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Mendham Township Library

(MTL) Community Survey

Survey Results Nov 13-25, 2013

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The MTL Strategic Planning Committee worked with Stillman School of Business (Seton Hall) Graduate Students to gather community feedback for the

Strategic Plan

Seton Hall Students• Chase Laster – Team Lead• Joe Tkac• Christine Butterfield• Alexandra McClure• Janice Tang

MTL Strategic Planning Committee

• Bonnie Mangold – Team Lead• Stephanie Cotton• Peter Dumovic• Tara Skirzenski• Christine Strobel• Amy Vaccaro

The Strategic Planning Committee engaged with Seton Hall’s Stillman School of Business to do Market research as part of their Marketing Curriculum. The Strategic Planning Committee was fortunate to work with an excellent group of Graduate Students

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Business Issue & Research Objectives

What can MTL do to meet the current needs and future expectations of Mendham Township/Borough as an educational

and social community resource?

• Business Issue presented by the MTL Board– Discover what was needed and/or wanted by the local community and

current users in order to prioritize limited resources

• Research Objective– To provide solid evidence for the content of the MTL’s 5-year plan,

showing how the MTL can fully satisfy its current users and draw in new users

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Robust Data enable Valid Conclusions due to Solid Methodology And Excellence Response

• Phase I– Conducted qualitative research by interviewing locals offsite

• Phase II– Conducted a quantitative on-line survey using Qualtrics In Nov 2013– Respondents were recruited via the Library and Mendham Township

email lists, personal email lists, pop-up survey window on the Library website, and book markers given to patrons in the Library

– 409 Respondents (345 users and 64 nonusers)– Income level and age was consistent with 2010 census of Mendham– Fewer males (26%) than females (74%) answered the survey– 64% had children or grandchildren living in the area

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Results & Key Insights:MTL Is a Cornerstone of the Community

• It is clear that the MTL is a cornerstone of the local community– “enhance the role of the library as a community center”

ranked 2nd most important goal (122 respondents ranked most or second most important)

– answers involving “community” came up frequently for the question “Are there any other areas of strength..?”

• Staff and Programs also a big plus

Staff is a clear strength along with programs-Space and e-book selections need improvement

Number of Responses

302

129

183

91

67

185

178

304

227

201

160

175

163

300

98

155

Percent of Respondents

Needs Improvement

Strengths or Meets Needs

Q12. . Please indicate whether you feel the following areas need improvement or are a strength of the Mendham Township Library if the user had indicated their use of the service in Q9. Question to Users only

Community Rankings for Improvement and Strengths(Lower numbers are better)

Areas Needing Most Improvement

1. Overall Interior of Library (2.0)2. Meeting Space (2.5 )3. Space for Children’s programs

(2.6)4. Quiet Space (3.2)5. Space for Adult Programs (3.3)

Areas of Greatest Strength

1. Staff (1.6)2. Book Selection (1.9)3. Children Programs (2.6)4. DVD Selection (3.4)5. Adult Programs (3.5)

Q Please rank the following based on what you said needed improvement, 1 being needs the most improvement – Means are shown for those areas with 40 or more responses. Lowest numbers need most improvement . Number of responses for Improvement 1 = 56; 2 = 52; 3 = 40, 4 = 47, 5 = 42;Please rank the following based on what you said was a strength, 1 being the biggest strength of the library. . Number in parenthesis is mean with lower numbers more important. Number of responses for Importance 1 = 102, 2 = 45, 3 = 34, 4 = 27, 5 = 25. Questions to Users only

Areas of Greatest Importance to Patrons are similar to the most used services

(Lower numbers are better) Areas of Greatest Importance

1. Books from MTL (2.2)2. Interlibrary Loan (2.7)3. DVDs (3.9)4. Children Programs (4.0)5. Audio Books (4.1)6. Access Library Remotely (4.4)7. Magazines/Newspapers (4.4)

Most Used Services1. Books from MTL (1.0)2. Interlibrary Loan (1.2)3. DVDs (1.3)4. Access Library Remotely (1.4)5. Magazines/Newspapers (1.5)6. Audio Books (1.6)6. Attend Adult Programs (1.6)6. Use Library Computers (1.6)7. Attend Children’s Programs (1.7)7. Quiet Space (1.7)8. Space to work or have meetings (1.8)9. Attend teen programs (1.9)

Q11 Please rank the items below in terms of importance to you, 1 being the most important. Number in parenthesis is mean with lower numbers more important. Number of responses for Importance 1 = 311, 2 = 251, 3 = 236, 4 = 103, 5 = 138, 6 = 208 7 = 147. Question to Users onlyQ 9 9. Please indicate if you use the any or all of the services below.

Results & Key Insights: Facilities

• Survey respondents indicated an interior update could be beneficial, with 94 respondents choosing facility updates as their first or second most important goal for the library

• Areas most noted for improvement were: – Meeting spaces– Reading space– General interior

• Although limited in space, meeting spaces were noted by many respondents and are an integral part of making the library usable by the community, especially for groups such as student groups, tutoring groups, counseling groups, social groups, and smaller, library-lead trainings and events

• 30% of non-users, use other area libraries

While Patrons want more space and nicer space, they aren’t willing to trade older books for it

The majority also want more digital contentSome patrons require personal assistance

Flexible Meeting/working space is MORE important than having stacks of less current books since these books can be ordered from other libraries

Our library needs to acquire more digital content such as e-readers, e-books, digital magazines, databases (e.g. financial, genealogy) that are accessible from home

0% 20% 40% 60% 80% 100%

Strongly Agree AgreeDisagree Strongly Disagree

70% want more digital content

Only 40% view space is more important than older books

Q18. Tell us if you agree or disagree with the following statements:, . Question to Users only

35% require personal assistance to find what they are looking for in the library

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Interestingly, patrons who are younger prefer flexible space over stacks of older books

25-34 years 35-54 years 55-67 years 68 or over0.0%

10.0%

20.0%

30.0%

40.0%

50.0%

60.0%

70.0%

Perc

ent

Agre

e Sp

ace

is m

ore

impo

rtan

t tha

n ol

der b

ooks

Q18. Tell us if you agree or disagree with the following statements:, Flexible Meeting/working space is MORE important than having stacks of less current books since these books can be ordered from other libraries . Age categories broken out – Total patrons by age are 25-34 = 18, 35-54 = 136; 55-67 = 73 and 68 o over = 49 Question to Users only.. Agree includes both strongly agree and agree.

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Results & Key InsightsAwareness

• 46% of respondents ranked awareness as being the 1st or 2nd most important goal– It is clear that increased communication is necessary

• Email appears to be the preferred method of communication– Keep in mind that many respondents came from email list

• Non-users were not aware of the programs that MTL offers– People enjoy the programs, MTL just needs to get them in the door

through increased communication• 73% are interested in receiving information about programs

and/or fundraising events

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Most Patrons have heard of the Library Programs via email + website, social media ranks low

• 85% of Patrons have heard of the library programs• They hear of these programs through the following

means:– Library emails (61%)– Library website (58%)– Word of Mouth (40%)– Other means such as the library sign and program book at the

circulation desk (29%)– Facebook (5%)– Twitter (1%)

• 71% have attended a library program

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Fund Raising

• The majority of Library users (72%) rarely or never attend community fundraisers yet 57% have attended a library fundraising event

• 30% would be willing, 60% might pay to attend a speaker events or exhibits held by the library whereas only 10% would not pay

• Those factors influencing willingness to pay are #1 Speaker (1.4), Followed by Date/time of year (2.4) and Price (2.5) – lower number is more important

• 40% provided examples of fund raising events they’d like to attend. Types of events people would like to attend– Authors, Speakers, Lectures : 25%– Dinners, Wine Tastings, Evening Social Events : 21%– Children/Teen focused activities : 19%– Political Events : 18%– House Tours : 18%

Q 26. Would you be willing to pay to attend speaker events or exhibits held by the Mendham Township Library. Q 27: You answered that you may be willing to pay to attend speaker events hold by the Mendham Township Library as fundraising events. What will sway your willingness to attend? Please mark all that apply. Q28 Please rank your answers using 1 as the most important reason Q 29 Which speaker event or program would you be interested in attending?

Library Use: Frequency and Time in Library

60% use the library once a month or less

40% use the library weekly or more

82% use the library for 30 min or less

Q6. How often do you use the Mendham Township Library? Q7. How much time, approximately, do you spend at the library per visit? Questions to Users only

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Many Non Users go to other libraries, access information from home, or don’t have time

It is inconvenient to where I live

I use other libraries

I can access what I need from home and see no value in going to the library

Other – please specify

0 5 10 15 20 25 30

Other reasons: no time, others in family use

library, purchase books and magazines, don’t like time limits on borrowing, outdated, too Brookside

centric

Other libraries used most frequently are Chester,

Mendham Borough, and Bernardsville

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Seton Hall Conclusions & Recommendations:Facilities

• Atmospheric tactics used by large bookstore chains, such as Barnes & Noble and Borders, that are thought to be translatable to a library setting include

– Staff recommendations – Smell– Lighting– Layout

• Possible solutions to the limited space:– Small, glass-divided rooms for such groups, would still allow the space to

look open, while cutting down on noise/disruption– Areas library users enjoyed that could be highlighted/updated, while

furthering the library’s role as community center/hub include:• Bulletin boards• Art exhibits

– Change more frequently, “Opening Night” each month?• Circulation desk

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• Facility reorganization could sacrifice older collections.• The MTL is not the NY Public Library• How does MTL enhance its selection with a limited space?

– Leverage E-Books• Awareness of E-books is critical.• Education is a big opportunity.

– Improve E-books link, improve transparency– 2 or 3 Minute YouTube videos

– Online Library Catalog & Interlibrary Loan• Funnel traffic, drive awareness• Time-saver for both Patrons and Staff• Same speed as Amazon, zero cost!

Seton Hall Conclusions & Recommendations: Selection

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Seton Hall Conclusions & RecommendationsAwareness

• Continue building email list– Email services, like MailChimp, ensure that messages are delivered,

provide detailed analytics, and highly customizable templates• MailChimp is free for email lists under 2,000

– “Bring a friend”• Encourage users to bring new users by offering a free DVD rental to both

parties

• Attract a younger demographic to the library– Increase social media presence

• Cheap, if not free, method of communication• Will help drive word-of-mouth

• Work with local schools/businesses, such as King’s and Mendham Apothecary to post program schedules

• Become administrator of “Patch”– Local business pages and news

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• Create a speaker series– Some of these speakers could be paid fundraising events

such as Chris Christie• If you attend a certain number of free speakers, you can attend a

paid event for free– Politicians are always looking for venues to speak and we do

have political races beginning in the next few years• Events need to promote a sense of community and

should be highly social in nature– Ex. Dinner and a movie

• Could be themed around a popular book

Seton Hall Conclusions & RecommendationsFundraising

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THANK YOU

To Our Community

Mendham Township CommitteeStillman School of Business, Seton Hall University

MTL Library Board of Trustees