Back in 2025, the New Carlisle-Olive Township Public Library created our Long Range Plan for 2026–2030. The plan helps us look beyond the day-to-day work of the library and think about where we want to go, what our community needs, and how we can continue to grow.

Now that we are halfway through 2026, we thought it would be a great time to share what we’ve accomplished so far!

Our mission continues to guide everything we do:

The New Carlisle-Olive Township Public Library fosters community by providing opportunities for creative learning and by connecting people with resources and services to enrich lives.

Our three core values—Community, Connections, and Creative Learning—are at the heart of our Long Range Plan.

And we’re happy to say: we’ve been busy!

As of June 30, 2026, our door count is 21% higher than it was at this time in 2025.

And 2025 was already a big year for growth—the door count increased 17% from 2024 to 2025.

We are now only 5% below our 2019 door count.

We’ve continued improving our outdoor spaces by adding plants to our native plant gardens, enhancing the Exploration Garden with a new play table, and making improvements to the Reading Garden with a new privacy fence. 

Our children’s collection continues to grow, and we’ve added additional shelving in the Youth Department.   The new shelving gives us more room for books while making it easier for children and families to find what they’re looking for.

We also completed the installation of a Building Automation System (BAS) in the mechanical room.  While this may not be the most exciting improvement to talk about, it is an important one! The system helps us better monitor and control building systems and improve energy efficiency.

We’re making some changes in programming. 

This fall, we’ll be adding:

  • After-school programs three times a month 
  • One homeschool session each month, with two different time options
  • Two teen programs each month, featuring a wider variety of activities
  • Evening yoga + pilates class for adults 
  • Genealogy Series
  • Mahjong Classes 

A great library experience starts with great staff.  This year, we’ve continued investing in staff training, including trauma-informed customer service and CPR/AED training.

We continue to collaborate with the community by providing space for community organizations, participating in community events, and staying connected with local organizations.  We are creating and publishing the Community Snapshot at the library, which gets distributed throughout the town of New Carlisle bi-monthly.  

These relationships help us better understand what our community needs and find new ways for the library to be involved.

Our Long Range Plan isn’t meant to sit on a shelf. It’s a guide that helps us make decisions, measure our progress, and make changes when something isn’t working as well as we’d hoped.

Thank you for being part of our journey. We can’t wait to see what the rest of 2026 brings!