The Evaluation and Measurement of Library Services

Evaluations of libraries and the services they perform are seen as important tools for library managers and stakeholders. However, too many library evaluations simply focus on the routine process of gathering inputs and outputs within the context of traditional service measurements. Unfortunately, very few libraries actively pair these internal evaluations along with customer satisfaction outcomes to form a management tool that can drive service improvements across the library as a whole.

In this book, Matthews describes the wide array of existing tools that can be used to evaluate any library service, and introduces the reader to newer tools designed to measure customer and patron outcomes. He outlines and argues for a broader and more robust adoption of evaluation techniques in order to help library managers combine traditional internal measurements, such as circulation and reference transactions, with more customer-centric metrics—how well patrons feel they are served, and how satisfied they are with the library branch. The result of this strategy is the ability to form a truer picture of the value of the library to its stakeholders and its patrons.