First, structured interviews were conducted with six key HPL staff members to identify how individuals closely associated with the library define and perceive the library's value to the cardholder community. HPL's 2017 Spatial Assessment recommended a 166% increase in the library's physical footprint in order to adequately serve a population the size of Hoboken. HPL staff members mentioned a desire to improve external communications when discussing opportunities for growth at the library.
The most recent wave began in the 90s and sought to broaden the definition of value and expand the scope of library stakeholders. These figures suggest that over half of the respondents are frequent users of library services.
The HPL staff’s ability to provide value to cardholders is defined and bound by the library’s physical space
According to HPL's 2017 Space Assessment, the third floor renovation would ultimately allow the library to reimagine the Children's Library, the Teen Center, and a Program/Technology Room (Hintz, 2019). Expanding HPL's footprint by growing into the community was another way space was mentioned. Staff mentioned the creation of satellite branches as a way to make the library more visible and accessible to all individuals in the community.
Currently, the main branch and the Grand Street branch provide services to individuals living in the central or southern quadrant of the city. Finally, space and the ability to provide an extended physical presence were described as the main mechanism by which library staff believe they provide value to cardholders. Space conversations were often mentioned in response to questions regarding the library's weaknesses or opportunities for growth.
They also usually coincided with mentions of the library's collection; another prevalent theme mentioned in four. HPL's collection has quadrupled in the past 15-20 years (Ryazanksy, 2019), yet staff worry that their offerings may fall short of what cardholders need. These interview responses suggest that HPL staff recognize the important role that their lending services currently provide.
While they are proud of how far these services have come, they also believe that their continued success is dependent on being able to provide more.
The cardholder community desires an expanded focus on core library services including Borrowing and Inter-Library Loans
37 Satisfaction was used as a benchmark to measure how well cardholders think the library is performing. For brevity, some priority dimensions have been omitted from the performance section (e.g., research assistance from librarians, delivery services). The overview of responses in the figure below shows that cardholders are largely satisfied with the library's existing services and programming.
38 Approximately 77% of the respondents indicated the borrowing of materials as very important, while 69% had a similar answer regarding the importance of interlibrary borrowing. While the percentage of respondents who answered very satisfied for these two library services was close to 50%, in both cases the cumulative satisfaction scores (ie very satisfied + satisfied) were above 80%. However, when respondents were asked what changes they would like to see at HPL to make the library's work more impactful, nearly 61% responded.
These figures suggest that there may be room for growth and improvement in current borrowing and lending practices. Thematic analysis of these comments indicated that the library's collection and programming were the two most frequently mentioned concepts. In addition to more space, I wish the library had a more comprehensive catalog of books at the library.
I wish the library had more space and was able to accommodate more books, DVDs and games to borrow.
Cardholders and the HPL team recognize the library’s collection and staff as two of its greatest mechanisms for providing value to the Hoboken community
Additionally, when asked what expanded services or offerings would have the most impact on the community, 61% of respondents indicated they would like increased offerings in circulation. Over 68% of respondents indicated that access to a library staff member is important to them when using the library. This emphasis on the importance of connecting with library staff matched the sentiments and enthusiasm that individuals from the HPL team expressed when talking about their roles.
Although physical space was the most important theme identified by the HPL staff, it did not resonate as strongly with cardholders. When asked about impactful additions to the library, only 16% of respondents chose more space as their choice. It is important to note that in the survey the description used with "more space" only included satellite locations throughout Hoboken and more space at the main branch.
Because expanding the library's physical collection would also require growth in physical space, this should also have been included to give cardholders a more complete picture of HPL's space limitations. 42 Access to technology and delivery services were mentioned by half and a third of library staff respectively, but were rated lowest by the cardholder community. While these offerings were identified by the library team as potential growth opportunities, the relatively low ranking by cardholders indicates a discrepancy in how to prioritize them.
Access to technology was largely explained in terms of basic materials (e.g. printers, copiers, internet access), when it should also have included newer technology initiatives such as tablet rentals or the library maker space.
Survey responses indicate that the newsletter and website are the library’s most impactful means of communicating with cardholders
Accordingly, future iterations of this work should include more thorough explanations for these two offerings. These responses indicate that the HPL website and newsletter are the library's most impactful forms of marketing communication. Results of this study indicate that cardholders recognize HPL as a high priority and high performance resource for the community.
However, the responses to the electronic survey indicate that there is still room for growth in the quality of service that HPL employees can take advantage of. The following recommendations incorporate these lessons learned and are based on a thorough review of the literature.
Implement a series of continuous quality improvement practices to maximize service quality to HPL’s cardholder community
While OPTIR's work ultimately identified nine assessment techniques, they recommend that libraries adopt only those that are most useful for their competencies and budgets. A visual experience in which staff "walk" through the steps of a process as if they were end users. It is useful for staff to work together so that not only those who know a process intimately have the opportunity to provide feedback.
They can be used to get feedback and recommendations on existing processes or to brainstorm the creation of new processes. It should be coordinated between staff members to ensure that cardholders are not overwhelmed with requests for. May include number of items in circulation, number of new/renewed cards issued, number of event attendees.
This can happen informally and formally and can serve as an opportunity to compare best practices. This framework will help library staff feel more connected to their processes and the cardholders who interact with them. Additionally, the inherent flexibility of this framework provides staff with the autonomy to identify best practices for their individual cardholder segments.
It encourages them to experiment during each iteration of their cycle and can ultimately be a good opportunity to share best practices.
Conduct a needs assessment of eBook and audio book users
However, in this case, power users would refer to individuals who make extensive use of HPL's eBook and audiobook offerings. Once these individuals have been identified, the HPL team should begin their needs assessment with an electronic survey of this population. A survey allows the team to collect feedback from a large population of cardholders at once to identify any trends in power user preferences.
The majority of existing eBook and audiobook user surveys found in the literature were developed for academic library environments. While these can be useful as guidance, the HPL team should create a survey that is tailored to their users. Therefore, HPL's survey should include questions that segment eBook and audiobook users by age range.
This specificity can ultimately help the library identify solutions that can be tailored to discrete cardholder populations.
Create segmented newsletters to increase engagement and educate cardholders
Urban Edge: younger, up-and-coming singles living a big-city lifestyle located within top metropolitan statistical area (MSA) markets - 41% of the population 2. Pursuing singles scene - Young, singles living in midwest and south inner cities - 3.5 % of the population. Using these segments as a guide, the HPL team can develop a high-level overview of the information and programming needs that each population may have.
Potter (2012) emphasizes the importance of building segmentation into a library's marketing habits so that it eventually becomes part of a naturally repeating cycle.
Critically examine the existing website and engage with cardholders to identify areas for improvement
Interviews with the HPL team were simultaneously postponed while the library made adjustments to work in a virtual environment. Discussions with the library team during their interviews revealed that the children's library is one of the most popular aspects of the library. The findings uncovered during the course of this research indicate that the HPL team and the cardholder community have a similar perception of the value of the library.
They agree on many of the offerings that are currently being prioritized, and overall the cardholder community is satisfied with the quality of service the library provides. The results of the cardholder survey provide important insight into the value that library users continue to place on the library's physical collection and its interlibrary loan options. The library's most recent annual report describes their role as “working with – and for – the community.” Some of the findings in this report reflect objectives already in their current strategic plan.
Are there any changes you would like to see the library make in the future? On average, how often do you use the library's services or resources (e.g. interlibrary loan requests, download/streaming services) remotely? As HPL strives to continue to meet the needs of its customers, consider which of the following additions will have the most impact on your use of the library.
Are there any other resources/services you wish the library could improve or develop? On average, how often do you access library services or resources (eg, ILL requests, download/streaming services) remotely. As HPL strives to continue to meet the needs of its customers, the following additions would be more efficient for your use of the library.
Jakob’s Ten
Usability Heuristics
System Status
Match between System and
User Control
Consistency
Error
Prevention
Recognition
Rather Than Recall
Efficiency of Use
Documentation
Recognize, Diagnose, and
Recover from Errors
