Re: GEN: possible library closure

[Susan Martimo Choi <smchoi@IX.NETCOM.COM>]

I've worked in a professional library for almost 27 years and we've been
located everywhere from a block down the street to the basement of the
building to right on the first floor near the lunchroom and I'd have to
say that being where the people are is the best!  The Professional
Library is essential to meet the resource, research and information needs
of educational professionals  but it has to be easily accessible.
Campaign to stay visible and make that visibility pay off.  Do you have
displays of materials, ideas, activities that will draw people in?  Do
you have contests, free coffee time or host tours of the Library to bring
customers in?

It's also important to show that you are meeting your "customer's" needs.
 We do this with a variety of data.  In addition to tabulating
circulation figures we jot down on a form every reference question we get
and note how it came in (mail, phone, person, email), what the question
was about and how it was answered (material sent, referral).  These are
counted  and put into excel to turn into graphs.  Believe me, when we
show that we answer over 500 reference requests a month, it makes our
services seem more valuable to those who make decisions.  This isn't as
difficult as it seems since we use these forms as our message pad, note
pad, etc.  When a person comes in or the phone rings we reach for the
form automatically.

Another thing we've done this year is produce customer satisfaction
surveys - they give us compiled data, but also give us quotes from our
satisfied customers.  We use the quotes and data in our annual report, in
 newsletters or presentations.  We started a brief email newsletter that
we send periodically to those on our email list and include some of those
quotes or data.  It helps people learn about us and what we do.
Good luck!


Susan Martimo Choi
Director, Educational Media Center
Santa Clara County Office of Education
San Jose, CA
smchoi@ix.netcom.com

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