All Aboard! Creating a Service Matrix for Mobile Library Services   Welcome: Introduce topic Explain what we're doing for the next 50 minutes: explaining how we came up with the idea of using a matrix to determine our service with our new bookmobile explaining what a matrix is showing the stages of formation of the matrix having an activity where our audience can create their own criteria for scoring telling about how this is working for us [going over some obstacles to watch out for] Show of hands from different kinds of service--who works on a bkm? goes to seniors stops, schools, neighborhoods, other?

Arapahoe Library District   Cindy McFadden, MLIS Coordinator/Supervisor   Outreach Services  Arapahoe Library District Centennial, Colorado  Introduce   Describe ALD:  $23 million budget 8 branches + Jail 200,000 residents 14  Neighborhood stops: 88 hrs/month 8 Sprinter van stops 20.5 hrs/month district is 70 miles in length - long and narrow diverse demographics in the district-urban, rural, suburban, etc.

What Put us in this Position?   Strategic Plan Tactic for a 2-vehicle service model Bookmobile taken off the road New OBS bookmobile ordered Delivery expected in February 2010 Where will we go and who will we serve?   Summarize our situation going to 2 vehicle service model: former 28 ft bkm taken off the road; got our sprinter van, took 3 years to get new bkm board approved and get the specs written for RFP planning to triple our open hours from x to y with the same amount of staff needing to maximize our staffing and scheduling -  PARADIGM SHIFT!! What data can we use to make these important decisions?

Looking for Best Practices Review of professional literature  Talking to our peers in the industry   RESEARCH - to determine what kind of vehicle to buy, we did lots of research with lots of sources  Lots of literature on deciding whether to stay serving a site Lots of information about the types of sites bookmobiles go to Industry guidelines in our handbooks are helpful Listserv and other libraries' experiences help too Best practices In looking for best practices, we had trouble finding a METHOD that worked for us for objectively determining where to START bookmobile service when starting from scratch

Building a Schedule Leads to Building a Matrix Request for proposal (RFP) process for choosing the right bookmobile vendor   Could this work for choosing the right bookmobile stops and hours? Objective, fact-based Could have multiple criteria An official "scoring system" helps validate "gut instinct" and staff experience Can save money or resources Can get us to a better product   In order to choose the right vendor for our bus, we had to go through the RFP process. Got the bus under construction and now we had to work on building a schedule What made us think it might work for us another way? Objective, fact-based could have multiple criteria An official "scoring system" helps validate "gut instinct" and staff experience Can save money or recources Can get us to a better product This was an exciting idea - first we had to communicate the vision, then we had to take the concept from theory to practice

How Did We Build It? Determining our priorities for criteria Flow Chart Associating conditions with the chosen criteria 'Hard' data vs. 'soft' data Scoring the criteria What are the main barriers to library access that we identified? What are service priorities? What "Conditions" support the criteria that we identified?   What Conditions are not based on "hard numbers"? Example of "hard" data:  # of residents & residential designation (e.g. "high density") Example of "soft" data:  Limited Information Literacy

Construction Phase II Setting up the scoring system Criteria are weighted equally with each other Conditions are assigned percentages  rank x weight x factor = score Criteria Evaluation   mention that we will practice this activity later on For each stop, conditions were ranked, then given a weight percentage.  All weight percentages for each criteria totaled 100% Weights were determined by the importance of each condition as determined by staff All ranks and percentages were multiplied by a factor of 5 (rank x weight x factor) The maximum score for each criterion is 10 The maximum score for any site is 40 using this equation

Construction Phase III: Scoring the Sites Assigning scores to actual sites Sample of the populated Matrix   Sample of a low scoring site  (Prentice Place Lofts) and a high scoring site   (Fox Crossing)

Range of Service Determining the range of scores for service Levels of service Levels of Service--Visual Service Levels   Start with explanation of the ranges - scores from 0-40 - how do we make them mean something? How do we relate the scores to levels of service we will provide? briefly mention determining hours of service [Once the scoring was done, how do we determine how much service is enough, how much is too much, and how much is just right...] Levels of Service-x amt of hours and x amount of staff determines how many hours we can deliver

Activity: Creating Your Own Matrix Practice Matrix Show practice evaluation form with Senior and School sheets for the exercise.   Ask group input on "Conditions"

Outcomes: From Theory to Practice How is it working? Lessons learned General overview of results We used it and it works Matching on-site observations to expectations set by our scoring system Relating the score to the outputs (circ, facility use, sense of need)   Helped set our schedule--hours, days, etc. There were some minor adjustments Provide stories for successes and misses Loretto Heights is a busy stop Sheridan Gardens Lessons learned-distance from the library

Continuing Service Matrix   October 2010: 6 month evaluation of service Kept all other content for matrix Added Site Condition and Use criterias   RESULTS: Ended two stops Lengthened service at two stops Added two additional stops in Glendale for twice a week service In October of 2010 we went through the Continuing Service Matrix challenge.   We added Site Condition to include: Site Manager support Proximity to another bkm location Community conditions and Use: Facility use per hour Circulation use per hour

Selected Bibliography                ALA Office for Literacy and Outreach Services.Handbook for Mobile Library Services Staff. http://www.ala.org/ala/aboutala/offices/olos/bookmobiles/Mobile_Services_Handbook.pdf. Accessed 8/17/2010               Clements, Angela. On the Move with the TCPL Mobile Library: What it Takes to keep rolling. Indiana Libraries. 27 no1 26-32. 2008.              Dixon, Ann R. Feasibility and Options in Bookmobiles and Mobile Libraries in Rural Areas: A Case Study Approach Using Alaska's Experience. Bookmobile and Outreach Services. 9 no 2 17-58. 2006.             Murray, K., et. al., Give the mobile service a fresh start – tell us where to stop. Library & Information Update (March 2010) p. 34-6.             Osborne, Robin, ed. From Outreach to Equity: Innovative Models of Library Policy and Practice. 2004. American Library Association. Chicago.               Smallwood, Carol. Ed. Librarians as community partners: an outreach handbook. Chicago: American Library Association. 2010.                         

Working Service Matrix, 10/2010     Service Matrix, 2/2010 Working Service Matrix, 10/2010

Arapahoe Library District Contact Information   Cindy McFadden Arapahoe Library District 5955 S. Holly St.  Centennial, CO 80121 303-792-8944 cmcfadden@ald.lib.co.us www.arapahoelibraries.org