Int. Libr. Rev. (1980) 12, 213-215

INTERNATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF METROPOLITAN CITY LIBRARIES (INTAMEL)

(2) ALA Planning Process for Public Libraries British Test

R O B E R T F. A T K I N S *

I N T R O D U C T I O N

In 1977 the US Office of Education gave a contract to the American Library Association to carry out a project to develop and test a process which any public library could use in planning its services to meet the needs of the community it served. The ALA appointed Mr V. E. Palmour of King Research Inc. as Principal Investigator.

Mr Palmour and his assistants produced a draft manual to guide public libraries in carrying out their planning processes and this was the subject of the British test. 1

T h e manual consists of two volumes of text and a loose-leaf work- book. Volume 1 The Planning Process describes, step-by-step, a detailed method of carrying out explicit, goal-centred, participative planning. It deals with, for example, the selection of the planning committee, the collection of basic information, community profiles, and surveys of the attitudes of staff, citizens' groups and library users, etc. Then follow chapters devoted to developing goals and objectives, determining priorities, and assessing strategies for change. Volume 2 is a detailed set of instructions and examples to assist in the assembly, analysis and presentation of information.

B R I T I S H I N V O L V E M E N T

In the course of a project sponsored by the British Library Research and Development Department and carried out by the University of

* Sheffield City Libraries, Sheffield, England. 1 V. E. Palmour and Marcia C. Bellassai (1978). A Planning Process for Public Libraries. 3v,

King Research Inc., Rockville, Md. (not for distribution).

2!4 R.F. ATKINS

Durham in 19771, ~ contact was made between the Durham researchers and V. E. Palmour in the US. The project, entitled "Benefit Assessment for Systems Change (BASYC) in libraries and information services", was concerned with public library provision in Derbyshire and it became clear that the ALA and Durham teams had common research interests.

Thus tile idea of a British test of the ALA process was proposed by Dr John Hawgood of Durham University which resulted in the British Library Research and Development funding a six-month project to discover to what extent the American manual was applicable to public libraries in the UK and to suggest, as necessary, alterations.

Several library systems were approached by Durham University and tile two selected were Islington Borough Library (London) and Sheffield City Libraries.

THE SHEFFIELD PROJECT

The chosen topic was the review and planning of library needs in an area to the east of the city centre containing five branch libraries and in which plans for a further branch library were being formulated. The finance for this new branch library was being provided by the British government under its Inner City Development Scheme and the whole study area fell within the designated "inner city". As such, the area contained a number of problems including those associated with ethnic and other disadvantaged groups and the drift of residential population.

The planning team consisted of six members of staff chosen from different service points and levels of seniority under the chairmanship of the Deputy Director of Libraries, Mr D. W. Bromley. The Project Officer from Durham University was Lt Col W. E. M. Morris. The team met thirteen times at approximately two-weekly intervals. A Working Party, or steering group, was also formed under the Chairman- ship of the Chairman of the Libraries Sub-Committee of the City Council and included two other City Councillors, the Director of Libraries and other principal librarians, representatives of local communities, a trade union representative, the Durham team and the Principal Corporate Management Officer of the City Council. The working party met four times.

An early task of the planning team was adaptation of the ALA staff

1j. Hawgood and W. E. IV[. Morris (1978). Benefit assessment for systems change in libraries and information services: final report, BLRDD Report 5443. University of Durham. ISBN: 0-906443-00--8.

W. E. M. (1979). Benefit assessment for system change (BASYC) in libraries and inform- ation services: a research project in the public libraries field, Journal of Librarianship I0.

I N T A M E L 2 1 5

survey questionnaire to local requirements and for analysis by computer. This was followed by the identification of interest groups, listing of goals/objectives, developing strategies, etc.

In addition to the Staff Survey, surveys were taken on the views of citizen groups, library users and interest groups. The surveys were conducted by questionnaire, interview, or both. Interviews were carried out by members of the Planning Team and the Project Co- ordinator. Collation and analysis of responses was done either manually or by computer at Durham. Public meetings were held at each of the libraries in the planning area and in Darnall, where the new library is to be built. Two strategies were finally developed, one for the Darnall Branch Library and the other for all libraries in the planning area.

From all this activity, City Libraries' Management has acquired some valuable information for use in shaping future policies on pro- vision of services in both the existing libraries and in those planned. Side benefits have accrued, particularly from the meetings of the Working Party where the rapport between Councillors, staff and community representatives was remarkable, and from the public meetings which demonstrably improved relations with users.

These benefits were not acquired, of course, without cost. Although .in monetary terms the Durham University costs were covered by the British Library grant, Sheffield Libraries' staff time spent on the project was considerable, even if one accepts that some of this time would have been spent on development work in any case.

The test of the ALA Planning Process at Sheffield has shown that the process can be applied in the UK given certain amendments to account for differences in operation and provision of services. The impracti- cability of surveys by telephone in Britain is cited as an example by Lt Col Morris in his interim report. 1

Similar conclusions were reached at Islington. An opportunity for the exchange of views between the planning teams in both places was provided by the sponsorship of a joint meeting at Islington by the British Library Research and Development Department in June 1979, which was attended also by the two respective Chief Librarians.

W. E. M. Morris (1979). ALA Planning Process--UK test: report on British Library Research and Development project. University of Durham, 1979.