Public services are those activities undertaken by the library which benefit
the library user directly. These services often involve interaction between
library users and library staff.
This Administrative Essential covers:
- Library service philosophy
- Library service to children
- Library service to young adults
- Library service to adults
- Library service to people with special needs
- Reference and information services
- Public access computers
- Measuring library service
- Sources of additional information
- Library service philosophy
The public library which you direct is a public service organization. It is
supported by public tax dollars because it provides a benefit to the public. You
need to be ever mindful of this fact. Library services should be designed to
meet the needs of the public and to be as convenient and as easy to use as
possible. A retail model in which the library user is viewed as a customer is a
good one. You want to satisfy the needs of the customers of the library as fully
as possible. Although the customer is not always right, the library's customers
should always be treated with courtesy and understanding. The library staff
should always be friendly and helpful in serving the public.
The public library serves the entire community not just those who are current
users of the library. You need to develop strategies for making non-library
users into library users. Sometimes this involves extending the services of the
library beyond the walls of the library building. It also involves the marketing
of the library's services (See AE 18: Library Advocacy, Public Relations and
Marketing).
Since no library can do everything, it is important that you and the library
board establish service priorities for the library. This is especially the case
in smaller public libraries. For instance, many smaller libraries try to
emphasize their role as a popular materials center.
In directing and providing services to the public you need to take into
account that the library serves all age groups. Services are provided to people
throughout their lives, from birth to death. This presents a significant
challenge to you and the staff of your library. How you respond to this
challenge depends largely on the size of the library's staff and collection.
Library service to children
Services to children constitutes a substantial part of the services of every
public library but especially the services of small and medium sized public
libraries. Depending on the size of your library, you may or may not take an
active role in providing library service to children and young adults. Often,
another staff member will have a primary responsibility for library service to
this age group. Although you may not be the primary provider of service to
children, as director you should demonstrate leadership in this vital area by
providing encouragement and by seeing that adequate facilities and resources are
made available to those who do.
Within this age group there is a significant developmental span of which you
and the library staff must be aware. Collections and programming need to be
appropriate to the child's developmental stage. More and more public libraries
are developing services for children in the birth-to-five age group and to the
parents and caregivers of these children.
Programming is an essential part of library service to children and you need
to plan for this. These programs range from "lap sits" and "toddler time" to
pre-school story times and regular story hours. If you are someone on your staff
is not able to present children's programs, you may be able to recruit
volunteers from the community to assist with programs.
Use of the public library by children is especially high in the summer when
school is out. Your library will almost certainly participate in the DLTCL
sponsored statewide summer library program or a system sponsored program to
promote reading and library use in the summer. DLTCL and your system will assist
you planning for this important activity.
Library service to young adults
Large public libraries are most likely to have a special service program for
young people in their teens. However, even if your library is small it should
develop at least some services to respond to the needs of this age group. A
designated collection of materials selected to appeal to this age group would be
a good start. A library program or programs designed to appeal to young adults
is another way of serving this group. How about establishing a young adult
advisory group to help plan some activities or provide advice on library
services.
A primary reason for many young adults using the library is to gather
information for school assignments. You should work to make this a positive
experience for young adults. Work with teachers and school librarians to ensure
that students don't have false expectations of what kinds of resources are
available in your library.
Many schools now have student community service programs. Identify library
projects that students could assist with.
Library service to adults
You should know that adults constitute the library users group with the
greatest age span and that their library service needs will vary greatly. A
significant number of adults who come into the library are there to find a good
book or audio-visual item for themselves or someone in their family. You can
facilitate their search by effective arrangements and displays of your adult
collections of materials and by providing staff assistance.
If you are not already aware, you will soon be aware that many adults come to
the library to make use of its resources "in house". They may come for the
purpose of reading current magazines and newspapers which can't be checked out
or they may just come for a quiet place to study. Others are there to find
information on a particular topic (see "Reference and information services"
below).
Library service to people with special needs
There are people in your community who may be reluctant to use the library or
who may have difficulty using the library. These people fall into all age groups
and have a variety of special needs. Their special need may relate to poverty,
level of literacy, aging, mental illness, mobility, a speech or hearing
disability, a cognitive disability, or a vision disability. There is a growing
population in Wisconsin with limited or even no English speaking ability. You
need to be able to respond to the needs of these individuals for information and
library services.
DLTCL has identified six general strategies which you can use to overcome the
barriers to use by adults with special needs. Similar strategies can be used to
overcome barriers to use by children and young adults.
- Include adults with special needs and their families and advocates in
planning, implementing, and evaluating public library services.
- Welcome adults with special needs and their families and advocates to the
public library in a responsive, sensitive, and appropriate manner.
- Offer a diverse range of resources, services, and programs that are
relevant to the lives of adults with special needs and their families and
advocates.
- Collaborate with community agencies to provide the best possible services
to adults with special needs and their families and advocates.
- Ensure that public library collections, services, and buildings are fully
accessible and inviting to adults with special needs and their families and
advocates.
- Market public library services, collections, and programs to adults with
special needs, their families and advocates, and the community.
Reference and information services
One of the primary functions of a public library is to help library users
obtain the information they are seeking to satisfy a personal need. That need
may relate to a school assignment, a business or professional problem, a hobby,
or just curiosity about a particular topic. Although the library user may be
able to satisfy their information need on their own by consulting the library's
resources, often they will need additional assistance from the library's staff.
Sometimes the library user's information need is simple, but it may be more
complex. Your training and the training of your staff will determine how
successfully the complex information needs of library users are satisfied.
Therefore, it is imperative that you and your staff take advantage of continuing
education opportunities that will improve your skills in this area.
Even if your library has a limited onsite collection of reference materials,
you will have access to enormous reference and information resources through the
Internet. These resources include the DLTCL BadgerLink online databases of
thousands of magazines and newspapers.
Every Wisconsin public library participates in a public library system that
contracts with a resource library for reference assistance. If you or the
library's staff are unable to successfully satisfy a library user's information
need, you can seek assistance from the system resource library yourself or you
can direct the library user to the resource library for assistance. The state's
public library system resource libraries are in turn backed up by the DLTCL
Reference and Loan Library.
Public access computers
Your library will most likely have a number computer work stations for use by
the public. These work stations can be used to gain access to the library's
online catalog, to access online digital databases, and to gain access to the
Internet. The public demand for access to these workstations for the purpose of
accessing the Internet is usually very high. You will need to ensure that
library policies are in place to ensure the best use of these workstations by
the public. In particular your library needs to have an acceptable use policy
which outlines the parameters for accessing the Internet using library
computers. One significant issue which your library board will need to resolve
is whether computers in the library will be filtered or not (see AE 25 Freedom
of Expression and Privacy Policies). Because of the demand for Internet access,
you may need to establish procedures for scheduling use of computer
workstations.
Measuring library service
It is important to measure and evaluate the services of your library.
Information gained from measuring library services can be used to help you plan
for and deliver better library services. This information can also be useful to
you in justifying additional funding support for the library.
Every public library in Wisconsin is required to submit an annual report of
its activities to DLTCL. In order to complete this report you will need to
collect statistics on the services which your library provides to the public.
This information is then submitted to DLTCL over the Internet. DLTCL and your
public library system staff will provide substantial assistance to you in
collecting library statistics and in completing the library's annual report.
After your library's annual report is submitted to DLTCL, the information in it
is tabulated with the information from other libraries in Wisconsin and the
nation. The results can be used by you to compare your library with other
libraries of similar size. DLTCL also uses this data as a starting point in the
development of standards for public libraries.
Sources of additional information
Wisconsin Public Library Standards, Fourth Edition, 2005, DLTCL.
http://dpi.wi.govl/pld/standard.html
AE 9: Accessibility (http://dpi.wi.gov/pld/ae9.html)
The DLTCL Summer Library Program,
http://dpi.wi.gov/pld/slp.html
DLTCL publication: Adults With Special Needs: A Resource and Planning Guide
for Wisconsin's Public Libraries (
http://dpi.wi.gov//pld/specialasn.html)
DLTCL publication: Public Library Services for Youth with Special Needs: A
Plan for Wisconsin (http://.dpi..wi.gov/pld/ysnpl.html )
DLTCL Web page for public library statistics: http://dpi.wi.gov/pld/dm-lib-stat.html
Your library system staff:
http://dpi.wi.gov/pld/wisysdir.html
Division for Libraries, Technology, and Community Learning staff
http://dpi.wi.gov/pld/staff.html
______________________________
Administrative Essential: A Handbook for Wisconsin Public Library Directors was prepared by the Division
for Libraries, Technology & Community Learning. ©Copyright 2008 Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction.
Duplication and distribution for not-for-profit purposes permitted with this copyright notice.
For questions about this information, contact John K. DeBacher (608) 266-7270
Last updated on 6/25/2008 3:41:31 PM
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