Friends of the Hazen Memorial Library Focus Group Project

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• Friends of the Hazen Memorial Library Focus Group
  Project
• Executive Summary
• Customer Perceptions of
• Hazen Memorial Library Programs and Services
• Prepared by
• Leslie P. Cady, Project Lead
• 1 May 2008

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THANK YOU
The Friends of the Hazen Memorial Library thank
the forty-two individuals who took time from
their busy schedules to participate in the focus
groups and share their perceptions about the
Librarys programs and services. As agreed, they
will remain anonymous. Many thanks go to those
volunteers whose contributions enabled the
successful execution of the focus group project.
The following table lists those volunteers as
well each individuals contribution area (s).
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ABOUT FOCUS GROUPS AND THIS REPORT
Focus groups are organized small group
discussions. They are "focused" in two ways.
First, the persons being interviewed are similar
in some way (e.g., Friends of the Library members
as a group, Tweens who regularly use the
library as a group). Second, the purpose of the
interview is to gather information about a single
topic or narrow range of topics guided by a set
of open discussion questions. The intent of
focus groups is to develop a broad and deep
understanding of the topic of interest rather
than a quantitative summary. The emphasis is on
insights, responses, and opinions rather than
specific facts. The result often is a richer
understanding of what is needed by customers,
what events they might find appealing or
appropriate, and what events really made a
difference for them and their families. The
following report summarizes perceptions of the
Hazen Memorial Librarys programs and services
based on the comments and opinions from the focus
groups conducted between March 7 and 20, 2008.
It includes a description of the project design,
methodology, and implementation of focus groups,
along with summarized focus group
findings. Summarized findings include key themes
heard from all five focus groups and key themes
heard within the individual groups. Quotations
have been supplied to support key themes.
Findings to aid in evaluating Library programs
and services have been organized within
tables. Focus groups are a research tool that
helps spot potential opportunities they do not
tell what to do. The Hazen Memorial Library has
numerous stakeholders and only a few people can
be reached with focus groups. Rather than
telling what to do, focus groups raise issues
that should be thoroughly discussed. The comments
of participants should be discussed and actions
taken around suggestions that make sense to the
Librarys stakeholders.
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OVERVIEW
Hazen Memorial Librarys Mission The mission of
the Hazen Memorial Library in Shirley,
Massachusetts is to offer free public library
service to the community in a friendly and
professional manner, and to respond to the
communitys reading, reference, and continuing
educational needs with books and other media. In
accord with this mission, the library offers
programs and services intended to reveal the joy
and advantages of reading and learning,
especially to young children. The Hazen Memorial
Library Board of Trustees and staff subscribe to
the concept of intellectual freedom and offer
their cooperation to other libraries and library
agencies.1 Introduction The Hazen Memorial
Library offers a variety of programs and services
to the public it serves. These programs fall
into three categories library-provided programs
and services that are grant-funded
staff-provided programs and services that are
salary funded, and Friends of the Hazen Memorial
Library-funded events. Offering programs and
services requires time, labor, personnel, and
monetary investments. To ensure Library customer
satisfaction during this time of tight budgets,
it is more critical than ever to ensure that
allocated investments give the most value to the
customer. The Friends of the Hazen Memorial
Library undertook the focus group project as a
volunteer effort. It took 397.75 volunteer hours
to complete. With the full support of the
Director of the Hazen Memorial Library, the study
sought to determine how to best use the Librarys
limited resources to meet the publics
needs. The Friends of the Hazen Memorial Library
will use the information to decide event value
and identify actions to make any needed
improvements. The Director of the Library will
use the information gathered to help decide what
direction to pursue for the Librarys long-range
programs and services. 1Excerpted from the
Hazen Memorial Librarys Long Range Plan 2001
2006.
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OVERVIEW
Background Since 1996, the Friends of the Hazen
Memorial Library in collaboration with Library
management and staff have run a number of events
for Library customers. Events are held at the
Library, free of charge, and generally well
attended. Attendance, anecdotal comments from
attendees, and inputs from Friends of the Hazen
Memorial Library officers and members who attend
meetings have been used to improve, continue or
discontinue specific events. Prior to this
project, no formal method of collecting customer
feedback had been employed to determine the
events value to Library customers or if the
associated investments had been effective.
Neither the Friends of the Hazen Memorial Library
membership at large nor the Library customers at
large had been involved in the Friends of the
Hazen Memorial Library event process. Leslie
Cady proposed the focus group project as a way of
asking for Library customers opinions about the
events. The Friends of the Hazen Memorial
Library agreed and approved the proposal, and
then a sub-committee commenced the
project. Coincidently, the Librarys long range
planning process is beginning. The Hazen
Memorial Librarys Director, Debra Roy, desired
customer input to guide the planning. By
broadening the project scope and revising the
focus group questions to include both Friends of
the Library- and Library-provided programs and
services, the project was able to fulfill both
customer input requirements.
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PROJECT DESIGN AND METHODOLOGY

• Project Design
• Volunteers designed, planned, and executed the
  Hazen Memorial Library Focus Group Project. Both
  Friends of the Hazen Memorial Library members and
  Library management and staff comprised the
  six-person project planning committee.
  Additional volunteers provided assistance with
  focus group participant invitation and reminder
  calling, video recording, conversion of focus
  group video tapes to computer discs, food set
  set-up, and participant thank-you notes.
• Purpose and Objectives
• The purpose of this study was to gather Library
  customers and Friends of the Library
  memberships opinions to inform decision making
  about Library programs and services.
• The objectives were to
• Evaluate the effectiveness of existing Library
  programs and services and associated investments
  and
• Determine if and how the Friends of the Hazen
  Memorial Library membership at large want to be
  involved in the
• Friends of the Hazen Memorial Library event
  process.
• Method of Study
• The focus group method of data collection was
  used. An analysis was conducted to determine
  what customer groups (stakeholders) use the
  Librarys programs and services, and a
  stakeholder map was created. Six key customer
  groups from the Librarys programs and services
  stakeholders were selected. Individuals from the
  following six customer groups were invited to
  focus groups
• Parents of Pre-School Children,
• Senior Citizens,
• Town Government/Business Leaders and Hazen
  Memorial Library Trustees,
• People Interested In Programs For Adults, and
• Members of the Friends of the Hazen Memorial
  Library.

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PROJECT DESIGN AND METHODOLOGY

• Recruitment of Participants
• All potential focus group participants were
  individuals who use the Librarys programs and
  services. To be eligible, individuals had to
  meet basic criteria, that included being
• A user of Hazen Memorial Librarys programs and
  services, and
• A member of the specific Library stakeholder
  group being interviewed.
• Construction of Study Instrument
• Five moderators guides were constructed to guide
  the group discussions. Each guide included nine
  open-ended questions customized for the specific
  group and designed to encourage participants to
  describe their experiences with the Librarys
  programs and services.
• Deployment of Study
• The five focus group interviews were conducted
  in-in person at the Hazen Memorial Library
  meeting room. Leslie Cady moderated all five
  focus groups to ensure consistency of note taking
  and group facilitation process. Two hours were
  allotted for each focus group that included time
  for the participants to eat, the moderators
  introduction, and 1.5-hours for discussion.
• All focus groups were video recorded solely to
  validate the accuracy of statements recorded
  during the session for use in the analysis and
  report. To encourage candor, participants were
  guaranteed anonymity, that their names would not
  be linked to their comments. Participants were
  told that the information they shared would be
  made public so that any needed follow up action
  could be taken.
• Responses
• Fifty-four individuals agreed to attend focus
  groups forty-two participants attended.
• Analysis Procedures
• Participants responses were transcribed verbatim
  during the interviews. Quotations have been
  supplied to support the key themes. The video
  recordings were used to validate verbatim
  accuracy. The transcribed responses were
  compiled by question, and recurring themes
  identified. For the purpose of the analysis, two
  or more similar responses constitute a data theme.

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KEY THEMES ALL GROUPS

• The findings below represent the common themes
  that were heard across all five of the group
  discussions.
• The majority of focus group participants are
  satisfied with the Library programs and services
  they use.
• While one or more participants in each group
  commented they were unaware that the Library
  offered all the programs and services it does,
  they are happy with the ones they use.
• I havent had to go to another library because
  they get all I need.
• All of the programs are great none should be
  eliminated.
• The Hazen Memorial Librarys staff is warm,
  attentive, and helpful.
• Most participants agreed that the Hazen Librarys
  staff is gracious, helpful, efficient, and set a
  tone that makes the Library feel warm, welcoming,
  and safe. Participants are pleased by the
  personalized service. Participants who are
  parents appreciate that the Hazen Library
  tolerates a decent volume of noise from their
  children.
• You cant beat the staff here. It is
  outstanding. They are willing to help you. The
  Library has a good staff and Im sure a lot of
  that could be attributed to her the Library
  Director. Ive never seen such a friendly,
  efficient staff in places like this in all my
  life.
• Way at the top of the list is the staff it has
  got to be the best! They keep track of what
  youre reading. Im reading the Hamish MacBeth
  series, and she had the whole list of titles and
  as I returned one she had the next one ready!
• The focus group participants are supportive of
  the Hazen Memorial Library.
• It is not surprising that participants expressed
  support for the Library since the focus group
  participant lists were comprised by individuals
  who use the Librarys programs and services.
  However, the extent to which this support was
  expressed across all five groups is notable.
• I just love this library and take full
  advantage of it, and I see this meeting as a way
  to give back.
• Im sure I could avail myself more of the
  Librarys programs and services, but I have a
  historic dedication to a library in general and
  to Hazen specifically.
• This library is money well spent, not just for
  the children, for everybody.

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KEY THEMES - BY GROUP

• The findings on the following seven pages
  represent common themes within each of the focus
  groups (i.e. Senior Citizens and Parents of
  Pre-School Children) examined in this study.
  This page summarizes the common themes from the
  Parents of Pre-School Children group discussion.
• All eight parents of pre-school children agreed
  that pre-schoolers needs are socialization and
  interaction with others, and beginning to pay
  attention. Some indicated that activities that
  involve movement are important for this age group
  as well as learning to play act, and mimic or
  imitate.
• Six participants agreed with the comment that
  during the winter, they would like their
  pre-schoolers to attend any program with music
  and that gets them moving, and four agreed they
  would like their children to attend programs
  targeted at Dad and kids.
• Three of this focus groups participants
  expressed that all of the Librarys Programs and
  Services are most beneficial, and three
  considered the museum passes most beneficial.
  Also roughly half of this group perceives the
  fines for overdue books system outdated and
  suggested that it be revamped.
• All participants perceived that the Librarys
  programs do not address ages seven to eleven.
  Their suggestions for addressing this age group
  included a program for seven-year olds or older
  that introduces them to the Librarys computer
  and how to use it to search for information in
  the Library. For kids older than five years,
  suggestions included writing their own books,
  listening to a story and then discussing it, and
  a book club for kids. Two participants suggested
  adding a few higher quality toys, such as a
  microscope.
• I think the Mother Goose on the Loose Story Time
  is fantastic. It addresses socialization,
  interaction, and beginning to pay attention to
  stories.
• Any type of performance that ties into the
  literary or illustrates a book or helps it come
  to life is important. Acting and dancing are
  always exciting ways for little kids to get
  involved in literature.
• How about a Saturday afternoon Dad/child
  activity? One Saturday a month Dad brings the
  kids to a story time specifically for them. It
  gives a break to the Moms, and Dads need to be
  positive role models as far as literature and all
  that.

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KEY THEMES - BY GROUP

• This page summarizes common themes within the
  Senior Citizens group discussion.
• Most of the twelve senior citizens seemed pleased
  with their access to the Library for recreational
  activities, such as using the Library facility to
  play bridge, or using the meeting room for social
  gatherings like the rug hooking group. One
  participant recalled a Library event when a
  dietician or nutritionist from Hannafords spoke
  about eating healthy. There was a fifteen-minute
  discussion about seniors needs, for which nearly
  all participants agreed the Shirley Council on
  Aging would be the appropriate provider of
  programs and services, and that there may be some
  opportunities for partnership or collaboration
  between the Library and the Council on Aging.
• There were no themes in the seniors list of
  programs they would be interested in attending,
  nor among the programs and services they perceive
  the Library should offer.
• One third of the participants perceived The
  Childrens Room as the most beneficial service,
  and three of the group commented that the museum
  passes were most beneficial to them. All the
  senior citizen participants agreed that none of
  the programs were outdated, and none should be
  eliminated.
• A lot of needs of the seniors, I dont believe
  are in your department as a Library. I think
  the Council on Aging would do a better job
  because a lot of people I know and see need a
  place to go to watch television, read newspapers,
  play cards, to spend time with others our age. I
  dont know that the Library could handle that
  kind of traffic. I dont think the Library
  should take up the slack for a senior center.
• The museum passes. I hope these will be
  continued. It makes visits possible for parents
  and grandparents with children.
• All of the programs are great none should be
  eliminated.

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KEY THEMES - BY GROUP
This page and the next two summarize common
themes within the Town Government / Business
Leaders and Library Trustees group discussion.
For easier reading, comments immediately follow
their related paragraphs. The eleven Town
Government / Business Leaders and Library
Trustees participants were asked to comment about
area residents needs that Library programs and
services should meet. Both needs identified were
for area children increasing math and science
knowledge for all children, and facilitating
inclusion and socialization among seventh,
eighth, and ninth graders. The after school
teens club funded by the Teens and Tweens
grant was acknowledged and complimented for its
benefits to this age group. For children, weve
heard from the schools in this country that were
having particular problems educating them in math
and science anything that helps us do that to
improve SATs so that can get into college. The
age group for seventh, eighth, and ninth graders
is a hard one. Its and age where they are
always being told what they cannot do. The need
is to make them feel included. The Town
Government / Business Leaders and Library
Trustees were also asked to comment about the
ways in which the Library programs and services
are fulfilling area residents needs and the
value those programs and services bring within
the variety of services offered to Shirley
residents. The skilled, accommodating staff and
contribution to Shirleys sense of community were
the two prominent themes of the fulfilling area
residents needs discussion. Additional comments
referenced the fact the meeting room at the
Library is well used. The staff is very
accommodating. Weve heard that people came from
far way to Hazen because theyre treated so
well. The Childrens Librarian is terrific she
relates well with all age groups. The Library
Director is very good at making sure she spends
her funds wisely shes very good at making sure
her purchases get the most for the dollars
spent. We did a survey and asked whats most
important to people. They said quality of life.
I think the Library is doing a great job of
contributing to that sense of community.
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KEY THEMES - BY GROUP
Town Government / Business Leaders and Library
Trustees group discussion (Continued). The
perceived value the Library brings to area
residents is that the Library is a community
center for Shirley and the center of the
community, as well as a learning center for the
community. This groups participants also
perceive that Shirley residents value the skills,
dedication, and credibility of the Librarys
management and staff. I cant imagine what this
community would be like without the
Library. The Library is in a unique position to
reach out to area residents as the Community
center for Shirley. The Library is the center
of the community. Early literacy there is no
greater gift than that to any community. People
come here because they want to not because they
have to. Since information from this study will
be used for the Librarys long range planning
process, it was important to hear the Town
Government/Business Leaders and Library Trustees
opinions about the challenges the Library faces
over the next 3-5 years, and ways those
challenges can be overcome. All participants
agreed that funding would be the Librarys
biggest challenge over the next three to five
years. The implications being, if funding is cut
too deeply the Library will lose its
accreditation and eventually close. Financing
is the Librarys biggest challenge for the next
3-5 years. Shirley is in the red like other
communities. In the next three to five years, I
think well be having a hard time keeping these
organizations afloat. Im really concerned that
were constrained by money. Im afraid well cut
so much that well lose our accreditation and as
a result lose our library. If you lose your
accreditation you cant use libraries in other
towns either.
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KEY THEMES - BY GROUP
Town Government / Business Leaders and Library
Trustees group discussion (Continued). A
twenty-minute discussion was held about ways to
overcome the funding challenge. A key theme
regarded the need for the Library to become more
political, that is, to line up its supporters and
ensure they go to town meetings when the Library
is requesting funding. The second theme was
fundraising and various suggestions were made
including a silent auction, penny drive, and
inviting local authors to hold book
signings. Make sure you have constituents at
town meeting. My experience is to make sure your
constituents know what youre doing and see it as
valuable. Youll be okay if your constituents
see you as valuable. Show up at town meeting.
The financial pots just so big and the Librarys
so small a part of it that you dont have much of
a chance against a big pull like the school
unless you have a supporting constituency.
More aggressive fundraising would probably be
successful. If you look at the trends around the
quality of life, peoples feeling about a library
is like about a public park or a garden and they
would be willing to attend fund raisers to keep
it open.
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KEY THEMES - BY GROUP

• This page summarizes common themes within the
  People Interested in Adult Programs group
  discussion.
• The needs identified by people interested in
  programs for adults group included a desire to
  connect and socialize with others of the same age
  as well as with mixed age groups continuing
  education, such as art classes and personal and
  professional development activities, such as how
  to be a facilitator, or other general skills
  enhancement.
• All seven participants agreed that they would be
  interested in attending a lecture or
  demonstration series with local people. They
  generated a list of over a dozen topics
  including, drawing, martial arts, financial
  things such as how to use Quick Books or Quicken
  software, jewelry making, and growing vegetables.
  Also all participants in this group considered
  the Librarys staff to be the most beneficial
  service.
• Two participants commented about books on tape.
  One perceived that the selection is not good the
  other suggests revisiting the policy about not
  taking donated tapes if they are abridged. This
  group is the only one that mentioned the
  Librarys hours one participant suggested more
  evening hours. There were no themes among the
  comments about what programs not currently
  offered that the Library should provide.
• Middle adults need to connect. It used to be
  that everybody lived in a village, but we dont
  anymore. Too many people are isolated today.
• Im a big fan of personal and professional
  development art classes, like drawing, or how
  to be a facilitator general skills that anyone
  could use.
• I live in Lancaster and belonged to the Harvard
  Library for 20 years. Then I came here and felt
  like I came home. I love the people here.
  Theyre always able to talk about books.
• They the staff know me I almost dont have
  to give them my library card.

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KEY THEMES - BY GROUP
This page summarizes common themes within the
Members of the Friends of the Hazen Memorial
Library group discussion. Socialization events
for adults, caregivers, and for the physically
challenged, and information to help prepare for
retirement were the needs identified. At the end
of this discussion, it was agreed by the four
participants that these functions to meet these
needs may be outside the parameters of the
Library, but they came to mind because the
Library has a meeting room. All four participants
in this group considered the Librarys staff to
be the most beneficial service. One of the
studys objectives was to determine if and how
the Friends of the Hazen Memorial Library
membership at large want to be involved in the
Friends of the Hazen Memorial Library event
process. All four focus group members agreed
that posting a monthly list of volunteer
opportunities would be desirable. They suggested
describing each opportunity and listing
individual tasks involved to enable volunteers to
choose tasks that fit into their schedules. Two
participants expressed the opinions that an
astronomy program and a posting of volunteer
opportunities should be provided. Pertaining to
the ways they would participate in the making the
events successful, focus group participants
suggested a posting a list of clearly defined
tasks and letting volunteers self-organize to
accomplish them. In addition, they suggested
extending the reach for volunteers to senior high
school students who are interested in completing
community service hours required for
graduation. We live in a small town and there
are not a lot of functions that are strictly
social, and stimulating, and apolitical that are
just enjoyable and that give you the opportunity
to get together with adults in some kind of a
social setting. The vast majority of people
willing to do some volunteering dont want to
come to meetings, but if you solicited people to
help with specific things you might get more
people to help. And that would get more people
into the library, a different segment
maybe. Post the volunteer opportunities list in
the newspaper, being very specific about the
task. This will allow people to decide if they
can fold napkins for the tea, or clean up after
the tea, or set up before the tea.
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EVALUATING PROGRAMS AND SERVICES
The first objective of this study was to gather
information that will aid in evaluating the Hazen
Librarys programs and services. In no particular
order, this page lists the programs and services
the collective focus group participants perceived
to be the most beneficial, as adding value, and
those perceived as outdated and could be
eliminated. For programs / services mentioned by
multiple people, the number of responses is
indicated in parentheses next to the item.
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EVALUATING PROGRAMS AND SERVICES
All participants were pleased with Hazen
Librarys programs and services that they use and
many were surprised that the Library might add to
the existing list. This page and the following
three show the wish lists of potential
improvements and potential programs / services
participants should the Library choose to change
current offerings. The items listed are in no
particular order. For programs / services
mentioned by multiple people, the number of
responses is indicated in parentheses next to the
item.
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EVALUATING PROGRAMS AND SERVICES
Wish lists of potential programs / services
participants should the Library choose to change
current offerings. (Continued).
19
EVALUATING PROGRAMS AND SERVICES
Wish lists of potential programs / services
participants should the Library choose to change
current offerings. (Continued).
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EVALUATING PROGRAMS AND SERVICES
Wish lists of potential programs / services
participants should the Library choose to change
current offerings. (Continued).
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FRIENDS OF THE LIBRARY INVOLVEMENT
The second objective of this study was to
determine if and how the Friends of the Hazen
Memorial Library membership at large want to be
involved in the Friends of the Hazen Memorial
Library event process. The following summarizes
the Members of the Friends of the Hazen Memorial
Library focus group discussion. What It Takes to
Make Programs Successful All four focus group
members agreed that posting a monthly list of
volunteer opportunities would be desirable. They
suggested describing each opportunity and listing
individual tasks involved to enable volunteers to
choose tasks that fit into their schedules.
Suggested locations for listing the volunteer
opportunities included the newspaper, and on an
easel inside the Library. The vast majority of
people willing to do some volunteering dont want
to come to meetings, but if you solicited people
to help with specific things you might get more
people to help. And that would get more people
into the library, a different segment maybe.
Use a board on an easel to list the volunteer
opportunities for the month. You could have
envelopes containing descriptions of each
opportunity. Post the volunteer opportunities
list in the newspaper, being very specific about
the task. This will allow people to decide if
they can fold napkins for the tea, or clean up
after the tea, or set up before the tea. Use a
phone calling tree to reach out to the Friends
community. Help From The Friends The Members
of the Friends of the Hazen Memorial Library
focus group suggested publicizing a list of
clearly defined tasks and letting volunteers
self-organize to accomplish them. In addition,
they suggested extending the reach for volunteers
to senior high school students who are interested
in completing community service hours required
for graduation. All wed need is a list of what
is needed and some of us could run with it. You
could have a variety of people who are interested
in cleaning up the lawn or putting on a coat of
fresh paint, or buy a gallon of paint, or putting
the painting drop cloths down. Avail yourselves
of senior high school students. Ayer High has a
mandated number of community service hours
required for graduation. They could help little
kids with the computers. Its a great way to get
kids into the library. Theyll see something and
once they pick it up theyll get excited about
coming back.
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RECOMMENDED NEXT STEPS
Recommendations For The Friends Of The Hazen
Memorial Library Leadership
Recommendations For The Hazen Memorial Library
Management

• Review the report carefully. Note any questions
  you have and obtain answers to them.
• Put the focus group information in context.
  Refer to the project purpose statement and
  analyze the answers or insights the focus groups
  gave you.
• Schedule a meeting to review the summaries and
  discuss their implications.
• Decide what additional action is required.
• Take action on the priority items.

• Review the report carefully. Note any questions
  you have and obtain answers to them.
• Put the focus group information in context.
  Refer to the project purpose statement and
  analyze the answers or insights the focus groups
  gave you.
• Schedule a meeting to review the summaries and
  discuss their implications with the staff.
• Compare the focus group data against the data you
  have. Compare the lists of wanted programs and
  programs that should be provided with the
  Librarys existing programs and services.
  Eliminate existing programs from the focus group
  lists. You might decide to divide this activity
  among the staff.
• Highlight the main themes, issues, problems, or
  questions that arose in the focus groups.
  Discuss and record how you will address these.
• Prioritize the information. Then decide what
  actions are needed with regard to the priority
  items.
• Determine what you will communicate about the
  actions you will take and not take. Then
  communicate it.
• Take action as required on the priority items.