We didn't want our commitment to programming to be seen as frivolous, but as a way to increase traffic and possibly to increase check outs and library card sign up. DPL had a very well organized adult programming system called Fresh City Life and Fresh City Life My Branch, but we wanted to engage the businesses in the Cherry Creek North Development Area to inspire and ignite interest in the library for a group of people who typically were not visiting the library. DPL is currently going through a Service Delivery Initiative, and we discovered our major population segments close to our branch are Metro Renters, Trendsetters and Metropolitans. Metro Renters is the one group which is hard to reach because people in this group are young and busy with a disposable income that allows them the freedom of a very urban lifestyle that often does not include the library. Our challenge has been to get this group to see the library as one of their stops on their To-Do list. Our library sits in one of the hottest business districts in Denver, and we decided we had to take advantage of that because our target group either lives or shops here. We contacted Cherry Creek North Business Improvement District (CCNBID) and began what has grown into a close collaborative relationship with them.

CCNBID was very open to working with the library and believed the library had lots to offer to the community of Cherry Creek North. Our contact with CCNBID has opened up the business world to us, and has made it possible to increase our programming exponentially. I think an example illustrates this best: CCNBID introduced Amanda Faison from 5280 Magazine to Cherry Creek Magazine and she agreed to do a food program for the library. The program was successful with the group we were trying to reach (Metro Renters) and we drew in a little over 20 people. Amanda offered to do another program, and also wanted to do a cookbook book club. She also offered to ask the owners of a spice shop downtown to join her at the next program and bring in food and talk about spices. DPL’s social media specialist and Community Relations Manager got involved, and we got the word out and that program had over 60 people attend (mostly younger women). Cherry Creek Library’s collaboration with CCNBID has led to programs with the American Heart Association and Rocky Mountain Children’s Hospital. The library and CCNBID sponsored a Valentine card making extravaganza on February 14th and invited dance students from Cherry Creek Dance as well as kids from our story times to make cards for the pediatric heart patients at the Rocky Mountain Children’s Hospital.

The Cherry Creek Library has been involved with CCNBID for a little over a year now, and our programming aimed toward a younger age group has increased by about 35%. Attendance has improved overall by offering the right mix of programs: quirky cooking with a big-name guest, history of a specific area, craft a fun item but not something that a craft store offers to teach. Plans are underway to use the Denver Public Library’s DPL Connect which is the pedal-powered mobile library at Cherry Creek Arts Festival and Cherry Creek North Sidewalk Sale to sign people up for library cards, showcase library services and programs, and make a presence on the streets. Cherry Creek Library made a great contact with Metro State University art department, and we are making plans to have an on-going art display in the Community Room in our basement. Another example of collaboration bringing community together and positioning the library to bring services to our customers and encouraging Metro Renter non-customers to find out what the library can do for them.