Library Mission, Goals, and Strategic Plan

Crete Public Library is accredited through the Nebraska Library Commission Silver Level through 2026.

Crete Public Library's Strategic Plan 2019-2022 was developed to assist the Library staff and Board members with effectively meeting the information needs and interests of the Crete community. View the library's current strategic plan.

Mission Statement: Crete Public Library provides enrichment, enjoyment and education for all. We celebrate intellectual freedom and foster creativity and life-long learning.

Vision Statement: Crete Public Library: Traditional service blended with emerging technologies.

Crete Public Library values:

• A comfortable and inviting environment that is conducive to learning and that also provides a wide variety of resources and services for community members.
• On-going staff development and a competent, friendly and helpful staff that offers assistance in the use of a variety of available resources and technologies.
• A continually updated collection of resources in a variety of available formats that is based upon community interests and needs.
• Outreach services based upon community interests and needs, thereby allowing for and supporting the expansion of resources beyond traditional library walls.
• An atmosphere that values all community members and serves all people with respect and courtesy.

General Goals

• To assemble, preserve, and administer organized collections of books, media, and related educational and recreational material containing reliable, up-to-date information.
• To provide encouragement and opportunities for all members of our community to educate themselves continuously.
• To seek continually to identify community needs and to provide programs and services to meet such needs.
• To contribute to the educational, civic and cultural activities of community organizations, agencies and institutions with appropriate services and information.
• To provide opportunities for recreational and cultural enrichment through the use of literature, media, and other art forms.
• To provide a place where inquiring minds may encounter the original, sometimes unorthodox and critical ideas so necessary in a society that depends for its survival on free competition of ideas. 

Public Relations and Interlibrary Cooperation

• The library staff and the library board will continually work for increased citizen support for library development and programs, and will constantly present the library and its services in a positive manner to the community. 
• The library staff will strive to inform the public of library goals, objectives, materials, and resources through the press, social media, community programs, library tours, etc.
• The Board of Trustees, the Director, and the library staff will be alert to all opportunities of cooperation with other libraries in order to better meet the needs of the community and to strengthen the services and resources of the library.
• The library will cooperate and work with local school libraries and institutional libraries. The public library cannot perform the same functions as these facilities, which are designed to meet curricular or other specialized needs.
• The library will cooperate with other community agencies and organizations to determine and meet the educational needs of the community, and help them with their programs through such services as special bibliographies, materials, exhibits, and outreach programs.

Policy for the Youth Services Department

Goal: The Youth Services Department will promote literacy through a collection of materials and access to information that meets the educational, cultural and recreational information needs for youth, as well as their family, caregivers and educational advisors.

Service Objectives

• To serve all youth (infants through young adulthood) with access to a variety of materials that include all genres of literature that are based on youths’ interests with cultural diversity and English language learning considered.
• To provide reference and informational materials in all formats available.
• To provide assistance to youth, parents, guardians and educational personnel with book and resource selection.

Program Objectives

• To provide weekly programs to support (early) literacy by offering vocabulary development, experiences with a variety of literature and participation in language related activities.
• To provide summer programs to motivate youth to read, develop positive attitudes about reading and maintain their reading skills during summer vacation.

Outreach Objectives

• To provide an extension to library services and resources into the community through visits to area educational settings and other community organizations.
• To implement community collaboration to support literacy activities in a variety of settings.