By Thomas Hair
Opinions Editor

The William T. Cozby Library, Coppell’s largest and longest-standing public library, received the Texas Municipal Library Association’s Achievement in Excellence Library Award on march 26. This is the eighth year in a row that the Cozby Library has been honored with this distinction. To do so, it had to display outstanding performance in ten areas and submit a intensive application in a three-ring binder in December.

As a result of the Library’s success and dedication to improvement, the Coppell City Council approved a strategy plan that will bring new features and a new look to Coppell’s public library.

“The library started working on this strategic plan last fall with a Strategic Planning Committee made up of Coppell residents who met over the course of two months to discuss the direction of the library for the next three years,” Director of Library Services Victoria Chiavetta said to Dan Eakin of the Coppell Gazette. “This committee referred to the Coppell 2030 Plan, library surveys, and staff input to make their recommendations for the strategies and goals that make up the strategic plan.”

Some focus areas of the plan are to increase and update the Library’s technology and initiate a marketing campaign to communicate the availability of these new features to the rest of the community. It also includes a green initiative to bolster the Library’s sustainability and a renovation plan to add new space and maximize the efficiency of existing space.

The Library Board spent weeks ironing out the details of the strategy plan before the proposal was accepted by the City Council on March 26. Staff at the Cozby Library are now beginning to move to put their ambitious plans in place so that it can continue to accumulate honors like the Texas Municipal Library Association’s Achievement in Excellence Library Award.