About 25 people braved sub-zero temperatures last Thursday afternoon to attend a community meeting at the Clearwater Library.

 

“We are conducting strategic plan meetings all over the region,” said Executive Director Karen Pundsack of the Great River Regional  Library (GRRL). “Our goal is to visit all 32 cities in the GRRL system.”

 

She said the strategic plan was written back in 2015, with the focus on becoming a more community-focused library system. In the past, it was the main branch setting the agenda for the entire system.

 

“It’s been a real challenge because over the years, one of the strengths of GRRL has been equity of service and the philosophy that we won’t do it in St. Cloud if we can’t do it in Clearwater and Swanville,” said Pundsack. “So we’ve been experimenting that in a way that allows us to have the best of both worlds.”

 

One example is the telescope project, which started out as a one-library experiment in Buffalo.

 

“We tried it for a year. It went so well now we have 20 telescopes in the collection,” she said. “It’s that kind of momentum we’re trying to gather so we can bring that community focus idea to a whole new level.”

 

Thursday’s meeting was an attempt to gather input from the Clearwater community and see if there was a way the GRRL could use some of those ideas to implement new services.

 

Clearwater Librarian Cyrene Bastien spoke about the local action plan she put into place. She had the option of choosing to focus on different age groups - young kids, teens and adults. She chose the 55-plus crowd.

 

“I gravitate towards that group because they may have a difficult time with technology, so we started a computer tech help program Tuesday afternoons,” she said.

 

She also visited the Young at Heart group that meets at Rejoice Church and did a survey of what they were interested in.

 

“Most of them checked Author Talks,” she said.

 

In an author talks program a few weeks ago, 40 people attended. So it was successful.

 

She also started a genealogy program because the group wanted one. It was another way to keep the senior community engaged.

 

Mary Bergeron said there has to be more programs and services for seniors because once they reach a certain age, there isn’t much in Clearwater to keep them there.

 

“People end up moving away,” she said. “You lose your community, your friends, the grocery store you’ve been shopping at for 35 years, and church.”

 

Pundsack said that’s the type of input that helps the community. She distributed a page of discussion points for those in attendance to consider.

 

The questions included:

 

What are the core factors that give life to the Clearwater community?

 

Outside work, what do you spend the most time doing in Clearwater?

 

What are some personal challenges as a Clearwater resident?

 

What steps should GRRL take in Clearwater to help our community thrive?

 

Laura Horn said Clearwater’s location was one of its biggest assets because people traveling along I-94 stop in and people who live in town have easy access to the highway.

 

Some other amenities included Coborn’s, Clearwater Travel Plaza, the golf course, churches and Clear Waters Outfitting for people who want to canoe or kayak.

Mayor Andrea Lawrence added Clearwater has five parks and three skating rinks.

 

Things to do included Heritage Days, the rodeo, recreation at the lakes, the Legion fish fry and omelette breakfast.

 

“There’s a lot of fitness opportunities in town, whether it’s outside at the parks or SNAP Fitness,” said Anne Ackerman. 

 

The biggest challenge in Clearwater was traffic. It’s in a great location, but it’s also a problem for locals to get around.

 

“There’s no way for bike riders and pedestrians to cross I-94,” said Lawrence.

 

The group agreed there was no bus service, few safe places to ride bikes and no way to get to the Metro Area.

 

“NorthStar doesn’t stop in Clear Lake,” said Ackerman.

 

“You can’t bike into town. Children can’t walk to the library,” said Bergeron. “I live in a small community but I don’t have access. It’s difficult to get around.”

 

They also agreed Clearwater needs a community center, which might house the library, a senior center and meeting rooms.

 

The community also has no senior dining, no Meals on Wheels and no more Head Start program because enough kids couldn’t get there.

 

Asked what the vision of the community would be three years from now, Alan Horn said, “we have a brand new library in our brand new community center.”

 

And ways the GRRL could do to help the community thrive -  more audio books, more digital technology more hours and more consistent hours.

 

At the conclusion of the meeting, Pundsack asked the group to fill out a survey. She said all of the evening’s input would be sent to those in attendance and to local stakeholders, including state legislators, with the goal to improve services.