What do the public want from libraries? Practitioner guide

This guide for library practitioners draws on a large scale piece of research into the attitudes and wants of library users and suggests ways forward for library professionals as well as offering a series of case studies. Key recommendations around the user experience include:

• Pay close attention to stock performance
• Stock selection is arguably a library’s most important set of choices
• Ensure an expanded offer (including coffee and training and employment support)
• ‘Extra’ offers can be used to attract new users, without incurring additional net expenditure and friends packages are an opportunity
• Use customer insight to make changes

Key recommendations around communication include:

• Build awareness of the full range of services
• Keep the brand in people’s minds
• Marketing needs leadership and a share of resources
• Grow the offer - if it fits with the brand 
• Keep in touch - with mailing list and digital marketing
• Segment and target the audience 

Key recommendations around libraries as public spaces include:

• Don’t lose (quiet) seated reading space
• Exploit larger spaces to entice target groups
• Managing the quality of the physical space is an important responsibility
• Involve library users in managing the space
• Libraries can offer themselves as gateways to other services