Sustainable QualityPublic Library Service

Andy Barnett Assistant Director - McMillan Memorial Library

Wisconsin Rapids

www.slideshare.net/mcmillanlibrary

Starting Out

• If you meet Buddha on the road, kill him

• Next practices not best practices

• The direction of change is more important than the pace of change

• Change is additive/addictive

• From an age of scarcity to an age of abundance

Are you on the right track?

• Five Laws of Library Science

• Benefits users, not just staff

• People first, then things

• Tech like you want/use at home

• Wow factor

Paco Underhill & Design

• Retail anthropologist

• Comfortable, easy, practical, fast

• Design as people management

• Design as theater

• If a TV crew was coming, what would you change?

Self-Service Options

• Self-service often best service

• Non-service isn’t

• Staffed self-check – like WalMart

• Staff, design, signage changes

Wayfinding

• Important piece of self-service

• Intuitive and self-navigable

• Design, layout and decoration

• Sightlines – patron and staff both

• Better signage / less clutter

• Clear service points

Display Oriented Library

• Display / merchandise as much as possible

• Genre collections

• Wayfinding and in-library users

• Develop browsing areas

• Size matters

• Implement incrementally

Implementation @ MCM

• Display shelving for New Book area

• Genre / subject collections of New Books

• Display shelving for AV

• Additional permanent genre collections

• Creating display areas wherever possible

• We still have stacks (so far)

• Three levels – new/stacks/system

Just in Time

• Originally an industrial concept

• Shared systems and delivery make it work

• Leaner local collection

• Three levels – library/system/ILL

• 80/20 rule?

Zoning

• Different zones = different purposes = different rulesets

• Children’s Room a common zone

• Unenforceable rules or missing mission

• Social/quiet zone often missing

Right size /staff

• Changes in operation should equal changes in staffing

• Libraries move slowly on staffing

• Right size = fewer staff

• Right staff = changed mix of staff

• Re-examine position descriptions

• Re-examine structure

• Volunteers

Commons @ MCM

• Social zone for all ages

• Dominant users vary by time of day

• A Children’s Room for adults and teens

• Food, drink and wireless

• Strict enforcement of rules

• Benefits other zones