Morgan County Public Library details branches, programs and volunteer opportunities

The Morgan County Public Library’s Morgantown branch nearly doubled in size when it moved to 79 West Washington Street in June of 2012, a physical expansion the system highlights as central to serving 6,672 active library users out of a 2010 service population of 62,369. The system serves the entire population of Morgan County, Indiana, except for Brown Township, and frames that work in a formal Long Range Plan covering January 2022 through December 2026 that was approved by the Board of Trustees on November 22, 2021.

The library’s mission, as stated in its Long Range Plan, is: "The mission of the Morgan County Public Library is to provide materials and services which fulfill educational, informational, cultural and recreational needs of the entire community in an atmosphere that is welcoming, respectful, professional and efficient." That plan period governs staffing, service priorities and collaborations through the end of 2026.

Facilities remain a patchwork approach to reach smaller towns: the library rents space at three other locations in the county to provide materials and services locally. The Brooklyn Branch is housed in a former laundromat in the center of town and is open four days per week. The Eminence Branch operates out of the Eminence Lion’s Club Building two days per week, a setup the plan notes is economical because "The Lions charge only a nominal rental fee." Those rented locations complement the larger Morgantown site at West Washington Street.

Program offerings on the schedule include children's storytimes, teen and adult classes, digital resources, community meetups and pop-up events at smaller village locations. The Long Range Plan also notes the library’s regional ties: "We continue to be active in the Evergreen Indiana consortium and eIndiana" and the system reports that it is "a net lender for SRCS, the state-wide resource sharing plan." That combination of consortia membership and net-lender status expands the county’s access to titles and digital material without requiring the local system to purchase equivalents for every patron request.

Community partnerships are embedded in daily operations. The library describes the Morgan County Coalition for Literacy (MCCL) as "a long-standing partner," with a library staff member and a Library Trustee serving on MCCL’s board and with the library providing office space and tutoring space for MCCL. The plan also records continued partnership with Morgantown Head Start, noting Head Start’s role as "a US Department of Health and Human Services program for early childhood education, health, nutrition for low income children and their families."

The Long Range Plan records that "The COVID19 pandemic caused a dramatic shift in how we offer services and how patrons used the library," and it emphasizes ongoing collaboration with other libraries, schools and local organizations. Those strategic choices - branch rental arrangements, consortium participation and anchor partnerships with MCCL and Head Start - shape how the library stretches resources for roughly 6,672 active patrons in a county of 62,369 and set the operational priorities the Board will steer through December 2026.