San Mateo County Libraries:
Five-Year Strategic Plan

San Mateo County Libraries (SMCL) chose InterEthnica to develop an equity-centered strategic plan to ensure their services remain inclusive, accessible, and adaptable to the evolving needs of San Mateo County’s diverse communities. ​​Employing an inclusive and data-driven strategy consisting of multilingual surveys, focus groups, community leader interviews, working group sessions, governing board workshops, leadership retreats, and more, InterEthnica garnered rich qualitative insights on how the library can best adapt to the changing needs of San Mateo County's diverse communities. The engagement, coupled with an organizational assessment, library trend report, and mission statement workshop, brought forward holistic insights into key strategic planning questions: Where are we now? Where do we want to go? Who do we serve? Who do we need to serve? How do we benefit the community? How do we uplift equity? How do we get to where we want to be? What might stand in the way?

 

With these insights, InterEthnica crafted a strategic plan that aligns SMCL’s organizational goals with community aspirations​​​​​, positioning SMCL as an essential community anchor and reflecting a commitment to equitable, relevant, and impactful services shaped by community insights.