The Librarys Contribution to Your Community An Illinois State Library Workshop

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TheLibrarys ContributiontoYour
CommunityAn Illinois State Library Workshop
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AgendaBackground on LCTYCWhat the LCTYC can do
and how it works with planningBreakThe LCTYC
Manual and The MeasuresLunchImplementation
Canadian ResultsBreakCase Study Work
Conclusion
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The Purpose of the Workshop

• Discuss the Challenges of Documenting the
  Librarys Contribution

• Introduce the LCTYC Resource Manual

• Encourage and Inspire You to Use the Manual to
  Document Your Contribution

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Why Was the LCTYC Resource Manual Prepared?

• Purposedemonstrate the value of libraries to
  their communities, substantiating budget
  requests municipal funders (politicians and
  administrators) are the primary target.

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The Ontario Context 1995

• New provincial government with an agenda of
  reform
• Smaller government
• Greater accountability
• Reduced expenditure

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What We Would Keep if the Budget Was Cut
What We Value

• Snow removal
• Fire protection
• Road maintenance/construction
• Sewer maintenance/construction
• Recreation facilities/programs
• Street lighting
• Parks
• Planning, Building and Economic Development
• By-law enforcement
• Library services
• Cultural facilities and programs

• Parks and recreation
• Libraries
• Cleanliness
• Safety
• Parks and green
• Accessibility to services/facility
• Balanced budget/low taxes
• Sense of community

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Survey of Ontario Residents - 2001

• 45 view the library as an essential public
  institution that deserves to be supported on that
  basis
• 55 view the library as one of many information
  providers in a competitive environment

• Less than 50 were confident the library would
  make significant changes to meet future needs

• 60 of residents have Internet access at home
  and 32 reported decreased library use since
  Internet access.

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The Future of the Library Four Perspectives
VIEW OF LIBRARY
Public Institution
Competitor
Pro Active
LIBRARY CAPACITY FOR CHANGE
Status Quo
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Community Understanding Support of the
Librarys Possible Role and Financial
Resources Will Only Be Realized If We Have A
Strategy to Reposition the Library

• Transition to Digital Information Environment

• An Economy dependant on information,
  telecommuting

• Improved Access 24/7 and the Economically
  Disadvantaged

• Life-Long Learning

• Enhanced Support to the School System

• Community Development Role Social Focus,
  Civic Role, Multilingual Populations

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What Do We Need to Reposition the Library?

• Support and Funding Will Only Be Realized If We
  Have A Strategy to Reposition the Library

• Financial Resources
• Community Understanding Support of the
  Librarys Possible Role

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Two Outcomes of the Manual

• To Send A Persuasive Message To
  Funders/Stakeholders
• To Produce A Tool That All Libraries Could Use

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What Funders/Stakeholders Want to Hear

• Local data not benefits from the literature
• Hard data not opinions
• Community support / satisfaction
• Broad based benefits contribution to a wide
  range of corporate / community objectives
• Comparison to others to demonstrate cost
  effectiveness

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What Local Libraries Need

• A Tool That Can Be Used Regardless of Library
  Size and Resources
• A Complete Package Easy to Use
• Flexible and Adaptable to Individual Libraries

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The LCTYC Approach to Planning and Managing
Library Services -- A Checklist
Never Do It
Sort of Do It
Always Do It

• We have documented goals for library service
  delivery which we review update regularly
• We regularly evaluate our performance against our
  goals
• We prepare annual action plans for service areas
  with clearly specified targets
• Staff are held accountable for meeting targets
• We regularly compile information on the needs and
  preferences of our users through surveys or other
  means
• We regularly collect information on the changing
  social and demographic character of the community
  and use it to plan our services
• We track our performance on a year-to-year basis
  with key service indicators and use this
  information to evaluate and plan our services
• We document the results of our annual planning
  process and make it available to the Board,
  Municipal Council and the community

1 2 3 4 5 1 2 3 4 5 1 2 3 4 5 1 2 3 4 5 1 2
3 4 5 1 2 3 4 5 1 2 3 4 5 1 2 3 4 5
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Where the LCTYC Performance Measures Fit in the
Management of Library Service Delivery
Municipal Strategic Plan
Library Strategic Plan
Core Service Review

• Operational Reviews

• Business Plans

Performance Measures
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Performance Measurement For Management

• Support Small Business Growth Development
  
• Provide Services to Small Businesses
  
• Business Collection Development
• Marketing/Awareness
• Staff Expertise
• Program Development
• Partnerships

Municipal Goal
Library Goal

• Business Plan

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Performance Measurement and ManagementSupport
for Local Business Possible Measures

• Total circulation of business manuals/periodicals
• Dollar value of business materials in the
  collection
• Number of business users
• Number of program hours devoted to business
  issues/topics
• Number of business staff trained on the internet
• Satisfaction of business with library services
• Number of new partnerships for business services

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The Planning Process in 7 Steps

• Describe the Current Situation
• Set Goals/Objectives
• Develop a Business Plan - Establish Targets
• Make A Commitment In Response To Resource
  Requirements
• Monitor With Performance Measures
• Evaluate
• Adjust Target/Plans

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Addressing the Challenges The LCTYC Approach

• Strongly rooted in your community local data
  base that is relevant in your community
• Possible to implement with limited resources
  can be phased in
• Use a variety of approaches and types of
  information to be practical and persuasive
• Uses historical benchmarks to demonstrate
  improvement in your system compared to other
  systems with extreme caution
• Tied to strategic plan/service delivery plans
  that identify desired outcomes use as a tool
  for planning and managing service delivery
• Flexible Tool Starting Point Instead of a
  Template

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The LCTYC Manual A User-Friendly Format

• Category
• Benefit
• Description
• Information to be Compiled The Performance
  Measures
• Resources
• Constructing the Argument
• The Counter Argument
• Other Relevant Benefits

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Types of MeasuresAn example Pre-School Reading
Program

• Number of children attending program
• Number of program hours
• Number of children who are first exposed to the
  library through the program

• Performance Indicators

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Types of MeasuresAn example Pre-School Reading
Program

• Improvement in childrens reading skills due to
  the program
• Increase in library use due to involvement in the
  program

• Benefit Measures or Outcomes

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Types of MeasuresAn example Pre-School Reading
Program

• Number of children attending program per capita
• Proportion of children who are library members
  attending programs
• Cost of the program per program hour
• Cost of the program per child in attendance

• Benchmarks of Efficiency

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Types of MeasuresAn example Pre-School Reading
Program

• Child/parents satisfaction with the program
• Perceived importance of program to library users
• Perceived importance of program to teachers in
  the community

• Customer Satisfaction Indicators

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The Librarys Contribution 21 Benefits

• Twenty One Benefits
• Focused on Measurable Benefits
• Based on Available Information (Inputs) and
  Customer Satisfaction Measures
• Divided Into Two Broad Areas

• Social/Personal Benefits
• Economic Benefits

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Social/Personal Contribution

• Three Categories
• Personal Growth /Development
• Community Development
• Support to Community Groups/Agencies

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Economic Contribution

• Three Categories
• Direct Economic Impact
• Support of Local Business/Investors
• Indirect Economic Impact

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Social/Personal Contribution - The Benefits
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Social/Personal Contribution - The Benefits
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Social/Personal Contribution - The Benefits
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Economic Contribution - The Benefits
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Economic Contribution - The Benefits
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Economic Contribution - The Benefits
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• In Column A Give your library a score based on
  how significant your contribution is for each of
  the benefits.
• 1 Not Significant
• 3 Somewhat Significant
• 5 Very Significant

• In Column B Indicate how much importance your
  local politicians would place on the librarys
  contribution in each benefit area.
• 1 Not Important
• 3 Somewhat Important
• 5 Very Important

In Column C Calculate the difference between A
and B as an absolute (no negatives).
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Documenting Benefits Important Questions for
Scores Over 50

• Can/should we expand services in underserved
  areas?
• What are the implications for communicating
  benefits?
• How can we promote the value of services that are
  not valued by funders/stakeholders?

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Documenting Benefits Information Gathering
Options

• The literature / research elsewhere
• Existing library database
• Expanded library database
• Key informants / focus groups

• In-library questionnaires
• Surveys of library users
• Survey of community stakeholders
• General community survey
• Research.

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Levels of Effort

• use the benefit measures / the literature
• support by repackaging existing
• information

Level One -Minimum Effort
Level Two -Moderate Effort

• reorganize existing information collection
• based on benefit measures
• key informant interviews

Level Three -Survey Library Users

• library users survey

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Levels of Effort
Level Four -Community and Special Users Survey

• community survey
• other surveys

• primary research
• longitudinal studies
• networking

Level Five -Ongoing Research
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Information Gathering Options

• Library Data Base
• Key Informants
• Focus Groups
• Surveys

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Key Informants

• Why
• Who
• Challenge

• Persuasive
• Cost Effective
• Builds Networks
• Credible/Respected
• Expert
• Recruitment

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Focus Groups
Definition

• Six Eight Individuals with a Shared
  Interest/Lifestyle
• Two Three Hour Structured Discussion
• Facilitated Discussion

Advantages

• Focus on Special Interests and Key Benefit Areas
• Persuasive and Cost Effective
• Personal Feedback

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Focus Groups - Issues

• Recruitment of Participants
• Structured Discussion Documenting Feedback
• Skilled Facilitator
• Not Quantifiable Information Best to Use With
  Surveys

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The Surveys In The Resource Manual
1. General Community 2. Library Users 3.
Business Users 4. Community Groups and
Agencies 5. Program Participants
Using the Surveys

• Cross-referenced to the benefits
• Sample size and cost

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Sample Size and Confidence Levels
Population Size (N) 500 1,000
1,500 2,000 3,000 5,000
10,000 20,000 50,000 100,000
/- 10 81 88 91 92 94 95
96 96 96 96
/- 3 250 500 624 696 788 880
965 1,014 1,045 1,058
/- 5 218 278 306 323 341 357 370
377 382 383
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Library Profile for Huron County Library
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How Did They Do It? Measures Selected

• Satisfaction with the Community as a Place to
  Live
• Reading Readiness
• Use of Leisure Time
• Support for the Retail Sector.

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How Did They Do It?Information Gathering
Techniques (Level 4)

• data collection from library statistics and
  collection
• focus groups (3)
• key informant interviews (3)
• user survey
• community survey
• special survey (Business Improvement Association)

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Support for the Retail Sector

• Key findings
• 60 of library users combined trip to library
  with downtown shopping
• 37 of library users are non-residents
• 50.00 average expenditure by library users
• 1.4 million annual expenditure in downtown by
  library users
• support for library to occupy key location
  downtown.

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Library Profile for Barrie Public Library

• Population Served 100,000
• Service Points 1
• 1999 Budget 2.6 million
• Local Support 20 per capita
• Circulation in 1999 1.2 million
• Hours 62 hrs/week (7 days)
• Total FTEs 33.34

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Why Did They Do It?

• Hard data to demonstrate librarys value to local
  business and the community
• Increase the library budget
• To verify librarys perception of our value to
  the community
• To support the library strategic plan

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Measures Selected

• Information Services to Local Businesses
• Lifelong Learning
• Satisfaction with the Community as a Place to Live

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Information Gathering Techniques (Level 3)

• 1999 staff deployment study in the library
• integrated library system (with sampling)
• focus groups (4)
• key informant interviews (3)
• in-house survey of users
• special survey of business users

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The Benefits InputsInformation Service to
Local Businesses
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Information Service to Local BusinessesThe
Benefits Key Informants/Focus Groups
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LCTYC Accomplishments in Barrie

• 23 increase in municipal contribution (370,000)
• Expanded partnerships with the business community
  
• New relationship with the Municipal Economic
  Development Department
• Hiring of Business Librarian

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Canadian Accomplishments using the Manual

• Financial improvements
• Service improvements
• Enhanced profile and awareness
• Partners and new networks
• New information and research skills for libraries
• Introduction to performance measures

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Case Study Questions
1. Strengths/Weaknesses of Library
2. Community Issues
4. How can Library Contribute to Issues to
Support Objectives
3. Library Objectives
5. Benefits to Document
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Developing a LCTYC Strategy

• Profile Your Library's Services
• Select a Focus for your Investigation of Benefits
• Identify Community Resources that May be of
  Assistance
• Identify the Scope of Your Investigation the
  Level of Effort
• Make Your Case Benefits and Measures
• Communicate Your Message Refer to p. 67
• Plan for Next Year