Four Questions
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Since the start, Library Land has been observing, interpreting, and sharing information about public libraries. That information has been core to our mission to explore, document, and promote public libraries and their role in our communities. We’ve long recognized that for Library Land to scale, input from other people would be needed.
Past attempts were hit or miss. They have included our rating system (not used since the pandemic), a data collection tool to allow standards-based crowd-sourced input, and various streamlined questionnaires and whatnot.
We now have a simpler approach: just four questions designed to get to the root of why libraries matter in their communities:
What do you love about your library - this is looking for that thing that gives you the greatest joy. It might be a person, a program, a part of the collection, a space. The idea is to get a sense of the emotional connection to the library.
For Patrons: What do you value most about your library? For Library Workers, What is your greatest source of pride at your library - this is what is more important to you. You may love the local history room, but you might really value access to technology or language learning or children’s programming, etc. The goal is a sense of the things people value in their relationship to the library.
For Patrons: What do you wish the library understood about you? For Library Workers, What do you wish patrons understood about the library - this is an opportunity to get at issues that may be unrecognized.
If you could change one thing about your library, what would it be? - this is a chance for people to provide ideas and desires.
Individually, each response provides a snapshot of a moment in time for a specific library. In aggregate, they can help build a clearer picture of an individual library, of libraries in a network or consortium, in a state, or region. For that to happen, we’ll need as much input from as many people in as many places as possible. We’ll also need and use technology to help tease trends out of unstructured data.
As information is available and examined, it will be shared. In the meantime, we’ll keep you updated and hope you’ll participate and encourage others to, as well!
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