The Johnson County Library Analysis
Connie Hutchens
University of the Rockies

Author’s Note
Connie Hutchens is a graduate student at the University of the Rockies studying Psychology, specializing in Educational Leadership

The Johnson County Library Analysis The Johnson County Library, located in Overland Park, Kansas, serves over two million people from their 13 buildings throughout northeast Kansas. “Of the 2,240,411 visitors in 2013 alone, 6,690,893 items were borrowed and 163,264 sources were referenced, along with 935,081 online reference searches. There are 247,000 library card holders out of a district population of 430,999” (Jocolibrary.org, 2015). That’s pretty amazing statistics considering the availability of media at most people’s fingertips. One would think that there wasn’t much need to travel to a library. Apparently though, this community thinks so. The library wasn’t always what it is today. The library started in the 1950s. There was no set building that housed the books and employees. Actually there were no real employees. Community members who loved books and wanted to share that love, ran volunteer libraries out of their homes, out of their places of business such as barbershops, shopping centers, schools, and even a plumbing company. There was even a traveling bookmobile to reach those that could not get to the stationary makeshift libraries. What did it take to go from books tucked away in a plumbing company to the great expanse of the Johnson County Library that we see today? Hard work and a great passion for what these volunteers were doing is what created the first Johnson County Library. Having a mission, a vision, a set of rock strong values and the knowledge that it takes more than an organization by itself to succeed is what made it such an attribute to the communities it serves. The mission of the library is to “provide access to ideas, information, experiences and materials that support and enrich people’s lives” (Jocolibrary.org, 2015). To do this, the vision is to create an environment where people can come in to learn about new things, to explore new ideas, to enjoy what is offered at the library, to create new ideas and to connect with those in the community and the world in which they live. The values that they hold dear are many. They believe that the customer should come first and be respected. They believe that the library is a learning organization so they ensure that the customer’s freedom to access and read all of the information available is protected. They also protect the privacy and confidentiality of the customer’s request for information. The library follows the highest ethical standards and holds themselves accountable for effectively and efficiently using the resources that is committed to them from the community. These are some of the reasons that the Johnson County Library has been an important and popular part of the community for over 60 years. According to the Johnson County Library Strategic Plan for 2014 (Anon, 2015), the goals of the library are: Goal 1: Library staff will exemplify the brand promise in their interactions with people.
Goal 2: People will achieve higher levels of personal success through digital literacy.
Goal 3: People with specific educational or informational needs will be supported by the Library.
Goal 4: People will connect and interact because of library partnerships and collaborations.
Goal 5: People will experience a welcoming library environment that meets their needs.
Goal 6: People will find library staff, materials and services convenient and easy to access.
Goal 7: Library staff will engage in a workforce that is collaborative, connected, efficient and effective.
Goal 8: People will experience library services and resources through the innovative use of technology (p.4).
These eight goals will guide the library’s work for the next five years. They will be the milestones used for achieving the Portfolio of Services which includes education, community building, and convenience. The library is not without its struggles though. The biggest challenges that they are facing is the buildings being too old and too small, the communities growing at such a rapid pace, a more diverse culture, and the pace at which the community lives daily. To help overcome these challenges the library, in 2013, provided new electronic services such as eBooks, eMusic, and eMagazines to the community. In 2014 they introduced the first automated book machine of its kind in America. Also, in 2014, the county voters approved a one-cent special tax to help fund the library’s expansion project. This tax will fund “$3.8 million dollars of the project over the next couple of years, while the county commissioners agreed to match $1 million for the project, as well” (Sheridanmedia.com, 2015). How does this library entice such loyalty or respect from the communities that it serves? The Johnson County Library exists to produce services that the communities need and value. The library must also create value for each of its stakeholders. These stakeholders are the people who have an interest in what the library does and how well it does it. The stakeholders in this library include the employees, the volunteers, the library board, the Friends of the Library, the Library Foundation, the Johnson County government, and the multitudes of additional donors. The biggest stakeholder is the community itself. To create value for each of these stakeholders, the library must be able to take the input received from them, transform that input and add value, and then create services or output. “Value creation takes place at three stages: input, conversion, and output” (Jones, 2012, p. 3). The input that the library receives from its environment is donations of money and goods, information and knowledge, volunteers, human resources, and customers. The output that it releases back to the environment is much needed community programs, a safe quiet place to meet to study and research with the most up-to-date resources available, a high tech meeting space, a place that would support business and would offer specialized support for learning, discovery and creation. The library also gives back to the environment satisfied customers and satisfied stakeholders. A satisfied stakeholder is one that feels that they have met the goals that they had set when they made contributions to an organization. Depending upon the stakeholder group, those goals could range from making a certain amount of money from their investment to the pride of knowing that you helped make something possible. In the case of the Johnson County Library, the corporate donors that donated money knew that they would not be receiving a dividend check or stock options from the library because it is a non-profit organization. What they could stand to gain was additional customers and improved reputation because of the recognition that they received for their donation. That in turn could prove to be financially rewarding. Government and Political candidates can Employees would receive salaries and possible benefits for their contribution and the other donors and volunteers would have the knowledge of knowing that they had given their time and goods to help others. The biggest way that the library was able to balance the needs of the various stakeholders was in the output that was released back to the environment. Each and every one of them could benefit from those services. The library makes sure that it offers very diverse programs so there is something for everyone. For the very young community members the library offers lap story time for infants to toddlers with their caregiver. The library, through the Library Foundation is able to provide 6 x 6, Ready to Read early literacy initiative which “encourages parents to work with their children to develop the six skills needed by age six to learn to read” (Anon, 2015 ). They even received a grant to expand that program to the Spanish speaking community members. For the middle, high school, and college prep students the library offers Tutor.com. This online, live tutoring service has both English and Spanish speaking tutors to help seven days a week, from 4:00 – 11:00 pm. With more than 25 academic subjects and students getting ready for the ACT and SAT. Tutor.com also assist adults on remedial academics, preparing for their GED or the Citizenship Test. It also provides assistance for resumes and interviews. The library holds an annual Latino Fest, complete with performers, musicians and organizations to help introduce the traditions and culture of these regions. Not to leave out the seniors of the community, the Library’s Positive Aging Coalition provides informative programs so seniors and their families are aware of services available. The library offers homebound services, the mailing of books and such to those that are homebound in residential homes, senior living homes, or in nursing centers. The library even offers services to those who are incarcerated. The incarcerated parent can record reading a book to their child and the library will provide it and the book to the child. Every person in the communities that are served by the Johnson County Library are specially targeted either through their services, their programs, or the workshops. The ethical standards and guidelines that apply to the library managers and employees, the same as those for the Johnson County Government, are there to help them determine the proper course of action when faced with an ethical dilemma. These standards also help to increase the community’s belief that the employees are acting with the greatest integrity. These guidelines also increase the value of the input, the employee, to the other stakeholders. When the library employees need to make a decision about the needs and interests of the library’s diverse group of stakeholders, they can turn to these standards and guidelines for assistance. Standard 101 of the Administrative Regulations states “Always put loyalty to high moral standards and to the County above any loyalty to persons, department or agency, or political or other interests” (Anon, 2015). Employees know that when they are approached by individual or groups of people, different agencies or politicians wanting special inducements or favors that they should fall back on the ethical guidelines. Standard 301 guides the employees in using their best effort to provide service more efficiently and economically, while Standard 401 requires treating each person fairly and equally without discriminating against some while dispensing favors to others. Standard 501 prevents employees from doing anything that could harm the integrity of the library. Standard 701 forbids employees from using information that was given to them in confidence for their or others personal gain. Standard 801 helps to guide the decisions on how to use the government (library) property and funds whereas not to lose the public’s trust. With Standards 901, 1001, 1101, and 1201 the managers and employees are instructed to always maintain and show the highest level of integrity, never accept things monetarily or otherwise, that could be misconstrued as improper influence, never engage in anything that could be considered a conflict of interest, and always honorably stand as a representative of the Johnson County Library and the communities that it serves. If the managers and employees follow these standards and guidelines when they make decisions about the needs and interest of the stakeholders, then each and every stakeholder should be at least minimally satisfied. In the case of the library stakeholders, where so much valuable output is given back, all stakeholders should more that adequately satisfied.

References
Anon, (2015). [online] Available at: http://www.jocolibrary.org/sites/default/files/aboutus/docs/AR2013.pdf [Accessed 8 Jan. 2015].
Anon, (2015). [online] Available at: http://www.jocolibrary.org/sites/default/files/arm/ARM_10-30-20.pdf [Accessed 8 Jan. 2015].
Anon, (2015). [online] Available at: http://www.jocolibrary.org/sites/default/files/aboutus/docs/JCL_2014_Strategic_Plan.pdf [Accessed 8 Jan. 2015].
Jocolibrary.org, (2015). Welcome to Johnson County Library | Johnson County Library. [online] Available at: http://www.jocolibrary.org/ [Accessed 8 Jan. 2015]. Jones, G. R. (2012). Organizational theory, design, and change (7th ed.). Upper Saddle River, New Jersey: Prentice Hall.
Sheridanmedia.com, (2015). Joco. Library Director Discusses Library Expansion | SheridanMedia.com. [online] Available at: http://www.sheridanmedia.com/news/joco-library-director-discusses-library-expansion75034 [Accessed 8 Jan. 2015].