Running Head: STRATEGIC COMMUNICATION AND THE PLAINFIELD PUBLIC LIBRARY’S MANY 1

REFERENDUMS

Strategic Communication and the Plainfield Public Library’s Many Referendums

Margae Schmidt

Dominican University
 Strategic Communication and the Plainfield Public Library’s Many Referendums 2

They way in which public libraries and their employees communicate with the public is

vital to the success and need of the information services profession. The fate of any public

library is ultimately determined by the community the library serves. Internal communication

can be described as the way “employees share information, create relationships, make meanings,

and construct organizational culture and values.” (Men & Stacks, 2014, p. 301) All of which are

important aspects to a successful organization, particularly libraries. Over the past several years

the Plainfield Public Library (PPL) has been trying to expand their building to meet the needs of

their growing community.

The PPL has been trying to pass a referendum since 1989 to either expand on the existing

building or build a new larger library that will meet the needs of the town and patrons. In 2016

PPL put forth a referendum for a 72,000 square foot new building and an operating rate increase.

Unfortunately, all attempts to expand the library have been unsuccessful. The PPL did a good job

of communicating the ideas and reasons for the library expansion to their patrons, but they failed

to win over the taxpayers in general. “It is important for enterprises to develop a strategic

communication system that fully embraces symmetry, transparency, and authenticity.” (Men &

Stacks, 2014, p. 302) PPL posted updates and plan layouts on their website, printed them for

patrons to read in the library, and sent information to the local newspaper for posting.

The PPL took into account the public’s varying opinions about the library expansion and

heard both sides of why or why not the library should or should not expand. It was important for

the library to hear from their stakeholders, which include the library board but the most

important stakeholder is the community the PPL serves. Men and Stacks state, “Organizations

need to incorporate the stakeholders’ voices to determine what information they really need, how

much information they need, how well the organization is fulfilling their information need, and
 Strategic Communication and the Plainfield Public Library’s Many Referendums 3

how transparent the organization is.” (2014, p. 305) The PPL made every attempt to be as

transparent as possible when it came to informing the public along the way.

Posted on the library’s website is a “History of the Library District’s Expansion” with

dates and a brief summary of how the library has tried to expand. The PPL opened in a 750

square foot building in 1926 on Lockport Street in the downtown area. PPLD had referendums in

2009, 2016 and 2017 with the goal of expanding. In 2009 and 2016 for new buildings, and in

2017 for an expansion of the existing building. The building is about one-third the size it should

be for the size of population served. However, none of the referendums passed. After the first

referendum in 2009 failed, the library had some cuts and did "design on a dime" minor changes

to refresh the building. Many programs became limited to PPL cardholders, so reciprocal

borrows were unable to take part in certain events. The library also had to do major weeding to

have space for new books and staff also needed work space. It is illegal for library staff to

campaign for a referendum while on library time so if patron's asked, the staff members could

only provide factual information.

In 2016 and 2017, the board did things totally different for more transparency. More

information regarding the reason for the referendum and what would physically change in the

library was put on the website and the library hosted several open forums for the public to ask

questions and provide feedback. The website has a lot of good information listed, including a

history of building expansion plans. There is also a section on the website titled “Planning for the

Library’s Future” which allows the public to see the latest updates and architectural drawings. In

November 2016, architects Nagle Hartray, presented renderings for a one-story 23,000 square

foot addition. A mailer was sent out to all homes in the PPL district with design and financial

information regarding the April 2017 plan. This mailer also included a poll with the choice to
 Strategic Communication and the Plainfield Public Library’s Many Referendums 4

complete the poll online or in the library. The results of this poll gave the library an idea of how

people would potentially vote on the Election Day.

In an interesting article in The Herald News, the newspaper interviewed two residents of

Plainfield about the PPL proposed referendum at the time. One taxpayer, Stephen Collins, who

was the chairman of the Wheatland Township Republicans, stated that he felt the library board

has not been budgeting properly and this was the main motive for the referendum. Another

resident of Plainfield, Zach Kuhn, thought that the library filled a role specifically for children

and teens to complete homework and projects when schools are not open. Obviously, these two

different opinions did not represent the entire community but gave some insight into what certain

community members and patrons thought.

There was a press release describing where the taxpayers money would actual be spent.

“The referendum failed by more than 2,000 votes, with 2,469 people casting "yes" votes

compared with 4,663 "no" votes. The tax increase would have amounted to $10.67 per month, or

$128.04 per year, for the owner of a $237,000 home.” (Plainfield Patch, 2017) The PPL Board

President at the time, Carl F. Gilmore, stated that he was disappointed that the library board did

not make a strong case for the importance of library services. The staff of the PPL were

disappointed with the results as well, feeling very defeated overall. In March 2016 a similar

referendum for more library space did not pass by 6,000 votes. After two failed referendums

library Director, Julie Milavec, decided to leave the PPL stating that the failed attempts played a

major role in her decision.

Symmetrical communication is the processes by which “individuals, organizations, and

the public communicate with one another to adjust ideas and behavior, rather than attempt to

control or manipulate how the other parties think or behave.” (Men & Jiang, 2016, p. 466) The
 Strategic Communication and the Plainfield Public Library’s Many Referendums 5

PPL conducted symmetrical communication between library staff and the general public. Men

and Jiang found that symmetrical internal communication cultivated quality employee

organizational relationships. While the results were not what the library expected, the strategic

communication throughout the process fostered beneficial relationships between library staff.

(Men & Jiang, 2016)

In conclusion, there were multiple strategic communication principals that the PPL used

to keep the public involved, but ultimately the community did not want to have their taxes raised.

Even though the library communicated effectively the end goal was not reached. The former PPL

Board President stated "The real issue here is that we've had this explosion of population in our

district ... but we did not ever capture that tax base." (Plainfield Patch, 2017) Sometimes taking

all the write steps to communicate effectively can still turn out a negative response.
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References

Herald News. (2017). Groups for, against Plainfield library referendum speak out. Retrieved
from https://www.theherald-news.com/2017/03/10/groups-for-against-plainfield-library-
referendum-speak-out/a2qlo9p/

Lewis, L.K. (2011). Organizational change: creating change through strategic communication.
Retrieved from https://ebookcentral.proquest.com

Men, L.R. & Jiang, H. (2016). Cultivating Quality Employee-Organization Relationships: The
Interplay among Organizational Leadership, Culture, and Communication. International
Journal of Strategic Communication, 10 (5), 462-479. Retrieved from Communication &
Mass Media Complete.

Men, L.R., & Stacks, D. (2014). The Effects of Authentic Leadership on Strategic Internal
Communication and Employee-Organization Relationships. Journal of Public Relations
Research, 26 (4), 301-324. Retrieved from Business Source Complete.

Plainfield Patch. (2017). Plainfield Library Referendum Fails Again. Retrieved from
https://patch.com/illinois/plainfield/plainfield-library-referendum-fails-again

Plainfield Public Library. (2017). Planning for the Library’s Future. Retrieved from
https://plainfieldpubliclibrary.org/about/future/