At a Glance Information for Library Users
Cambridgeshire County Council's Libraries have produced a series of "at a glance" packs to give people information on how well their local library is performing and to outline future plans for service improvements.
The profiles were produced for each of the 31 static Libraries in Cambridgeshire and are intended to provide a rounded view of each library, its level of use - number of visitors and items loaned annually - and membership, as well as its range of services, facilities and activities such as Internet/computer terminals, children's story times, baby and toddler sessions.
Copies of the individual profiles have been placed in the appropriate Library. For instance, the profile for Ely Library shows that during 2003/04, 189,865 visits were made - an average of 96 people every hour - to the Library in the Cloisters and 184,227 items were borrowed and an average of 164 new members joined each month. The Library holds more than 21,000 adult books, 9,400 books for youngsters and over 3,000 reference volumes.
County Council Head of Libraries and Information Service, Lesley Noblett, said: "We are used to publishing information about the overall performance of the library service, but have come to realise that people are most interested about their own library. The profiles bring together all the information about how well an individual library is doing and the range of services it provides and we hope they will be a very useful information source for both Library and Information Service staff and Library users in local areas."
In addition, Library Development meetings are planned which will provide users with direct access to senior Library and Information Service staff, and enable them to put forward ideas for improved or expanded service provision, information which will be used to influence future service planning.