Public Library Assessment in Customer Perspective:To Which Customer Group Should the Library Listen?

摘要

To examine public library assessment from the library customers' perspective and suggest how to utilize it. In 2008 the authors investigated how customers perceive library functions and assessed the actual activities of the Echigawa Library (Shiga prefecture, Japan) that was awarded the national "Library of the year" in 2007. The survey results indicate that customers show a high demand for multiple services of the library and give a good grade for its services delivery. However, customers' perception and the assessment of library services are not identical. In fact, the authors identified four types of library users by cluster analysis, and found that their demand for service and judgment on adequacy of service delivery are fairly diverse. Since library evaluation should provide the criteria for determining management decisions, the question of which groups of customers the library should take into consideration is vital. We consider this question through the detailed investigation of empirical data.