The Friends at Petworth Library are looking for feedback about the value of the Library’s performance over the past year for an upcoming DC Council Committee on Education hearing. They want to know what you liked, or what didn’t work for you.

The Library is demonstrating that they are more effective at reaching and satisfying the community’s needs utilizing a very small percentage of the city's budget than just loaning books.

The Friends at Petworth Library will present the comments and feedback at the February 23rd DC Council Committee hearing on Education Performance Oversight.

People can post a comment to their FaceBook page or drop off note at the Library info desk with attention to "Friends at Petworth Library." People can also testify about the performance of the agency themselves by signing up online or by calling 202-724-8061.

The Friends will compile all comments (you can make them anonymous if desired), and will present the comments as part of their testimony during the hearing. Written testimony can be submitted directly to the Council within 10 days after February 23rd.

Background: The DC Public Library (DCPL) System falls under the DC Council Committee on Education (this is a regular oversight hearing). A review of performance during the past fiscal year (FY ’15 - October 2014 to October 2015). The focus is on programs that the library presented, how many people attended overall, affect on the neighborhood, etc. Additionally, they’re looking to understand how well DCPL does with their budget (of course, most will tell you the Library needs more).

From the FY’15 stats in the link below you can see that our Petworth Library is one of the most widely used libraries in the system.

DCPL FY 2015 Stats on Library Services
The performance report prepared for the November 2015 Board of Trustees Meeting gives figures for the last quarter of 2015 and also some comparisons FY’14 to FY’15 (same quarter and/or year), including circulation, attendance, etc at the libraries.