Mapping a Path to Successful Programs and Services

When planning programs and services, a good starting point is knowing when people are using the library. Door counts, circulation statistics, and program attendance can give you part of the picture, but they leave a lot of questions unanswered: What age groups are coming in at which times? How long do they stay? What do they do while they are at the library? 

Mapping is a simple but useful tool for getting a more complete picture. And even if you have a good sense of who is using the library, when they are using it, and what they are using it for, mapping that information will give you hard data to use when requesting funding or scheduling staff. 

First, print out or sketch the floor plan of your library. Because you are only using this as an informal tool for data collection, it doesn’t have to be attractive or done to scale. A rough sketch will do (see my example below!). Depending on the size of your library and what information you want to capture, you can include the whole library or just specific sections.

Make a bunch of copies; you’ll need at least 80 to 100 maps to get useful data. This may seem like a lot of work, but each map should only take a few minutes to complete. And the information you’ll get is definitely worth the small investment of time.

Throughout the day, walk around the library with your map, making general notes. You may want to include the number of people, their general age group, and what they are doing. In my example, I simply noted each young child (Y), elementary-age child (C), teen (T), and adult (A). Make sure to include the date and time of your observations on each map. 

Mapping is most useful when done regularly over several weeks so you can see patterns, while also accounting for anomalies. For example, you might normally get lots of students at the library on Sunday afternoons, but your maps show that on one Sunday the library was virtually empty. Was there a torrential downpour that day that kept kids at home? Or did their school have its annual carnival on that day? If you gather information for only a week or two, you might misinterpret your findings.

You also may want to repeat this process at different times of the year. You will likely get very different results during the school year than you will during the summer, for example.

After you’ve gathered several weeks of maps, analyze your findings: 

• When do children and families come to the library? Do your program times match up with when they are at the library? Are there times when you have lots of kids but no programs? 
• Where do your patrons go in the library? How do different age groups spread out across the space? Do kids spend time in the stacks, or do they stick to the communal areas around the periphery? Do you have information about programs and services in the places where the kids actually are?
• How are children and families using the library? Do kids come in by themselves or with their families? Do the families grab some books and go, or do they stay to read books, do coloring sheets, or play games? Are families using the library as a spot to meet up with friends?

For example, when I analyzed my maps, I found that we have lots of teens in the library on Sunday evenings, most of whom are doing schoolwork in groups. We often have so many that they wind up using the tables in the children’s area. We also get lots of families with rambunctious young children on Sunday evenings, especially in the winter. Based on that information, I decided to reserve our program room to use as a play area on Sunday evenings so the families can still enjoy the library without disturbing the teens who are trying to study. 

You might find that you have a lot of families that dash in on Friday evenings to get books for the weekend but then get stuck wandering around the stacks (and make a huge mess right before closing). Setting up a table with book bundles by the front desk could be a helpful service for them. Or you might discover that tweens aren’t attending your afterschool programs because they use that time to work on group projects for school. 

Give mapping a try in your library. With a small investment of time and material, you can gain big insights into your patrons.

Lisa Bintrim is a member of the ALSC School-Age Programs and Services Committee. She’s the head of children’s services at the Potomac branch of the Montgomery County (MD) Public Libraries.

This post relates to the following ALSC Core Competencies: Reference and User Services, Administrative and Management Skills

The post Mapping a Path to Successful Programs and Services appeared first on ALSC Blog.

 When planning programs and services, a good starting point is knowing when people are using the library. Door counts, circulation statistics, and program attendance can give you part of the picture, but they leave a lot of questions unanswered: What age groups are coming in at which times? How long do they stay? What do they do while they are at the library?  Mapping is a simple but useful tool for getting a more complete picture. And even if you have a good sense of who is using the library, when they are using it, and what they are using it for, mapping that information will give you hard data to use when requesting funding or scheduling staff.  First, print out or sketch the floor plan of your library. Because you are only using this as an informal tool for data collection, it doesn’t have to be attractive or done…
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