Code of Conduct: The North Carolina Library Association (NCLA) values everyone’s attendance at our events. We strive to provide a welcoming, safe, and supportive environment where participants may learn, network and share information with colleagues in an atmosphere of mutual respect. To that end, we request that attendees abide by the ALA Statement of Appropriate Conduct at our biennial conference and other association sponsored events. If you experience or witness something that you feel is in violation of this code of conduct, please contact Mike Crumpton at 919-271-6812 or Lorrie Russell at 336-307-0930. If you wish to report something anonymously, please use this form.
So often, if libraries pursue feedback from patrons, they limit it to hand-selling at the desk- in the form of either paper surveys or links to take home and fill out at their leisure. Unfortunately, if your library suffers from steady low numbers- attendance and circulation alike- the problem isn’t a disconnect with current patrons, it is instead a disconnect with the community at large- those who are not already patrons. Reaching them is not solved by handselling at the desk.
Cyberspace is a great mode through which we can connect with those who are not currently library patrons. Using the same survey over cyberspace, we can reach several times more members of the community- patrons and nonpatrons, alike. Through the simple vehicle of Facebook, 133 community members were surveyed, over half of which use the library rarely or not at all. In order to gain constructive feedback from these diverse community members, an anonymous and pointed survey was developed and spread over popular community Facebook groups, asking specific questions about three topics: availability, marketing, and programming preferences. The results from this survey, as well as the concluded next steps, are discussed in this poster.
