North Miami Beach conducting surveys for library, public pools

The North Miami Beach library is conducting a survey and wants feedback from residents and patrons on services.

The survey will remain open on the city’s website until Sept. 20 and asks residents to rank services and offer suggestions for new programming and other improvements.

Library manager Edenia Hernandez, who has led the department for two years, said she hopes to see more engagement with the survey than the library had last year.

“The more feedback we have, the more the governing body can see what the value of the library is,” Hernandez said.

About 275 people completed the survey last year and Hernandez said their main focuses were on increased programming for children and teenagers and additional partnerships with local schools. The responses also included requests to add more electrical outlets and study rooms.

Hernandez said that working with schools is one of the major things she’s wanted to push and is open to ideas from residents. The library has partnered with schools this year to attend open houses and discuss the available programming.

“I come from an education background and libraries are a part of the educational system,” Hernandez said. “From the moment I got here I made that one of my priorities.”

And despite last year’s somewhat small sample size, Hernandez believes there are people engaged with the library. She estimated that about 38 percent of city’s more than 43,000 residents have library cards.

“We’re really looking forward to making an impact on education in North Miami Beach,” Hernandez said. “My goal is to make sure we give these children an opportunity.”

The city is also conducting on a survey seeking feedback on the city’s various pools. City leaders recently discussed a North Miami Beach parks master plan and community members have emphasized increased access to city pools and a wider variety of activities.

Parks and recreation director Paulette Murphy said they have considered all of the feedback so far and think the survey will help them prioritize.

“There are some other opportunities there in terms of splash pads and water playgrounds, but we’re not quite there to say what’s priority and what’s not,” Murphy said.

Murphy said decisions on extending and changing hours will be considered as will changing and adding programming, but the decision will ultimately come down to city leadership.

“The priority will be up to our city manager and our council who will have to eventually adopt the plan,” Murphy said.

The pool survey will also be conducted for the next few weeks and both surveys are accessible through the city’s homepage at citynmb.com.

“We don’t have a specific target and date we’re just ensuring that we’re getting the word out,” Murphy said.

This story was originally published September 3, 2015 at 1:27 PM with the headline "North Miami Beach conducting surveys for library, public pools."