FIVE YEAR PLAN
2002-2007
Five Year Plan -- Appendix C -- Part 1 -- Part 2 -- Part 3
Focus Group -- Major Themes -- Survey Results -- Overall Recommendations
APPENDIX C Part 1 --back to top
Focus group and survey summary report
January 2002
This summary will assist State Library leaders in the creation of a new five-year plan. Compiled by Chris Aesoph and Jim Kellar of The Aesoph Group, this report contains information gathered in both live focus group meetings across the State, and written surveys filled out by the same participants. Meetings were held in December 2001 and January 2002, in the communities of Winner, Yankton, Rapid City, Timber Lake, Sioux Falls, Watertown, and Huron.
Reporting begins with major themes that emerged during the seven focus groups, followed by highlights of the written surveys. Finally, recommendations are made at the conclusion of this document. The response of citizens to the focus groups was inspiring and energizing. To hear from satisfied and thoughtful library patrons is always beneficial. Citizen participants were consistently surprised and pleased to hear the impact our State Library has in serving citizens directly, and through the support of local libraries.
As observers, we were impressed by both the quality of each patron's thinking, and also the obvious care expressed by the State Library staff we encountered. We saw firsthand how State Librarians develop and support excellence through the staff of local libraries. The relationship between State Librarians and local librarians is vibrant and meaningful. Becoming a skilled and confident librarian is not a simple task. Librarians are asked daily to be resourceful in finding the best information, and discerning the most useful way to access and use that information. We heard, in ongoing conversations that have been in progress for years, how State Librarians build the skill and confidence of local librarians, many of whom are the sole source of objective information in their rural communities.
As we stopped and visited various libraries in small communities across the State, we became aware of the crucial role the library, and the librarian play in those communities. The library is the focal point for many, whether to help expand the horizons for children and adults, to provide the technology link to the outside world, or to provide a meeting place for community activities. Quality libraries and well-prepared librarians play an important role in keeping our citizens prepared to face both the world outside our State and our communities within, with the best information.
We are grateful to have been a part of the State Library's effort to hear from their constituents. We hope this information inspires and guides the State Library staff to continue the tradition of excellence they have established throughout the State of South Dakota.
Chris Aesoph and Jim Kellar
Major themes that emerged during the seven focus groups:
- Give me a real book.
Citizens attending the State Library focus groups are devoted to the notion of "real" books versus virtual information. They believe reading and researching are acts of exploration best suited to a brick and mortar format, especially if that format includes a spacious layout and comfortable chairs for participants. This theme emerged strongly at every focus group: Cyber-libraries are not going to replace the need for the libraries our State currently employs. If anything, the need for libraries across the State is growing. This is due to the fact that more information is being made available to people everywhere, while the average person's ability to discern the quality and reliability of that information is only starting to evolve.remains poor. Thus, the need for librarians grows as we are flooded with information from the Internet and other sources. Who better to help us decide what resources are credible, what information is questionable, and where to focus our search effort, than librarians?
Citizens voiced over and over again their faith in well-trained librarians to lead our populace to the best information. Bill Gates, in Business @ the Speed of Thought, p. 96, quoted Michael Dell, reminding us, "the internet doesn't replace people." Other citizens reminded the group of the inherent discomfort of snuggling with a child to read a computer screen. Libraries, and real books, provide countless hours of nurture between thousands of adults and children in our State, passing along not only the comfort and enjoyment of the experience, but also the skill of reading, learning, and use of imagination. It is a well-documented fact that education begins at home with our parents functioning as our first teachers. Brick and mortar libraries are an essential element in this early education process today and will continue to be in the foreseeable future.
The library as a center for what one focus group member called "free-choice" learning for adults was an intriguing idea. This theme resounded again and again as we listened to citizens discuss how to preserve and expand their local libraries, as the competition for resources grows more intense throughout our rural State. We were able to get a close look at the variety of needs being met in small communities by local libraries in concert with the resources of the State library and were able to understand the critical role both resources play in those communities. - The Library for Libraries
The option of having the State Library focus on their role as Library for Libraries was primarily a discussion held in the Sioux Falls focus group, where a number of library professionals were present. This group took a different flavor from other forums in which the participants were primarily citizens. The professional focus group had a more sophisticated understanding of the interaction between all South Dakota libraries, and how the State Library supports all the local efforts in both public and school settings.
When the professionals suggested ending all "direct" service by the State Library, they were picturing a State Library that could then focus on running more programs to support local libraries. By dispensing all of the books that the State Library now provides to other local branches, they reasoned that the State could be more focused on the task of developing local libraries, local programs, and especially, developing the skills of local staff. In subsequent focus groups, citizens who were presented with this option were not attracted to the idea. Keep in mind, many of these citizens attending were just beginning to understand how much the State Library currently provides. To ask them to understand that the State Library coordinates 30,000 loans to local libraries per year, and then within a few minutes to ask them to consider changing the scope of service, was perhaps expecting too much. It is safe to say that the professionals were much more open to the idea of closing the "book" section of the State Library than ordinary citizens were. - ?????????????
If the above condition persists, contact your Librarian.
The need for promoting and marketing Libraries at every level was expressed in every focus group. Our citizens apparently believe in the power of marketing. One participant suggested the headline above as a marketing scheme. When citizens in the groups heard some of the basic services provided by the State Library, and the numbers of patrons who access those services, citizens were both fascinated and appalled at their own lack of awareness. Citizens believe if our State Legislature had a clear idea of the impact our State Library has, funding would be much easier to access. Each group mentioned advertising, promotions, and personal outreach (i.e. giving Legislators an hour of access to a staff person at the resource desk) as a method to secure the Library's future. Citizens were very impressed with the scope and number of services provided by the State Library, and then rather possessive and passionate in their belief that these services must be both guarded and expanded. Promoting a general understanding of these services is a key to the future, they reasoned.
In several communities, participants noted the lack of understanding of the library system by those local and State officials who control funding for libraries. The groups all saw a need for some sort of initiative that would help re-acquaint legislators and local governmental officials with the services libraries can provide. - Economic Development
In the first focus group, the Mayor of Brandon explained his research that indicated a strong local library enhanced economic development of a City, and a fine facility was a key selling point in attracting new business to his community. He noted how the support of the State Library provided a foundation of quality programs and services for his local library to build upon. This insight bears noting since his reasoning won agreement from citizens in subsequent sessions.
In several other focus groups, the role of the local library in the development of the community was also noted. In the Timber Lake meeting, people spoke of a local technology center in a near-by community, which would combine with the library to connect their neighboring communities in new and innovative ways, to foster development of the area.
Survey Results
Results of the focus group written survey bear out the same conclusions as the tone of the meetings suggest: citizens attending these groups are devotees of their local libraries, and these participants are direct users of State Library services as well. Of particular note, it is significant that:
- Question #2: While they also use the news media and colleagues, 59% of these citizens use their local libraries early on in any average search for information (the highest category listed);
- During that same search, nearly the same number of people will access the Internet (either from that library or from home. ) Our conclusion from the above information is that home Internet access does not replace the services provided by the local library. Home access to Internet enhances the experience of obtaining information; it does not supercede the need for a library.
- Question #3: People still enjoy visiting the library with 60% preferring a library visit only 23% would prefer to obtain the information at home. Our conclusion is that people cherish the social and community aspects of library visits, and that they respect the advice of trained professionals and para-professionals in researching and discerning information.
- Question #4: Of these 100 citizens, 21% do not have Internet access from their homes. This fact is made more meaningful when we consider that the people taking time to attend these focus groups are for the most part, well off and well educated, compared with their neighbors in rural South Dakota. Our conclusion is no surprise: the need for computer and Internet access in the rural portions of our State is fantastic.
- Question #5: This answer again indicates the devotion of our citizens to the libraries in their communities: 55% would prefer to visit their library, while 45% prefer the research appear on their home computer.
- Question #6: Though we can't guarantee a response to computer training programs, this question indicates there is a strong interest on the part of adults in our State to the option of computer training provided by our Libraries.
Overall Recommendations:
- Educate our Legislature on the need-and the economic impact-of a strong local Library system in our State. Consider lunch and short tours of the State Library for Legislators, in small groups.
- Create Public Service Announcements for radio, television, and print, to expand awareness and promote the success of both local and State Library services.
- Stamp in every library book, video and magazine across the State: "If you would like to help provide more products like this to your friends and neighbors, consider becoming a Library donor today, or mention the library in your will."
- Study carefully the option of shifting the State Library focus from being a local library with books, to becoming a true "Library for Libraries" across the State. We recommend, should you pursue this option, that the current State Library building be retained and turned into a "local" library for the region it currently serves. Move the State Library to a separate location and allow that staff license to create programs that keep all our local libraries moving forward.
- Propose to the State Legislature the creation of more local libraries, placed strategically throughout the State. Regardless of the possibility of acceptance, the Legislature needs to know what the critical needs are.
- Review the goals listed on page 3 of the Statewide Plan for 1998-2002 to determine progress and decide which of those goals need to be carried forward into your new plan.
Overview -- Mission
Need 1 -- Need 2 -- Need 3 -- Need 4 -- Need 5
Summary -- Appendix A -- Appendix C
Appendix C Part 1 -- Appendix C Part 2 -- Appendix C Part 3