APPENDIX 2
CHECKLISTS (FROM BUILDING BETTER LIBRARIES)
A. FOR CHALLENGING
SERVICES
Availability of books and information services
— Is a wide range of up-to-date stock
available and is it in good condition?
— Are copies of popular books available?
— Do minority groups have access to
adequate books, periodicals and information services (held locally
or council-wide)?
— Is best use made of existing stock
(through effective stock management)?
— Is a good range of information (for
example, databases of local clubs and societies, access to information
on council services) available and accessible?
— Is there adequate provision of internet
and other ICT services?
Accessibility: opening times, location, physical
access
— Are libraries available when people
want? (Have weekend and evening opening been properly considered?)
— Are there regular opening hours that
people understand and remember?
— Is best use made of mobile libraries?
— Are there opportunities to make services
more accessible by sharing buildings with other organisations?
— Could better use be made of ICT to
provide access to services when libraries are closed?
— Are there plans to ensure that all
libraries are accessible to disabled people?
Improving the experience: making libraries a welcoming
space
— Are books and information attractively
displayed (for example, tidy shelves, bookshop style displays)?
— Is stock arranged in ways that best
meet the needs of users (for example, integrating lending, reference
and audio-visual stock)?
— Are books and information easy to
find (good signage and labelling of shelves, classification systems
that people can understand)?
— Are staff helpful, welcoming and
sensitive to the needs of different users?
— Are other services provided (coffee
shops, toilets, baby-changing facilities) where appropriate?
— Does the service provide access to
other council services (one-stop-shop facilities, travel permits,
council tax)?
— Does the design of the service reflect
the needs of different groups of users—families (for example,
with young children in pushchairs), older people, and minority
groups?
Raising awareness
— Is there a clear customer charter/standard
outlining the books, information and other services that people
can expect, as well as service quality?
— Do infrequent users get a good impression
of the service when they visit? Are they encouraged to join?
— Is there adequate external signage
and publicity materials?
— Is there a clear marketing strategy
for raising awareness of services among non-users and infrequent
users?
— Is there effective outreach work
with specific minority groups (for example, travellers, and asylum
seekers)?
B. FOR DELIVERING
IMPROVEMENTS
Challenging and deciding what the service is for
— Has the council challenged why the
service is needed and formulated a clear vision for its future?
— Is there a policy on the services
to be provided to different communities? Is it specific enough
to test provision against?
— Are services tailored locally to
meet the needs of communities (for example, by providing learning
facilities, welfare advice or meeting rooms)?
— Is the library service contributing
to council priorities (for inclusion, education, health, etc)?
Does it need to raise its profile?
Challenging how services are provided and resources
are used
— Is the scope of review work wide
enough to rethink the whole service? Is effective use made of
challenge from outside the service and the council?
— Is good practice identified and implemented
(through benchmarking or by learning from elsewhere)?
— Is effective use made of competition
and partnership to drive service improvement?
— Have stock management and other processes
been challenged to identify savings and to make services easier
to use?
— Have staff roles and skills been
challenged against service priorities? Is best use made of staff
skills (for example, choosing specialist stock)?
Engaging with the public
— Has the service developed effective
relationships with user groups and reached out to community groups
that represent potential users?
— Are services challenged from the
users' point of view? Are barriers to access and competition from
bookshops understood?
— Does consultation cover non-users
and priority groups? Does it engage them effectively and identify
barriers to use? Are the results acted on?
Involving elected members and staff
— Are staff, unions and elected members
engaged early on in the process of service review and change?
— Are elected members engaged in planning
library services? Are they working constructively with staff and
local people to agree priorities and deliver improvements?
— Is there clear leadership and commitment
to deliver user-focused services?
— Are staff deployed in teams that
reflect their skills? Are teams, as well as individuals, developed
and held accountable?
Improving planning and performance management
— Is service provision mapped against
community profiles to identify target groups and set targets?
— Does the service understand its costs?
Does it have sustainable plans for the ICT and buildings? Is there
clear commitment to the resources identified in plans?
— Is the implementation of improvement
and library plans monitored by elected members and senior officers?
— Are initiatives evaluated and measured
in terms of their impact on visits, loans, membership or their
contribution to council priorities?
— Are there clear lines of accountability
for the use of resources? Are managers held responsible for local
targets and national standards? Are standards and targets clear
to staff and communicated plainly to users?
November 2004
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