1. 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?

2. 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.

3. 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?

4. 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

5. 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

6. 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

7. 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

8. 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)

9. 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 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

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

11. 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

12. 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

13. Selected Bibliography
               ALA Office for Literacy and Outreach Services.Handbook for Mobile Library Services Staff. Accessed 8/17/2010
            Clements, Angela. On the Move with the TCPL Mobile Library: What it Takes to keep rolling. Indiana Libraries. 27 no  
            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
            Murray, K., et. al., Give the mobile service a fresh start – tell us where to stop. Library & Information Update (March 2010) p
            Osborne, Robin, ed. From Outreach to Equity: Innovative Models of Library Policy and Practice American Library Association. Chicago.  
            Smallwood, Carol. Ed. Librarians as community partners: an outreach handbook. Chicago: American Library Association
           
            

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

15. Arapahoe Library District
Contact Information
Cindy McFadden
Arapahoe Library District
5955 S. Holly St. 
Centennial, CO 80121