Your Library: Imagine what’s next

What if Johnson County Library could be anything? Maybe it has a virtual reality learning lab, interactive projection walls or DIY creation corners. Maybe there’s a community garden or a teaching kitchen where neighbors gather to learn and cook. Maybe there’s even a slide connecting two floors.

The possibilities are wide open, and the Library wants to hear what you imagine.

The Library is refreshing its Comprehensive Library Master Plan, a long-term roadmap that helps guide how the Library responds to the community’s changing needs. As part of that process, Johnson County residents are invited to share ideas about what they want from their Library today and in the years ahead.

Many ideas have already been shared. They include requests for:

More creative experiences

• Teaching kitchens for cooking and community gatherings

• Jazz concerts paired with curated learning resources

• Game rooms and hangout spaces for teens and adults

• Quiet walking clubs where participants listen to audiobooks together

Hands‑on exploring

• More Black & Veatch Makerspace equipment, specialty printers and bookbinding tools

• Gardening demonstrations, seed libraries and community gardens

• Repurposing old periodicals by creating community art together

• Programs on composting, solar energy, first‑aid training and disaster preparedness

Expanded tools

• Lending collections with items such as puzzles, board games, cooking tools, fishing poles and sewing machines

• Memory Labs at branches beyond Central Resource Library to digitize photos and home movies

Family‑friendly amenities

• Mother’s rooms and larger family restrooms

• Homeschool‑friendly events and an adult summer reading program

• More evening and weekend family programs

The Library is already much more than books

Today, residents can access free computers, meeting and study spaces, printing, scanning and technology help. The eLibrary offers eBooks, eAudiobooks, streaming movies, digital magazines, newspapers, research databases and language learning tools. Residents can explore family history, digitize treasured memories and receive one-on-one help from librarians. Community Connections also connects residents with partners providing services such as job support, mobile health care and recovery resources.

No matter how often you visit — every week, once in a while or not yet at all — your perspective matters.

What would make the Library more useful? What would bring you through the doors? What could help your community learn, create, connect or thrive?

Share your ideas with Library staff, complete the online survey at jocolibrary.org/next-chapter or add your thoughts to the Ideas Wall.

Big ideas are welcome. Small ideas matter, too. The next chapter starts with hearing what you imagine. Explore what the Library currently offers at jocolibrary.org.