Feedback is essential for any library service that wants to improve its quality, relevance, and impact. But how can you collect feedback from your patrons in a way that is easy, effective, and respectful? In this article, you will learn about some of the easiest methods to get feedback from library patrons, as well as some tips and best practices to make the most of it.
Feedback is the information you receive from your patrons about their experiences, needs, preferences, and satisfaction with your library service. Feedback can help you understand what your patrons value, what they struggle with, and what they expect from you. Feedback can also help you identify gaps, problems, or opportunities for improvement in your library service. By listening to and acting on feedback, you can enhance your patron relationships, increase your patron loyalty, and demonstrate your accountability and responsiveness.
Have comment cards at all desks, and hand out comment cards after programs. Additionally, have a way to have people share comments digitally. Have a link on the website and post QR codes that link to the website comment section.
The key is making good relationships with Library Services people. The more you get closer, the more they will tell you what they really feel.
Asking for feedback from patrons can vary depending on your goals, resources, and context. Surveys are an easy method that can measure patron satisfaction, preferences, or opinions on specific aspects of your library service. You can use free or low-cost tools, like Google Forms, SurveyMonkey, or Typeform to create and analyze surveys. Suggestion boxes are another simple and anonymous way to collect feedback from patrons. These can be placed in the library or on the website, allowing patrons to drop comments, ideas, or complaints. Interviews are one-on-one conversations that can explore patron needs, experiences, or expectations in depth. Open-ended questions, probes, and active listening techniques can help you conduct effective interviews. Asking for feedback from patrons is beneficial in understanding their needs and improving your library service.
We have a little "Comments" box by the return slot in the Circulation desk that folks have been putting response sheets into because it's being advertised as "Giving Tuesday" promotion, and some comments are being posted on the library's Instagram page.
As a college librarian, I have a captive audience. In our school's LMS, our dean of academic affairs created an "Academic Advising Course" where faculty and staff post non-class announcements. Inside that course, I created a survey using the built-in assignment/test function. Here, I created a survey to measure responses to the various workshops. Although it is 100% voluntary, some students do respond. Furthermore, I kept the survey short - 6-8 questions max. The results are already inside the LMS course so I do not have to use any additional 3rd party software like Google Forms. In other words, leverage an LMS if you do have access. If you are a school librarian, why not use the LMS? It's already paid for.
Once you have collected feedback from your patrons, you need to analyze it to extract meaningful and actionable insights. To do this, you can organize your feedback data into categories, themes, or patterns using tools like spreadsheets, databases, or NVivo or Atlas.ti. Additionally, you can quantify the data by using statistics, charts, or graphs to show the frequency, distribution, or trends of your feedback with tools like Excel, Google Sheets, or Tableau. Furthermore, interpreting the feedback data involves explaining what it means, why it matters, and how it relates to your goals with logic, evidence, or theory. Finally, reporting the feedback data involves communicating your findings, conclusions, or recommendations to stakeholders with tools like PowerPoint, Google Slides, or Canva.
Regardless of how you collect data and feedback, it's important that analysis occurs in a timely manner and is shared across the library and other bodies, as if appropriate. When looking at responses, there should always be some review to ensure that the sample space of replies is significant enough before making major changes. For example, if there are 5 responses to a survey about a program and 3 are negative, that doesn't necessarily mean the presenter or the program topic are bad. Part of the analysis that is performed throughout the year allows for the library leadership to share statistics and representative quotes that could be incorporated into annual reports, strategic plans, and similar documents.
The final and most important step of getting feedback from your patrons is to act on it. This means using the feedback to inform decisions, actions, or improvements in your library service. To do this, you should acknowledge the feedback by thanking your patrons for sharing it and informing them of the next steps. Additionally, follow up on the feedback by updating them on the progress and results of your actions, and ask for further feedback or suggestions. Furthermore, implement the feedback by making changes, adjustments, or enhancements in your library service based on your data and analysis. Finally, evaluate the feedback by measuring the impact, effectiveness, or satisfaction of your actions against goals or objectives.
How to act feedback depends a lot on WHEN to act on the feedback. As a school librarian, I asked the students to evaluate our services at the end of the first semester. Our break lasts until the middle of January. In the meantime, I am able to look at the survey results. That gives me time to review the results with faculty and staff, brainstorm new ideas based on the feedback, so that when we start the new semester, our services are much more in tune with the students' expectations.
Gathering feedback from patrons is an easy and rewarding process. To make the most of this feedback, it's important to be clear about the purpose, scope, and expectations of your feedback. Additionally, respect your patrons' time and opinions by asking for feedback in convenient times and places. Also, be responsive to their feedback by listening to what they say and responding promptly. Finally, be open to their feedback and willing to learn from it, accept criticism, and embrace change. Collecting feedback from patrons is a great way to improve library services; by following these best practices, you can get the most out of your feedback.
Those involved in reviewing patron responses should include more than senior leadership. Staff and librarians responsible for access services, technical services, and other units benefit from participation. In an academic library, those evaluating responses may also include people (and not necessarily administrators) from other areas, such as teaching faculty, university relations/advancement, and similar areas to make sure that these areas know how library services are impacted by decisions made outside of the building.
When designing a plan to collect feedback, it's important to make sure you find a way to reach out to all potential patrons, not just those who physically enter the building. There are probably a handful of library users who always are willing to share their opinions and insight. There are others who may respond to a survey or comment card. However, the patron who has a library card and never enters the building, as well as prospective patrons who are eligible for services but never use them, should become part of the response pool, whenever possible. Find out what their needs are, why they do not use the resources, and learn if there are better outreach methods for them.