Under the Microscope: Patron and staff needs for SPPL’s Web page By: Ann Attig, Spring Lea Boehler, and Nancy Knepper

Who lives in Alamosa?

Top Five Occupations b b Educational Services (1,345) b b Retail Trade (1,124) b b Agriculture, Forestry & Fisheries (540) b b Health Services (478) b b Public Administrators, including librarians (316)____________________ b b Total Workforce = 7, 501

And don’t forget the students enrolled in... b b Three day-cares and preschools b b Three public elementary schools b b One public middle school b b One public high school b b Six religious or private schools b b One college b b One vocational school

Here’s a breakdown of who has cards at SPPL:

What do our patrons say they want?

Adult Uses of SPPL

High School Uses of SPPL

Middle School Uses of SPPL

What else do patrons say they want? b b More hours after 5, maybe as late as 10 like the college. (46% adult, 70% high school, 41% middle school) b b More genealogy service hours. b b More interlibrary loan materials. b b More ways to access the library.

How can we respond?

This is the hierarchy of the library personnel. b b Director-- Children’s Director Information Assistant – –Pages Supervisor of Technical Services – –Technical Assistant Interlibrary Loan Clerk Genealogist

Staff members devoted to each main area of service: b b Management--1 b b Supervisory--4 b b Children’s services--1 b b Technical services--2 b b Reference (including genealogy)--8 b b Interlibrary loan--2 b b Circulation--7 b b Computers--5

Where we can provide service:

Each staff member is an individual.

This means that each staff member has: b b her own thoughts b b her own capabilities b b her own schedules b b her own departmental problems b b her own opinions

The proposed individual survey looks like this:

This project will also entail group effort.

A focus group will help to get everyone’s opinion. For the best results, we are planning to hold one that is: b b after the personal interviews so everyone has a better idea of the project b b at a time when most everyone can attend b b moderated by a third party from the library community b b constricted to a set time limit so it runs smoothly

After the brainstorm, we should have: b b a list of features we definitely want to include b b a rudimentary idea of who is responsible for what content b b a list of features we might include if demand is high b b a list of features we definitely do not want at this time

Now, it’s back to the patrons...

Our patrons are diverse people with diverse needs.

How do we find out these needs? ASKTHEM!!!

An online survey is a good way to reach people because... b b Since this is a Web project, we mostly want to hear from Web users b b It allows people to answer at their convenience b b People are more likely to answer an than a regular letter b b It costs far less since there are no paper and postage costs b b It helps us build a stronger relationship with Amigo.net

Here are the questions we will be asking

The in-house paper version of the survey will... b b Reach people who are not Amigo.net customers but are online b b Help determine the needs of people who will only use our Web site on the library computers b b Save in postage since it is in-house

These surveys will tell us: b b How our Web site will affect people’s library use b b How much use our Web site might have b b Which online services they want most

Talking to the school librarians face-to-face will help us: b b Determine how best to partner with the schools b b Discover what needs the librarians want met b b Think of new ways to encourage reading in students

This is just the beginning! We also plan to b b Have a continuous comment form for Web visitors b b Have remedial surveys once a year b b Keep our ears open always!

Our ultimate goal is to keep our patrons smiling!

Thank you for your time!