1. ASSESSMENT
OF LIBRARY
SPACE
Julie McKenna
Deputy Library Director,
Regina Public Library
ABQLA, Montreal, QC
May 9, 2013

2. BACKGROUND &
INTRO
o Who am I?
o What have I done?
o What do I know?
o What have I learned?
o Why is library space assessment
something that we should all be
doing (all the time)?

3. THE PURPOSE OF
ASSESSMENT IN
LIBRARIES
1. To understand user interaction with
library resources and services; and
2. To capture data that informs the
planning, management and
implementation of library resources
and services.
Bertot, 2004

4. TRADITIONAL DECISION-
MAKING
• Conventional wisdom or gut feeling
• Casual benchmarking
• Anecdotal evidence
• Doing what (seems to have) worked in the
past
• Following deeply held ideologies (“sacred
cows”)
• Best guess
Hard Facts, Dangerous Half-Truths, and Total Nonsense:
Profiting from Evidence-based Management
Pfeffer & Sutton (2006)

5. CULTURE OF
ASSESSMENT
 is an organizational environment in which
decisions are based on facts, research and analysis
 where services are planned and delivered in ways
that maximize positive outcomes and impacts for
customers and stakeholders
 exists in organizations where staff care to know
what results they produce and how those results
relate to customers’ expectations
 where organizational mission, values, structures,
and systems support behavior that is performance
and learning focused.
(Lakos, Phipps and Wilson, 1998-2002)

6. EVIDENCE BASED DECISION
MAKING
• Considers context of day to day
decision making: not pure research
• Outcome: improving the quality of
the professional practice
• Pragmatic focus: the “best available
evidence”
• User perspective is key
• Incorporates a wide range of
quantitative and qualitative
methods
(Booth, 2002)

7. BIG IDEA #5:
WE KNOW THAT
WE ARE A PLACE
THAT
PEOPLE WANT TO
VISIT
AGAIN AND AGAIN.
RPL Service Plan (2009)

8. LIBRARY SPACE
CHALLENGES
 Just in time
 Collections
 Mediation
 Bricks and Mortar
 Quiet space
 Custom created
experience
 Cosmetic improvement
 Librarian role
 Just in case
 People
 Independence
 Hybrid with virtual
 Social space
 Future flexibility
 Infrastructure issues
 Architect role

9. FUNCTIONAL AREAS
oUser services
oLibrary operations
oMaterials storage
oEvent & exhibition space

10. 11 CRITERIA FOR SPACE
ASSESSMENT
1. Functional
2. Adaptable or flexible
3. Accessible
4. Varied
5. Interactive
(McDonald, 2000, 2003, 2006)

11. 11 CRITERIA FOR SPACE
ASSESSMENT
6. Conducive
7. Environmentally suitable
8. Safe and secure
9. Efficient
10.Suitable for IT
11.“Oohmph”
(McDonald, 2000, 2003, 2006)

12. TOP CUSTOMER SPACE-RELATED
ISSUES REPORTED BY EPL STAFF:
• More spaces are needed for collaboration
• High demand for community use space
• Accommodation of different noise levels is
a challenge
• Teens don’t use the designated teen zones
• Demand for digital colour copiers/printers
and more laptop plug-ins
• Flexible spaces and flexible furniture are
important
• Libraries need more space. Period.

13. LIBRARY COLLECTIONS – SPACE
ASSESSMENT
 Size of collection & rate of growth
 Shelving
 Height, density of storage & footprint
 Mobility
 High or low visibility
 Use: by subject area, volume and time
 In house
 Check out
 Turnover rate
 Percentage on shelf
 Amenities needed to support
 Classification scheme

14. LIBRARY USERS – SPACE
ASSESSMENT
o How many of them are there?
o Where are they coming from and why are
they travelling?
o What are their expectations and
perceptions -- service quality?
o Who are they comparing you to?
o What amenities do they expect?
o How are they currently using the space?
o What do they value?
o What would they change?

15. 15

16. PUBLIC LIBRARIES -
LIBSAT
Satisfaction
Quality
Usage
Importance
Referral
Expectation
http://www.countingopinions.com/
16

17. LIBSAT
QUANTITATIVE
o Demographic information & Postal
Code
o Location used most often & why
o Activities undertaken; services used
o Importance & satisfaction
• Facilities
• Collections
• Technology
• Activities, events or programs
• Hours

18. LIBSAT
QUALITATIVE
• What do you value most
about this location?
• What would you improve
about this location?

19. SPACE: IMPORTANCE &
SATISFACTION
o Plenty of seating
o 75% indicate important or very important
o 78% indicate satisfied or very satisfied
o Quiet comfortable space
o 76% indicate important or very important
o 73% indicate satisfied or very satisfied
o Engaging and inviting
environment
o 92% indicate important or very important
o 88% indicate satisfied or very satisfied

20. EDMONTON PUBLIC
LIBRARY
Library Spaces Customer Survey
(2012)
Beth Wortman, 21st Century Library Spaces Intern
Librarian
http://www.epl.ca/sites/default/files/library_spaces_customer_su

21. OBSERVATIONAL
STUDIES
Ethnographic approach
Behavioural mapping
“Sweeping Seats” methodology
• Leckie & Givens
Used in both public and academic
Libraries
RPL and EPL each just completed
studies at every branch

22. ‘‘SWEEPING’’ THE LIBRARY:
MAPPING THE SOCIAL ACTIVITY
SPACE OF THE PUBLIC LIBRARY
Lisa M. Givens & Gloria J. Leckie
Library & Information Science Research
25 (2003) 365–385
http://www.ugr.es/~alozano/Translations/Sw

24. SUCCESSFUL NEW
SPACES
1. Understand your community, their
expectations, perceptions, and aspirations
2. Analyse requirements for new services &
functionalities
3. Assessment of all existing services
4. Get & use standards & guidelines to
 Define current & future shelving needs
 Define user spaces, adjacencies and amenities
1. Design an experience to meet all of the above
2. Commit to post-occupancy evaluation and
space assessment to measure success

25. ISO TECHNICAL
REPORT 11219
(2012)
Qualitative conditions &
basic statistics for library
buildings – Space,
function & design

26. GREAT
LIBRARIES
BELIEVE THEY
CAN BE BETTER
THAN WHAT
THEY ARE.
Karen Hyman, 2007
RPL Staff Conference

27. JULIE MCKENNA
Deputy Library Director, Regina Public
Library
t. 306.777.6074
m. 306.539.6203
e. jmckenna@reginalibrary.ca
LinkedIn: http://ca.linkedin.com/pub/julie-
mckenna/3/730/668
Skype: julie.mckenna64
Twitter: juliemckenna
Facebook: facebook.com/juliemck

28. SELECTED RESOURCES 1
Bryan, Cheryl. Managing Facilities for Results: Optimizing Space
for Services. Chicago: American Library Association, 2007.
Dahlgren, Anders C. Public Library Space Needs: A Planning
Outline. Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction, Public
Library Development, 2009.
Given, Lisa M. and Gloria J. Leckie. “‘Sweeping’ the Library:
Mapping the Social Activity Space of the Public Library,”
Library & Information Science Research 25 (Winter 2003): 365–
385.
ISO TR 11219. Qualitative conditions and basic statistics for
library buildings – Space, function and design. 2012.
Latimer, Karen and Hellen Niegaard (Eds.). IFLA Library Building
Guidelines: Developments & Reflections. Munich: K.G. Saur,
2007
Leckie, Gloria J. and Jeffrey Hopkins. “The Public Place of Central
Libraries: Findings from Toronto and Vancouver,” Library
Quarterly 72 (July 2002): 326–372.
28

29. SELECTED RESOURCES 2
May, Francine and Fiona Black. “The Life of the Space: Evidence
from Nova Scotia Public Libraries.” Evidence Based Library and
Information Practice 5.2 (2010) 5-34.
McDonald, A.C. “Planning academic library buildings for a new age:
some principles, trends and developments in the United
Kingdom”. Advances in Librarianship 24 (2000), 51-79.
McDonald, A.C. “Creating good learning space”. In: Libraries with
oomph: PFI for higher education libraries. Papers delivered at a
Seminar. London: Nabarro Nathanson, 2003. pp 4-8.
McDonald, A.C. The ten commandments revisited: the qualities of
good library space, Liber Quarterly, 16 (2) (2006), 104-119.
Most, Linda R. “The Rural Public Library as Place in North Florida:
A Case Study.” Diss. The Florida State University College of
Communication and Information, 2009.
Pfeffer, Jeffrey and Robert I. Sutton. Hard Facts, Dangerous Half-
Truths, and Total Nonsense: Profiting from Evidence-Based
Management. Harvard Business School Press, 2006
29