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Washington County requested a planning process driven by data analysis and extensive community input. Library Strategies also employed the Rapid Results PlanningT"' ("RRP") retreat component to engage the community in co -creating the strategic plan. The scope of work included the creation of a 17 -member Stakeholder Committee to oversee and assist with the strategic planning process. A sub -group of this Committee helped to identify participants representing a broad profile of the county to invite to participate in the RRP planning retreats. (See Appendix A: Stakeholder Committee membership list.) At the onset of the process, a Library Strategies consultant conducted independent interviews with each of the Washington County Commissioners to gain background, perspective and expectations. A series of three community forums were conducted between May and July in Cottage Grove, Stillwater and Forest Lake, to provide an opportunity for citizens to express their needs and desires for future library services (see Appendix B: Community Forum Notes). Meanwhile a resident survey was mailed to 1,500 households designed to capture current library satisfaction, usage and perceptions as well as projections of future library needs and usage. (See Appendix C: Washington County Library 2015 Residential Survey report.) Also, an online questionnaire was made available to the public on the Washington County Library website page. Approximately 200 residents responded to this questionnaire, providing additional community input. Concurrent to the summer's community input activity, Dr. Anthony Molaro, a Library Strategies consultant and assistant professor in the Master of Library and Information Science program at St. Catherine University conducted an assessment of the current Washington County Library environment with comparisons to five peer libraries as well as to the Twin Cities metro area libraries (with the exception of St. Paul and Hennepin County). In addition, Dr. Molaro conducted a SWOT (Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities & Threats) analysis with library department staff. (See Appendix D: Washington County Assessment of Current Library Environment.) Dr. Molaro also conducted research on new and emerging library trends to provide forward thinking perspective on the evolution of library service. In addition to this research, demographic and trend data were also used to provide a residential profile of Washington County for this report. (See Appendix E. Washington County Assessment of New and Emerging Trends in Library Services.)