-in for the improvements ahead.
Where to Start
At JLG we truly care about libraries and the people they serve. We are a team of library professionals and designers who have helped hundreds of communities create facilities that bring people together for learning, playing, working and fun.
We’d like to help you envision your library’s future. We are happy to talk through your hopes and dreams for your library without cost or obligation. Please email Debbie Joy at djoy@jlgarchitects to schedule a call. We look forward to hearing from you!
Case Study: Laramie County Library Master Plan
An Extraordinary Legacy, Ready for What’s Next
Even award-winning facilities need to keep up with today’s service realities. Library Journal’s 2008 Library of the Year, Laramie County Library System (LCLS) facilities were straining to keep pace with the community’s evolving needs by the mid 2020s. Programs were outgrowing spaces. The branch libraries in Burns and Pine Bluffs, serving rural communities that depended on them deeply, needed thoughtful investment to extend their reach and utility. And library leadership needed a solid, data-driven plan to bring before elected officials and, ultimately, voters.
A Plan Built on Community Voices and Rigorous Data
In early 2025, LCLS partnered with JLG Architects and LibraryIQ to launch a comprehensive Library Strategic and Master Planning process. The goal was ambitious but clear: develop a 10-year vision that would help the library system prioritize facility modernization, demonstrate the need for a capital funding measure, and expand services to better serve existing patrons while reaching non-users across all of Laramie County. But before any architect drew a line or any planner ran a number, the team did something fundamental: they listened.
Hearing from Nearly 500 Voices
Through surveys, engagement sessions, and visioning exercises, nearly 500 Laramie County voices shaped the plan. The breadth of input painted a picture of a community hungry for more. Residents asked for extended hours, expanded services, digital resources, career workshops, family activities, and flexible spaces. Gathering a diverse range of voices ensured the master plan was backed by community voice and grounded in data. The master plan gave Commissioners what they needed to act: evidence of need, clarity on priorities, and confidence that library dollars would be spent wisely.
What Made This Partnership Work
The success of the LCLS planning process came down to the same factors that distinguish good library planning from great library planning:
- Starting with community, not blueprints. JLG and LibraryIQ didn’t arrive in Cheyenne with preconceived ideas. They arrived with surveys, listening sessions, and a genuine commitment to hearing from people who use the library every day — and from people who don’t use it yet but could.
- Combining data and story. LibraryIQ’s analytical work gave LCLS demographic profiles, patron maps, and usage data that made the case in numbers. JLG’s facility assessments gave them the physical evidence. Together, they produced a plan that speaks to both the heart and the spreadsheet.
- Translating community vision into political action. JLG provides tools for library leadership to communicate with elected officials with specific goals, documented costs, clear priorities, and demonstrated community support. That translation — from “we need more space” to “here is exactly what we need, what it costs, and why voters support it” — is what opens funding doors.
Case Study: Fargo Public Library Master Plan
A Community Outgrowing its Library
Fargo, ND grew from about 95,000 residents in 2004 to more than 125,000 by 2020—a 32% increase—but the Fargo Public Library’s facilities did not keep pace. Each branch had a unique challenge, and demand for library services kept growing. The library struggled to share resources and difficult choices were forced without a shared roadmap. Library leadership needed a realistic, phased strategy that could guide capital, staffing, and service decisions through both growth and fiscal uncertainty.
Grounded in Community Voice and Data
In 2022, Fargo Public Library (FPL) partnered with JLG Architects and LibraryIQ to create a comprehensive master facilities plan. Over six months, the team combined qualitative engagement with quantitative analysis to build a roadmap that city leaders, the library board, and staff could trust.
Extensive Community and Stakeholder Engagement
The planning process included facility tours, a variety of public sessions, and engagement with city agencies. Data was collected and analyzed to capture city growth patterns, demographic projections, patron lifestyles, and collection performance. Geographic mapping revealed service gaps, particularly on the growing south side.
A Phased, Actionable Roadmap
The resulting master plan delivered implementation timelines tied to realistic funding scenarios, cost projections and ranges to support capital and operational budgeting, a detailed staffing roadmap, and a clear prioritization of recommendations. This plan provided a decision-making tool flexible enough to guide expansion through constraints.
Budgets Tighten, and the Plan Becomes a Lifeline
With the master plan in place, 2024 became a proof point for what facilities planning can do—even before major building projects begin. FPL focused on using existing assets more intelligently, targeting investments and programs that aligned with documented community priorities. However, Fargo faced a more challenging fiscal environment in 2025. The library received news of a $241,858 budget reduction for the 2026 fiscal year, requiring changes to services and collections. Using the master plan, the library deliberately protected programs and services that had been identified as most valuable to the community..
Acting Quickly when Opportunity Arose
Throughout the 2025 budget process, the master plan gave Director Tim Dirks and city leadership demographic evidence and program data to clarify which services residents depended on most. This allowed them to explain to commissioners, board members, and residents not just what was changing, but why—and how every decisions fits into a long-term roadmap.
Data and Community Voice in City-Level Conversations
Throughout the 2025 budget process, the master plan gave Director Tim Dirks and city leadership demographic evidence and program data to clarify which services residents depended on most. This allowed them to explain to commissioners, board members, and residents not just what was changing, but why—and how every decisions fits into a long-term roadmap.
Ready to take the next step?
Contact Debbie Joy to schedule a complimentary consultation about your library wish list without cost or obligation. Discover how JLG Architects can help your library achieve its vision.
Library Journal’s Structure & Style: Design Update Webinar
Check out Library Journal’s Structure & Style: Design Update Webinar! Debbie Joy explores how experience and efficiency driven renovations can serve as a strategic tool for libraries navigating evolving community needs. Watch the webinar on-demand through Library Journal.