Library usage survey
OK, a little plea for assistance this morning. I don’t often drag the day-job onto VCTB, but I want to do some research that only a forum of this type will allow me. Please spare a few minutes to leave your thoughts, no matter how brief and critical they may be.
So, I work in a library. UK public libraries, if you follow the news about them (which I expect you probably don’t), are not in a great place right now – borrowing is falling, buildings (and in some cases entire regional services) are being shut down, and the level of rhetoric and bluster from politicians and overpaid consultants seems to be in inverse proportionality to the amount of things actually being done to change the situation.
Over the last week we’ve been doing a survey of library users – I’ll leave my thoughts on the methodology employed to the side, as I’m not a sociologist (or indeed a ‘proper’ librarian). The survey is designed to uncover people’s ’satisfaction levels’ with the service we provide. Which is all well and good, but it strikes me as intrinsically limited in that it only covers people who actually come into the building.
I assume that most regular visitors to VCTB are regular readers of books, of whatever type. What I want to find out is what people who are passionate about books (to the extent that they read websites about books) think of the modern library service, as they have experienced it. So I’d like to ask you all a few questions:
- Do you use your local library, or any national libraries (eg British Library)?
- If you do use libraries, how often and what for? What do you feel would make your local library even better than it already is, as far as fulfilling your own personal needs is concerned?
- If you don’t use libraries, why not? (Don’t be afraid to be seriously critical here, I want to know the truth – do the buildings suck, are the staff rubbish, do they never have what you want, do you prefer to buy your own books?)
- What do you feel libraries represent? Or to put it another way: what is the prime function of a library, in your opinion?
- What would you like to see change in the way library services are provided for you?
Don’t feel you have to answer all of the questions, and if you have something else to say about libraries that isn’t covered by them, just pitch on in. If you could give me some idea of how much you read from week to week, that would be useful too. If you don’t want to comment for all the world to see, please feel free to drop me an email at info[squiggly-symbol]velcro-city.co.uk.
If you have a blog of your own, please ask your readers to pop by and comment too – I’m thinking from a UK perspective, but international information would be useful too, so feel free to pitch in from any country at all. Negative critical comments are more than welcome – that is, in fact, exactly what I’m after.
Thanks for your time!
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October 9th, 2006 at 10:35 am
[...] The Velcro City Tourist Board wants to know your thoughts on libraries: Over the last week we’ve been doing a survey of library users – I’ll leave my thoughts on the methodology employed to the side, as I’m not a sociologist (or indeed a ‘proper’ librarian). The survey is designed to uncover people’s ’satisfaction levels’ with the service we provide. Which is all well and good, but it strikes me as intrinsically limited in that it only covers people who actually come into the building. [...]
October 9th, 2006 at 10:56 am
Do you use your local library, or any national libraries (eg British Library)?
Used to use local libraries quite a lot, seldom visit them these days. Work in a nationally-renowned research library (not the BL, though I occasionally use it)
If you do use libraries, how often and what for? What do you feel would make your local library even better than it already is, as far as fulfilling your own personal needs is concerned?
Used to visit at least one local library weekly, now much more seldom. What would make my local libraries better would be if they had not sold off vast amounts of material over the past decades. What I really want from a library is access to the kinds of books that one isn’t going to find on the shelves at Waterstones or Ottokars, i.e. the works of good but no longer fashionable authors, items no longer in print – that sort of thing. I occasionally visit local public libraries in search of recently-published books that I want to read but don’t really want to buy, not that they reliably have these.
I also use a number of research libraries.
If you don’t use libraries, why not? (Don’t be afraid to be seriously critical here, I want to know the truth – do the buildings suck, are the staff rubbish, do they never have what you want, do you prefer to buy your own books?)
See above. My enormous to-be-read pile of purchased books is also a factor in how seldom I visit my local libraries. My research needs are largely, but not entirely, met by the place where I work.
What do you feel libraries represent? Or to put it another way: what is the prime function of a library, in your opinion?
I think libraries are enormously important as a public resource – I just feel that there were a number of wrong choices and misunderstandings about what priorities should be. There was a cutting off from the past and the need to retain and preserve materials.
What would you like to see change in the way library services are provided for you?
It’s probably too late in the day for them to restore the kinds of material I think should be there – the books that I now order via internet booksellers and which often turn up as ex-library copies.
October 9th, 2006 at 11:22 am
I’m a big reader, I usually read a couple books a week, both fiction and non-fiction. I just finished an MA in history at SOAS. I made a lot of use of their library, and am going to purchase a alumni membership there as it seems to be the only place I can find many of the books I want to read.
Do you use your local library, or any national libraries (eg British Library)?
I used my local library once, it seemed to have a few books on London history that were interesting, but nothing beyond that that I wanted to read. I am a member of the British Library and work at the National Art Library
If you do use libraries, how often and what for? What do you feel would make your local library even better than it already is, as far as fulfilling your own personal needs is concerned?
I use the SOAS library on a weekly basis for academic research and personal enjoyment. The local library (in this case Stratford) doesn’t have any books that would help me with my work, and as its a rather specalised area I’m not really surprised.
If you don’t use libraries, why not? (Don’t be afraid to be seriously critical here, I want to know the truth – do the buildings suck, are the staff rubbish, do they never have what you want, do you prefer to buy your own books?)
If I can find the book I want cheaply I do prefer to buy it as I like to have it available for reference or re-reading. I tend to buy a lot of second hand books online either through ebay, amazon, or abebooks.
What do you feel libraries represent? Or to put it another way: what is the prime function of a library, in your opinion?
Libraries should be storehouses of knowledge that are available for anyone to use. That might be an out of date or unfashionable idea I don’t know. They are also service providers and should cater to a variety of needs.
What would you like to see change in the way library services are provided for you
More easily accesible sources of scholarly works. Eg, Less intimidating application procedures at places like the British Library.
October 9th, 2006 at 1:01 pm
This is from the Dutch perspective…
* Do you use your local library, or any national libraries (eg British Library)?
I used to, rather heavily. Hardly at all anymore.
* If you do use libraries, how often and what for? What do you feel would make your local library even better than it already is, as far as fulfilling your own personal needs is concerned?
I used to like libraries for books that were good quality, but out of print or difficult to find. It seems as though they have less and less of that material.
* If you don’t use libraries, why not? (Don’t be afraid to be seriously critical here, I want to know the truth – do the buildings suck, are the staff rubbish, do they never have what you want, do you prefer to buy your own books?)
At this point in my life, I would rather buy used books than lend from the library– it has to do with lack of time combined with inflexible library opening hours. The time to return the things on time costs more than the price of the book.
* What do you feel libraries represent? Or to put it another way: what is the prime function of a library, in your opinion?
Encouraging reading in small communities. I grew up in a very small town in the US, and would literally have gone insane without my local library.
Research and archiving, at larger and national libraries.
* What would you like to see change in the way library services are provided for you?
More access to difficult to find material– that would be the one thing that would bring me back.
October 9th, 2006 at 1:43 pm
Do you use your local library, or any national libraries (eg British Library)?
I use my local library. It’s actually one near work rather than home, for my own convenience. I don’t have a card with an academic library, although I’m entitled to one at my old university. I occasionally use the shop and cafe at the BL if that counts!
If you do use libraries, how often and what for? What do you feel would make your local library even better than it already is, as far as fulfilling your own personal needs is concerned?
I go every couple of weeks and get most of my fiction there. It would be better if there were more books! I also find the non-fiction shelves quite hard to navigate and browse, although I’m not sure what the solution is. The DVD section is not huge but lies between the entrance and the bookshelves, which is slightly off-putting.
What do you feel libraries represent? Or to put it another way: what is the prime function of a library, in your opinion?
I can’t get this paragraph right, but approximately: free information. Most importantly this means equal access regardless of income. It also allows risk-taking and self-education. Libraries also provide a space to read, although I personally am not in need of one, and how wonderful is that? A warm, dry, accessible place where anyone can sit and read all day if they want to.
What would you like to see change in the way library services are provided for you?
It’s difficult, because I simultaneously want more branches and more books per branch. It would be enough to be reassured that the current standard was going to be maintained.
Good luck with your survey.
October 9th, 2006 at 2:03 pm
Do you use your local library, or any national libraries (eg British Library)?
I use my very local library (five minutes walk, open less than 16h/week) and other local libraries when mine is closed. I am not currently anywhere near a) a university library catering to my subjects or b) a national library.
If you do use libraries, how often and what for? What do you feel would make your local library even better than it already is, as far as fulfilling your own personal needs is concerned?
Currently I am using libraries three times a week, mostly for internet access.
- reading fodder: I’ve made an effort to pick random books off the shelves and read them, whatever the topic or genre (I’m a writer); I use libraries to feed my book-a-day habit. What would make it better? More quality books! Yes, it’s necessary (and nice) to have the latest blockbusters available to all, but I want to be able to read good books at any given point in time.
What would also make it better is a catalogue that works – allowing proper keyword searches, allowing to save searches (users have log ins) and that occasionally shows the books that are available _as_ present.
(There are five books by Dick Francis in the whole system, and the computer is showing an unexpected outbreak of taste – allegedly, there is not a single book by Dan Brown. Which I know to be a blatant lie.)
- research: Dream on. I’ve managed to find the occasional interesting gem, but most of my initial research is done in my own library, and after that, I hit research institutions, as the public library has almost nothing on _any_ subject I am interested in, or at least nothing written later than 1970. The catalogue is so abysmal that it is not possible to do even high-school level research.
Several of the seriously interesting books have found their way home with me – for small sums of money. Every time I buy such a book I am torn between glee (shiny! books!) and sadness that no other use of the library will be able to read those wonderful stories or research that particular field.
- Internet access: My local library has three computers, one of which doesn’t work very well. The other libraries have more adequate provision, _but_ they log users out after 30 minutes (how much research, CV writing, or job-searching can you do in that time?
And all library computers are connected to a net nanny system which disallows flickr and other image sites (as ‘personal storage’), anything on blogspot such as Writer Beware (for ‘adult content’)and generally makes internet research a royal pain in the backside because you’re blocked from everything and anything. No pictures, no access to any site that might have used a rude word six months ago, or anything that remotely smells of iffyness. Ok, I can understand that the libraries want to discourage pornsurfers, but if a kid wants to do homework (some do) or an adult wants to read an informative blog, they should not be blocked outright.
If you don’t use libraries, why not? (Don’t be afraid to be seriously critical here, I want to know the truth – do the buildings suck, are the staff rubbish, do they never have what you want, do you prefer to buy your own books?)
I’ve walked out of my local library several times when a particular member of staff was present – I do not go to a library to be ignored, talked down to, or patronised.
I’ve read my way through a very large chunk of the books that interest me, so I expect use to tail off slowly. The buildings are fine, the opening hours can be problematic (my local library and my working week didn’t mix for several years), the staff are mixed, but it’s mainly the selection of books that is offputting. One of my local libraries has a quarter of its fiction collection given to Mills&Boon (I’ve done random checks, they’re not actually read all that often) while another has a full shelf given to Westerns – 95% from one particular publisher – £10.99 hardback, ca.60.000 words, and abysmally bad. They’re not read very often either, and after trying to cope with a couple, I understand why. I understand that they want to represent all genres, but what *was* the bookbuyer thinking? Or reading, for that matter?
What do you feel libraries represent? Or to put it another way: what is the prime function of a library, in your opinion?
I think that libraries should make material accessible that people can’t access on their own. For the visually impaired, that means a selection of large print books. For the blind, talking books; both of equal quality to the ‘normal’ section. The rest should be a mixture of classics, popular, and currently-talked-about. The reference section should be of the finest, and include books that are less than twenty years old, and at least the occasional in-depth study. The computers (I don’t think you can have libraries without them anymore) should be accessible to all. Most of all, users should have access to knowledgeable people who can tell them how to use a library, how to conduct research, how to make the best of what’s there, and how to do internet research. Right now, I’m seeing more and more that google takes the place of reading books – and children are encouraged to just copy things from webpages, stick a picture on it, and call it their homework.
What would you like to see change in the way library services are provided for you?
Right now a good catalogue would make the greatest difference – being able to _find_ the resources that are there. Next, increase the size of the stack and stop selling off books. Yes, reference and academic books might only be used by a handful of users, *but that does not make them obsolete*. Adopt a sensible filtering policy for the internet and increase access to a length of time that allows work to get done.
Ok, I’ll stop. I’ve posted this to my livejournal, too.
October 9th, 2006 at 4:17 pm
* Do you use your local library, or any national libraries (eg British Library)?
I use the local library system in Lancashire, and the library at my university. I use inter-library loan a lot from my uni.
* If you do use libraries, how often and what for? What do you feel would make your local library even better than it already is, as far as fulfilling your own personal needs is concerned?
I use the university library a lot to go and work there, and use the computers when mine’s being fixed. There’s a quiet room which is usually good for working, but I get really irritated by the noise in the rest of the place.
My local library I use a few times every month. I use the systems quite a lot to order in books from other libraries in the county, which costs 60p, usually older books that are in reserve stock, like older EF Benson. I read a lot of children’s / YA books, and I get things like the Mediator series out that I want to read but don’t want to keep. I actually like the computers in the library, as they have good access and I can usually get a computer really easily.
* If you don’t use libraries, why not? (Don’t be afraid to be seriously critical here, I want to know the truth – do the buildings suck, are the staff rubbish, do they never have what you want, do you prefer to buy your own books?)
I do use the libraries less now that I can afford to buiy more books of my own. Also, I tend not to want to read what’s on the shelves very much. I’ve usually found the staff pretty helpful, although mostly I just order things online and go in to pick them up. I do like that the system is computerised so that I can do that.
* What do you feel libraries represent? Or to put it another way: what is the prime function of a library, in your opinion?
To provide books for people to read, as a primary function. I don’t think I do see them as needing to provide a specialist collection of hard to find books, although I’ve only ever not been able to get hold of one book in the last fifteen years or so, with libraries ordering them from other systems.
I will say that I quite like the added bits that libraries provide like computing, as they are also a source of information as well as books, but I wish that they were an addition to the original serivces rather than a replacement.
* What would you like to see change in the way library services are provided for you?
I would like a wider range of older stock actually on the shelves for browsing instead of having to know what I’m looking for all the time. And more comfortable places to sit and read the books when I’m killing time in the library.
October 13th, 2006 at 10:36 am
* Do you use your local library, or any national libraries (eg British Library)?
I work in Uk public libraries and I do use them from time to time. Although I have always read, I did not use libraries btween the ages of about 8 until I began working in library services.
* If you do use libraries, how often and what for? What do you feel would make your local library even better than it already is, as far as fulfilling your own personal needs is concerned?
I use libraries to borrow books and DVDs some for myself, more for my young children. I use a library maybe once a month, I buy from bookshops or online every week.
My libraries need more books and books in better condition. I will not borrow books with stains or yellowed pages for my children. I need better facilities in the library, better standards of building maintenance, somewhere comfortable to sit and read, somewhere for my children to sit and keep themselves occupied while I browse.
* If you don’t use libraries, why not? (Don’t be afraid to be seriously critical here, I want to know the truth – do the buildings suck, are the staff rubbish, do they never have what you want, do you prefer to buy your own books?)
I don’t go into some libraries because of the staff. Some are downright unfriendly, patronising and school-marmish.
The books are dirty and there are not enough of them.
There is nowhere to sit.
Children are not welcomed.
* What do you feel libraries represent? Or to put it another way: what is the prime function of a library, in your opinion?
To me, libraries have to be about books. People say that books are cheper these days but unless you want the blockbusters or whatever is in vogue (and therefore the 3for2 offer) they are not cheaper. Libraies need to provide the good solid backlist stock that Waterstone’s used to (and still does but at prohibitive prices) so that people can explore reading for pleasure and learning without breaking the bank.
Libraries are not social services, health centres, colleges, council offices or any of the multitude of other servcies that people seem to be tryng to make them. This just dilutes their main services and makes them not very good at anything. It’s also confusing to cusotmers.
* What would you like to see change in the way library services are provided for you?
Bring the focus back to books but inject a modern customer service ethos into libraries. I don’t want a return to the dusty book repositories of the past with the librarian as keeper of the kingdom of knowledge. I want a customer focussed environment, modern, bright and welcoming to all who want to be inspired to read.
October 17th, 2006 at 10:51 am
As a professional librarian for 30+ years, I couldn’t resist this . . .
*Do you use your local library, or any national libraries (eg British Library)?
I haven’t used my local library for anything other than getting the latest bus timetable for years. I work in the best library in the UK for sf
and I use it constantly; I use the university library regularly for other things and I occasionally use the British Library if I’m in London and have time.
* If you do use libraries, how often and what for? What do you feel would make your local library even better than it already is, as far as fulfilling your own personal needs is concerned?
I use libraries constantly, as I say: just not the local one.
* If you don’t use libraries, why not? (Don’t be afraid to be seriously critical here, I want to know the truth – do the buildings suck, are the staff rubbish, do they never have what you want, do you prefer to buy your own books?)
. . . and the main reason is that for *most* of my needs the library I work for suffices. The other reason is that I am rarely in town when the local library is open. I have not worked in public libraries for 12 years now, but I have noticed a fairly major decline in book-buying (for most years I worked in libraries including times of fairly major inflation the amount to spend on books went down). Access to computers and web has got a lot better over the past few years but access to printed information is probably worse than in my day.
I expect my lack of use of my local library to be temporary. When I was a kid I used the local library several times a week. When I am grey(er) and wrinkly and retired I expect to do the same. This probably suggests that libraries are there for kids and oldies, which is something I find quite worrying — but I suspect that I would be using the local library far more if I wasn’t a librarian anyway!
* What do you feel libraries represent? Or to put it another way: what is the prime function of a library, in your opinion?
To provide information and education and culture and access to information and education and culture. All, of course, within the broadest definitions of those words.
A library should be a place a child goes into and discovers another world. And then returns to next week and finds a *different* world.