User Involvement Evaluation & Assessment Marsha Griffith & Nadine Hawke March 7, 2006

Who is the Library user? Have you seen these people in YOUR library?

Considerations for Diversity elderly male religious liberal conservative democrat republican heterosexual GLBT female middle aged teenager children urban rural disabled poor wealthy educated secular Hispanic African American WASP Asian European married single blue collar white collar employed unemployed uneducated Native American

User Involvement in Evaluation and Assessment Recommendations : Services & Resources that should be added Improvement of Services & Resources Extension of Services & Resources

Tools for User Involvement in Evaluation and Assessment Telephone surveys Mail surveys In-person interviews Focus groups Community meetings

The Purpose of Libraries in evaluation and assessment Meeting informational needs To reflect the community’s diversity through resources & services To reflect the unique community dynamic Providing ample opportunity for feedback in ongoing evaluations

Results of User Involvement in evaluation and assessment Input in designing the library’s vision, mission & goals Impact on aspects of management Determining the best tools to use and revision of said tools

Rational of User Involvement in evaluation and assessment Success of any library rests in part on the users Consideration of how digitization will best assist users Consideration of how costs to digitize will impact resources & services

Small Library Settings in user evaluation & assessment Will user feedback lead to positive changes? Will user feedback lead to awareness of resources and services? Will diverse users provide feedback? Are the tools used adaptable for the user? Does the staff reflect the diversity of the community?

D I G I T I Z A T I O N Selection of cultural materials to be digitized Consideration of the diversity of the community Available resources to train users Available interface for diverse users Other formats available for information

Cultural Aspects Resources & services which consider diversity of users Library as the community nexus Connections with other community institutions

Case Study Fayetteville Public Library, Arkansas 2005 Thomson Gale/Library of the Year Awards 62,078 citizens 58,000 have library cards Louise Schaper, New Director hired in 1998, implemented:

Louise Schaper, Director Implementations Survey of patrons Focus groups: Community members, library trustees, staff & Friends of the Library Professional consultants: Library Planning Associates, Inc., & Johnson and Johnson Consultants, Wisconsin Community meetings, community input Establishment of Teen Advisory Board Volunteers recruited to help automate catalog Computer classes implemented to train users New facility built through procurement of grants 130 workstations with wireless access Workstations available for users with disabilities

Bibliography

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